Nelson Mandala, one of the most remarkable personality of
the 20th Century. Born in an era of racial segregated and oppression in South
Africa, in the village of Mvezo, Transkei, a tiny village on the banks of
Maashe River in the district of Umtata, South Africa on 18th July 1918, his name was Rolihlahla , in, Rolihlahla meaning
‘trouble maker’. He was first person in his family, who went for English
education, where his British teacher Miss Mdingane gave his name Nelson. This is the first time, where young children
were able to understand, the interesting game of cultural domination, through
the education, in this process, first he received new name. That time the
whites either unable or unwilling to pronounce an African name, and considered
it uncivilized to have one. As Nelson
Mandlea himself described in his autobiography “The education I received was a British education, in which British
ideas, British culture and British Institutions were automatically assumed to
be superior”.
Nelson Mandela was an extraordinary global advocate for
dignity & equality. He exemplified courage, compassion and commitment to freedom,
peace & social justice. Honesty I would say. I am not his follower. But I inspired
by his work and action for ensuring justice and dignity for the South African
people.
I still remember cold evening of 11th February 1990, while have dinner
with family in my village in the north India. My grand farther, who was the big
fan of the Mandela, asked my father to tune in the BBC Hindi news, which was
only available and trusted news for us, and we were religiously following the
news of the BBC-Hindi. That was the first time, we got news about his release
from prison. This was great moment for us in our family, everyone was cheering
for Mandela and the end of apartheid laws. Since then, I have become student of
the Mandela. This was his famous statement after coming from Jail " I have a fought against white domination and I have fought
against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free
society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs
be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die "
After election in 1994, Mandela took charge of President of
the South Africa. One of the historic step he had taken to forgiveness,
so he established “Truth and reconciliation commission”. The Truth and
Reconciliation Commission was a court-like restorative justice body
assembled
in South Africa after the end of apartheid. Witnesses who were
identified as
victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements
about
their experiences, and some were selected for public hearings
Now, he became one of
the respected leader of the world, He had strong connection with India, he
inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of Non-Violence. India as a Nation and the people
of this country supported struggle of freedom lead by Mandela.
In the October 2018, I had chance to visit South Africa, where i went to
see the situations of the Farm Workers. I was upset to observe, how the
condition of the farms worker are still appalling. There are still
unequal land distributions among the people, most of the lands are with
white community. I interacted with one farm worker, his situation was
like bondage labor, owner of the farm has given the one room house near
the field, that was all for living of his family, he has to work in the
pear farms, i observe, even though has multiple skills, knows farming
and driving but he has no option for mobility to explore better life.
So, South Africa has to go miles for making dreams of Mandela's in to
reality.
Comments
Post a Comment