During the next six years , Cachalia worked with other leaders of the African National Congress , including Nelson Mandela and Albert Lutuli , in the non violent struggle against the oppression of the apartheid regime and led the Defiance Campaign of 1952 as its Deputy Volunteer-in-Chief ; Nelson Mandela was the Volunteer-in Chief . He was arrested and sentenced to a suspended 18 months in prison , subject to keeping away from political activities . In 1955 , he attended the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung as a delegate of the African National Congress and the South African Indian Congress , along with Moses Kotane . On the way to the conference , Cachalia had the opportunity to meet V. K. Krishna Menon at London and Jawaharlal Nehru at Delhi . He was detained at Cairo for a brief period on his return to South Africa , but continued his activities and , after the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 which resulted in the death of 69 people , he escaped , in order to escape incarceration , to India via Botswana . In India , he established the ANC Mission in Delhi , along with Alfred Nzo who would later become the first foreign minister of post apartheid South Africa . Cachalia became the deputy chief representative of the Mission
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Ismail Ahmed Cachalia