Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, dies at 95

[P.J.]

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JOHANNESBURG: Nelson Mandela, who became one of the world's most beloved statesmen and a colossus of the 20th century when he emerged from 27 years in prison to negotiate an end to white minority rule in South Africa, has died. He was 95.

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, dies at 95 - The Times of India


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BREAKING NEWS: Nelson Mandela Dead Aged 95 OFFICIAL News Announcement President Jacob Zuma ! - YouTube

 

[vgane]

Mandela, no more

One of the tallest leaders in Africa, who fought apartheid is no more..He is the equivalent of Mahatma Gandhi! A great soul!


Pretoria: South Africa’s peace icon Nelson Mandela breathed his last today. The 95-year-old anti-apartheid leader was on life-support system.

On June 8, Mandela, the country's first black president, was brought to a hospital in Pretoria. He was admitted in a serious condition with a recurrence of long-standing lung problems. He had been in intensive care since.

Mandela is revered among most of the country's 53 million people as the architect of the 1994 transition to multi-racial democracy after three centuries of white domination.

The Nobel Prize winner's lifetime of struggle and sacrifice had included a period of 27 years in apartheid jails. His endeavours helped South Africa to hold its first all-race election in 1994, following which Mandela served as country's president between 1994 and 99.


As President, Mandela tackled the challenge of uniting both the country's racial groupings and a fragmented public service whose delivery mandate was skewed in favour of the white population.

Mandela was one of the few leaders capable of inspiring confidence both inside and outside the country. Few others would have managed to unite the disparate warring parties and steer South Africa from what seemed to be the brink of civil war.

Nelson Mandela dies at 95

 

[renuka]

One of the tallest leaders in Africa, who fought apartheid is no more..He is the equivalent of Mahatma Gandhi! A great soul!

Nelson Mandela is a great person in his own right and he needs no one else as a yard stick to be compared with..so I dont think the comparison with Mahatma Gandhi is necessary.

A sun shines on its own...there is no comparison for the sun..even the glory of God is compared with the brilliance of a 10 million suns (Surya Koti Sama Prabha).

Rest in Peace Mandela..you are indeed the Sun of your Nation.

 

[P.J.]

This post is already there in Politics and current affirs

 

[vgane]

Nelson Mandela is a great person in his own right and he needs no one else as a yard stick to be compared with..so I dont think the comparison with Mahatma Gandhi is necessary.

A sun shines on its own...there is no comparison for the sun..even the glory of God is compared with the brilliance of a 10 million suns (Surya Koti Sama Prabha).

Rest in Peace Mandela..you are indeed the Sun of your Nation.

If you look at Nelson Mandela's non violent struggle and his 27 years of incarceration it is in many ways a Gandhian struggle!

India has honored him with Bharat Ratna...In fact he is also called as Mahatma of South Africa

I would call him as the greatest person of 20th century, next only to Gandhiji

We should feel proud of him...

Why Nelson Mandela is called Mahatma Gandhi of South Africa! - daily.bhaskar.com

 

[renuka]

If you look at Nelson Mandela's non violent struggle and his 27 years of incarceration it it many ways is a Gandhain struggle

India has honored him with Bharat Ratna...In fact he is also called as Mahatma of South Africa

I would call him as the greatest person of 20th century, next only to Gandhiji

Please for God' sake..let someone shine on his own accord....dont just think that he comes 2nd to Gandhi or comes close to Gandhi therefore he is worthy of praise..this is not something to be said when a person is dead and gone.

Have some respect for him too.

He is not Gandhian style..Its his own Mandela style.

Wake up yaar!

Mandela does not have to be a Gandhi.

Mandela is Mandela.

 

[vgane]

Please for God' sake..let someone shine on his own accord....dont just think that he comes 2nd to Gandhi or comes close to Gandhi therefore he is worthy of praise..this is not something to be said when a person is dead and gone.

Have some respect for him too.

He is not Gandhian style..Its his own Mandela style.

Wake up yaar!

Mandela does not have to be a Gandhi.

Mandela is Mandela.

Are we showing disrespect to Mandela by comparing to Mahatma Gandhi ..What a tragedy, Ma'am!

Look at what Mandela has to say about Gandhiji...

Gandhi's Tolstoy Farm

 

[renuka]

Are we showing disrespect to Mandela by comparing to Mahatma Gandhi ..What a tragedy, Ma'am!

Look at what Mandela has to say about Gandhiji...

Gandhi's Tolstoy Farm

Dear Sir,

I did not say that...what I meant is comparing 2 great people to each other and then classifying them as Gandhi the greatest and 2nd Mandela or Mandela is a Gandhi etc..that only shows you are judging them by some imaginary scale.

You do grave injustice to great people when you compare and contrast them.

Both Gandhi and Mandela are worthy of respect in their own unique ways which helped their respective nations.


I hope my point of view is clear.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Nelson Mandela's death: ‘A true Gandhian dies, this is as much India's loss as South

Sorry. The message has already been posted by P.J. Sir.

Once again sorry for the oversight.

 

[Nara]

It is jarring to see Mandela compared to MKG. If a comparison is to be made Mandela is more like MLK.

• Mandela spent near isolated imprisonment in a very small cell for 18 of the 26 years, not in the luxury of a palace made into a makeshift prison.
• Mandela fought for all South Africans, not just his own people.
• Mandela did not have an irrational infatuation with non-violence, he refused to forswear violence even when offered as a condition for release.
• Mandela was labelled "terrorist" by the most powerful nation USA and remained with such label until 2008, yes, all the while he was president, per US law, he was a "terrorist". Yes, even Clinton's administration never bothered to remove Mandela from this list.

In the galaxy of 20th century leaders, if we go by the odds they faced and the achievements they engineered, Mandela and MLK are bright stars, MKG is a dim one on the periphery at best ...

Perhaps it is cultural proclivity, I have seen this among Indians in general and TBs in particular, leaders they love are "mythified" and deified, epithets like "mahathma", "sarveswaran" are on the ready to come to common parlance. Complexity and nuance is not only shunned but attacked.

 

[sarang]

[h=1]Nelson Mandela, the 'Gandhi of South Africa' had strong Indian connections[/h]
This is from a PTI report; the blessed organization must be infested with tambrams to write such reports.

Nelson Mandela, the 'Gandhi of South Africa' had strong Indian connections - The Economic Times

 

[sadasivam.sridharan]

Ever free atllast.Let the noble rest in peace.

 

[prasad1]

There are some India-bashers to whom No (Other) Indian is worthy of praise. To majority of Indians MLK means something, they may not know XYZ. To bring XYZ in the equation is just to show (off) one's superior knowledge and put down other (?).

If you compare Mount Everest with Mount Kangchenjunga, neither looses its importance, on the contrary people who have seen one can visualize other by reference.

 

[zebra16]

It is jarring to see Mandela compared to MKG. If a comparison is to be made Mandela is more like MLK.

• Mandela spent near isolated imprisonment in a very small cell for 18 of the 26 years, not in the luxury of a palace made into a makeshift prison.
• Mandela fought for all South Africans, not just his own people.
• Mandela did not have an irrational infatuation with non-violence, he refused to forswear violence even when offered as a condition for release.
• Mandela was labelled "terrorist" by the most powerful nation USA and remained with such label until 2008, yes, all the while he was president, per US law, he was a "terrorist". Yes, even Clinton's administration never bothered to remove Mandela from this list.

The million dollar question is whether any newspaper, tabloid, TV channel or media outlet has compared Mandela with MLK. If yes, please be kind enough to furnish a link thereto. You and I may have our own exalted sense of comparison but that does not have any acceptance worthy of reporting in the media.

In the galaxy of 20th century leaders, if we go by the odds they faced and the achievements they engineered, Mandela and MLK are bright stars, MKG is a dim one on the periphery at best ...

This is your view at best. But how sensible is the comparison? For example, how many present day US Presidents are compared to Lincoln or Truman?

Perhaps it is cultural proclivity, I have seen this among Indians in general and TBs in particular, leaders they love are "mythified" and deified, epithets like "mahathma", "sarveswaran" are on the ready to come to common parlance. Complexity and nuance is not only shunned but attacked.

I fail to see the nuance of this paragraph.

 

[Nara]

MLK said this in his speech opposing the Vietnam war:

I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government.​

Mandela said this opposing Iraq war:

"Both Bush as well as Tony Blair are undermining an idea that was sponsored by their predecessors. They do not care. [....snip....] If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America."​

 

[prasad1]

The million dollar question is whether any newspaper, tabloid, TV channel or media outlet has compared Mandela with MLK. If yes, please be kind enough to furnish a link thereto. You and I may have our own exalted sense of comparison but that does not have any acceptance worthy of reporting in the media.



This is your view at best. But how sensible is the comparison? For example, how many present day US Presidents are compared to Lincoln or Truman?



I fail to see the nuance of this paragraph.

Nelson Mandela wore his pants one leg at a time, and so did MLK, but Gandhiji wore only dhoti.
So Mandela is more like MLK, than Gandhiji. That is the argument some of the India-basher will say.

What a comparison?

 

[Nara]

Mandela on Palestinian freedom:

“The UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system. But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians."​

 

[Nara]

Nelson Mandela on Iraq war:

“If you look at those matters, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace.​

 

[Nara]

Here is another quote from Mandela:

“As we enter the last decade of the 20th century, it is intolerable, unacceptable, that the cancer of racism is still eating away at the fabric of societies in different parts of our planet. All of us, black and white, should spare no effort in our struggle against all forms and manifestations of racism, wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head.”
​

Here, we must note, casteism is a form of racism.

 

[sangom]

Here is another quote from Mandela:

“As we enter the last decade of the 20th century, it is intolerable, unacceptable, that the cancer of racism is still eating away at the fabric of societies in different parts of our planet. All of us, black and white, should spare no effort in our struggle against all forms and manifestations of racism, wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head.”
​

Here, we must note, casteism is a form of racism.

Dear Nara,

Is not casteism or varnaism completely different from the most evil practice known as racism? I think we all agree that even if there was an aryan race, etc., once upon a time, by now there is hardly any genetic dissimilarity among indians. Hence, and based on the learned opinions of many september (one higher than august, hi, hi!) members of this Forum, casteism is on account of the unique characteristics like pure Sattvik gunas of brahmins at the top end and the completely tamasic gunas of the lowest castes at the other end?

 

[Nara]

....Is not casteism or varnaism completely different from the most evil practice known as racism? ...., casteism is on account of the unique characteristics like pure Sattvik gunas of brahmins at the top end and the completely tamasic gunas of the lowest castes at the other end?

Brahamists may call it satvik, the racist Whites may call it large skull, doesn't matter, racism and casteism are two sides of the same coin, they both are social constructs and they both are evil.

Take a look at Article 2 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states:

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
​

What is caste if not birth status?

In Durban, the international community was strongly in favor of including the very term "caste" but the IG stood steadfastly opposed to it. However, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is not bound by these political limitations. In their reports and recommendations they freely use the term "caste" along with race. Here is a sample from their 2002 report.

Strongly reaffirming that discrimination based on “descent” includes discrimination against members of communities based on forms of social stratification such as caste and analogous systems of inherited status which nullify or impair their equal enjoyment of human rights,​

​

Note, the phrase used is "social stratification such as caste"

Another one:

Strongly condemning descent-based discrimination, such as discrimination on the basis of caste and analogous systems of inherited status, as a violation of the Convention,​

In any case, I don't want to get distracted into another round of the same old same old. I wish to highlight some quotations from speeches of this great man who passed away, one who was reviled by the rich and powerful when he rotted in jail, but now everyone is falling over each other to fete him and rewrite history, as they do always.

 

[Nara]

Couple of Mandela quotes about Cuba and Castro:

“From its earliest days, the Cuban Revolution has also been a source of inspiration to all freedom-loving people. We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of the vicious imperialist orchestrated campaign to destroy the impressive gain made in the Cuban Revolution. … Long live the Cuban Revolution. Long live comrade Fidel Castro.”

"What Fidel [Castro] has done for us is difficult to describe with words. First in the struggle against Apartheid he did not hesitate to give us all his help and now that we are free we have many Cuban doctors working here,"​

 

[vgane]

Look at Madiba's favourite poem!

Nelson Mandela's favourite poem from which he drew inspiration while in prison, often reciting it to fellow inmates at Robben Island, was Invictus, by English poet William Ernest Henley.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

 

[renuka]

Hence, and based on the learned opinions of many september (one higher than august, hi, hi!)

Dear Sangom ji,

I am truly delighted to read this word September..in fact just a few days ago I wanted to type the same word 'September' denoting 1 step higher than August but I changed my mind..looks as if you beat me to it.
Cos I was thinking why keep saying August August..why not September which is 1 step more than August!

 

[Nara]

Nelson Mandela on Che Guevara:

"Che’s life is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom, we will always honor his memory."​