Partisan story
Sir: Mr Basil Davidson says I defame him (Letters. 5 July). On page 158 of The Liber- ation of Guitu5, after quoting a spokesman for the African National Congress at length. he writes:
'These clearly careful words may prove right or wrong. What cannot reasonably be contested, now on the eve of the 1970s is the double-pronged thesis on which they are based: first, that nothing except violent self-defence can advance or even save the cause of African equality in southern and perhaps central Africa as well; secondly, that this reactive violence, after long years of passive or constitutional pressure which have proved fruitless, need not face a hope- less future.'
Does not Mr Davidson see that the 'reac- tive violence' he prescribes, in conflict with, for instance, the Union of South Africa's massive repressive apparatus, would in fact lead to the 'bloodbath' (my word) he says he does not relish?
Brian Crozier
199 Piccadilly, London WI
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