The Titan among the leaders of our times, Nelson Mandela is no more. His death at 95 years came on Thursday at his Johannesburg home after struggling for more than a year with lung infection. This great apostle of peace followed and acknowledged the moral standard in public life set forth by the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. To us in India, he was a friend, a sympathizer and one who inspired us that the good ultimately shall prevail over the evil.
In the words of the French President Francois Hollande, Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison, most of them at South Africa’s infamous Robben Island jail, until his release in 1990, “made history – that of South Africa and the whole world.” He showed that human will could not only break the chains of servitude but free the energy to succeed in building a common destiny.
The entire world pays tribute to this legendary man from South Africa. Paying glowing tributes to the departed leader, President Obama said that it was he who had inspired him to enter politics. The two share the distinction of being the first black president of their respective countries. “Mandela took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice.” More than anyone else, he shaped the history of the new South Africa. After spending almost three decades in prison, he became the first elected black president in 1994. His entire life was a struggle against apartheid and he infused millions of people all over the world with courage to reject and stand up against racism and apartheid. “Today he’s gone home and we’ve lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth. He no longer belongs to us. He belongs to the ages,” President Obama added at the White House. Former US President Bill Clinton, who was in office when Mandela became South African president in 1994, called him one of the world’s most important leaders and one of its finest human beings. “History will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and freedom, for peace and reconciliation”, said Bill Clinton. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Mandela was a giant for justice whose selfless struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom inspired people all around the world. Ban said. “Let us continue each day to be inspired by Nelson Mandela’s lifelong example to keep working for a better and more just world.” Nelson Mandela showed what is possible for our world, and within each of us, if we believe a dream and work together for justice and humanity,
In his glowing tribute to the departed leader, the British Prime Minister David Cameron said that with Mandela’s death, “a great light had gone out.” “Nelson Mandela was a towering figure in our time; a legend in life and now in death – a true global hero,” Cameron said in a statement. “Across the country he loved they will be mourning a man who was the embodiment of grace.” Mandela made “a new, better South Africa,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. His “shining example and his political legacy of non-violence and the condemnation of all forms of racism will continue to inspire people around the world for many years to come,” she added. European Union President Herman Van Rompuy called Mandela “one of the greatest political figures of our times,” and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso wrote on Twitter that “Mandela changed [the] course of history for his people, country, continent and the world.”
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress said in Mandela’s passing, the world lost “a colossus and epitome of humility, equality, justice and peace.” Nelson Mandela’s contribution to the freedom of his people and the people of the world was summed up by his close associate, South Africa’s archbishop emeritus and his fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu in saying that he united a deeply divided country. “Over the past 24 years Madiba (clan name of Mandela) taught us how to come together and to believe in ourselves and each other. He was a unifier from the moment he walked out of prison, said Tutu. “We are relieved that his suffering is over, but our relief is drowned by our grief. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.”
Rarely in the annals of human history have such glowing tribute been showered upon a man of ordinary birth but of extraordinary life of service and sacrifice. He struggled against racism which is not fully eradicated as yet from the face of the earth. Nevertheless it was Mandela who initiated a movement against racism that has gained momentum and will not stop till the entire humanity is liberated of this evil. Twenty-seven long years in prison taught Nelson Mandela two important eternal and everlasting lessons viz. do not hate and don’t become angry. He had conquered hatred and anger. That is precisely what Gandhi Ji told his nation to do. Great minds think alike and truly God sends down His apostles on earth from time to time to inspire human beings with message of peace. Mandela was one of the angels of peace. We salute him and pray for peace to his soul.
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