Finding Valliamma: Uncovering the story of Valliamma Munuswamy Mudaliar, the teenage girl who died in the South African liberation struggle.

Abstract

ABSTRACT This is the story of Valliamma Munuswamy Mudaliar - an icon and a secret. In 1913, Valliamma, a teenage activist, was sentenced to three months hard labour for protesting against a new marriage law that sought to nullify all customary Hindu and Muslim marriages. She fell ill during her short incarceration at Maritzburg Prison and, in an act of defiance, refused to accept an early release from prison officials. Valliamma died on 22 February 1914, a few weeks after her term of imprisonment ended on her birthday. She was only 16 years old. Across the globe, memorials commemorate Valliamma. Memorials have been erected in Chennai in India and Malaysia in her honour, whilst in South Africa, a baby shelter known as the Valliamma Cradle of Love was established in Phoenix, north of Durban. The young Valliamma met Indian lawyer and anti-colonial activist Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi during a political rally. She would soon become an important figure in Gandhi’s non- violent resistance campaign for civil rights in South Africa. While she features in many parts of Gandhi’s resistance movement in South Africa, she is unknown to those who do not actively seek out her history. Valliamma lost her life in South Africa’s liberation struggle; however, she is “invisible” in the story of South Africa’s political landscape. Today, Valliamma’s fight for freedom and dignity deserves a place in our history books. This longform journalism essay comprises three parts: the story of Indenture, the story of my ancestors, and my quest in “Finding Valliamma”. It is written for my daughter Sharlette Rose, so that she will always know Valliamma, who came before her.