On this day Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, a close friend of India, arrived in Calcutta.
This was the emperor’s first visit to India. He would also arrive on state visits in 1959 and 1968.
The red carpet had been laid out for him at Safdarjung Airport in Delhi when he arrived on the three-week visit. He had been received by President Rajendra Prasad and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Journalist Pritish Nandy seems to remember the Calcutta visit. “I remember as a school boy in Calcutta watching Haile Selassie whizzing by in a convertible just outside our school as I was waiting for a public bus to go home. I think the bus number was 16. Not too sure though,” says Nandy on Twitter.
“In those days some of the biggest world leaders came to Calcutta. I remember as a small kid the rousing welcome that Krushchev and Bulganin got when they came to Calcutta. I heard Pete Seeger sing his songs of protest against Vietnam,” he adds.
On this visit, the Ethiopian monarch also visited Kerala and requested Nehru to persuade a young Malayali teacher, Paul Verghese, who had earlier taught in Ethiopia, to return to the country. Haile Selassie was trying to build a strong education system at home. Verghese, who later became Bishop Paulose Mar Gregorios, working in India, had impressed the emperor with his dedication.
“Leadership does not mean domination. The world is always well supplied with people who wish to rule and dominate others,” Haile Selassie has been quoted as saying.