Editorial
Mandela - a living legend
Leaders have so much to learn from him
MANDELA'S turned 90 on 18th of July, and the world at large celebrated with enthusiasm the accomplishments of a man whose life has been a gift to the world - and whom many unhesitatingly refer to as a living legend.
A man is known not by how long he lives but what he does with his life. And a life that is spent in ameliorating the sufferings of his fellow human beings is a life well spent. His life, in spite of the vicissitudes that he had to suffer, has not only been well spent, there is perhaps no one in living memory that can claim to have influenced several generations of men and women in one's lifetime. His greatest accomplishment has been to touch not only the hearts of his followers but also his opponents who had incarcerated him for 27 long years.
Everyone knows Mandela as the man who overthrew racism, but he also epitomised the very essence of human existence that thrives on the idea that rightful aspirations of the people cannot be suppressed by force. And his greatest teaching that the world can learn from is his gift of forgiveness. But for a man like Mandela, a country like South Africa -- a country that had seen a brutal minority perpetrate the worst form of indignity on the black majority, and supported, regrettably, by some powerful countries claiming to be protagonists of democracy, freedom and majority rule -- would have been torn apart were it not for his call to the people of South Africa to forgive and forget.
He fully understood that conflict between peoples and nations was not an accident but the harmful consequence of a way of life based on certain philosophy with convoluted rationale. And to achieve peace that idea, that philosophy had to be tackled with reason -- to expose its fallacy. And that was what he did during his life long anti-apartheid struggle.
Not only did he seek to reconcile the blacks and whites of South Africa, a very good example he set for leaders of some countries who cannot decide when to let go of power. He could have gone on, without any remonstration from his people, as South Africa's president, but he had the sagacity to recognise when to relinquish the post and move on.
Even today Mandela remains the most vocal critic of injustice, inequality and bias. And he is never wanting in speaking out against aggression as he did against the US invasion of Iraq or more recently against a fellow African, Robert Mugabe.
We wish Mandela a happy journey. May he continue to provide the world the moral leadership.
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