Salaam Nelson Mandela

(POWER POLITICS November 10, 2011-Vol.V, no.10, P, 43) (http://www.powerpolitics.in/Issues/November/page43.html)

Nelson Mandela is the ultimate proof of what a man of highest spirit can achieve in life. His sufferings have no parallel. But when he came out of the worst ordeal he had no malice towards the perpetrators of vilest human crimes. He is a friend of the most oppressed and forlorn. His indomitable spirit will guide the crusaders for human dignity for ages to come, says Prof. Parminder S. Bhogal*

Nelson Mandela

In one of his remarkable essays on politics, Max Weber, the famous sociologist observes Politics is a
strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective. Man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible. But to do that, a man must be a leader, and not only a leader but a hero as well, in a very sober sense of the word. The Nelson Mandela saga, spanned over nine decades proves the Weberian hypothesis so appropriately. How true, a young man of tribal origins of South Africa begins to rise up out of the obscurity of a badly subdued and exploited country under the colonial yoke. He slowly and steadily begins to develop the passion and perspective and aims to reach out to the impossible task of liberating his people from the tyranny of apartheid. He dares to lead his people even in the face of immense personal and collective death-like hardships yet maintaining the entire sobriety befitting a truly great leader of the people. Indeed Nelson Mandela is a hero, inspiring and keeping the hope alive in the people of his rainbow nation and worldwide.

Nelson Rohlilahala Mandela was born in prosperity, brought up in adversity and grew up in tough struggle involving his existence, both, of his life and of his thought. Soon after his birth (18 July, 1918), his father lost the chieftaincy of his tribe (Thembu) and the riches associated with it due to a clash with a white magistrate over an issue involving his tribal jurisdiction. Mandela spent initial years of his childhood under the care of his poor mother (His Father had three more wives) in a tribal village called Qunu in the Transkei region of South Africa, where he played throughout the day with children of his age, shepherded and in the night lay by the side of his mother with other siblings listening to tribal folk tales from her before going to sleep. He lost his father at the age of nine. From here begins the story of his struggle and the long process of the formation of his perspective regarding his people and the serious issues facing them. At the age of nine he had to leave his mother and the playful village life. For the next a few years he remained under the care of the Thembu regent at the town of Mqhekezveni. It is here that young Nelson Mandela began to learn the realities of the tough and deprived lives of the native South Africans; the politico-social content of the contemporary tribal South Africa and of course the colonial subjugation, tyranny and massive exploitation. The privileged care of the Thembu regent Jogintaba enabled him the best schooling available for the native South Africans at the residential schools of Clarksbury and later the college at Healdtown, to prepare Mandela for his traditional family role, like his father, of an advisor to the tribal Thembu King. However the winds of destiny could seldom be tamed. Life has a way of forcing decisions on those who vacillate. At the young age of 24 Nelson Mandela rebelled against the traditional matrimonial diktat of his mentor and fled away to Johannesburg to pass through some of the most grueling years of his youth life. Alone and on his own, he began his journey of life afresh, struggling to keep him alive and moving onwards. For a number of years he took up underpaid apprenticeships and lived half starved life in tatters. He observes in his autobiography, In that first year (in Johannesburg) I learned more about poverty than I did in all my childhood days in QunuI managed to survive on the meagerest of the resourcesI could not afford a kerosene lamp (to study at night for a law degree from the University through correspondence). I walked six miles to the town in the morning and six miles back in the evening to save the bus fare.I often went days without more than a mouthful of food. I wore that suit (used suit given by his first employer) every day for almost five years. In the end there were more patches than suit. However, it was here that the steel began to be tempered. He was facilitated into the contemporary political discourse through his leftist colleagues at the law firm where he worked as an apprentice. Walter Sisulu remained the most dominant ultimate influence on him and introduced him into the African National Congress. As his political thinking and perspective began to improve and turn mature Mandela slowly began to rise up the ladder of leadership of the party. In the early fifties with the onset of Nationalist party government of Prime Minister Vervoerd, the apartheid regime unleashed unprecedented state repression and violence on peaceful ANC protests, leaving Nelson Mandela with no choice but to reformulate the

Gracia Machel political strategy in order to remain effective and relevant. He was able to persuade his comrades, of course with great difficulty, to the strategy of parallel use of limited organized counter-violence to checkmate the regime oppression. He argued, Sebatana ha se bokwe ka dialta. (The attacks of the wild beast cannot be averted with only bare hands). Thus in 1961 was born Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), the armed wing of the ANC under his command. He clandestinely went abroad to muster support and

sustenance for his new organization and programme. On his return he was caught, arrested and tried for treason the punishment for which was expected to be a sure death sentence. However, under tremendous international pressure, the sentence was reduced to life. For the next 27 years Mandela remained incarcerated in some of the worlds most notorious prisons undergoing all possible hardships and humiliations expected of such a system. Out of it the 18 years spent on the Robben Island prison (equivalent of Indias Andaman island prison) was the toughest. But hard prison life failed to make any dent in the indomitable spirit and focus of the man. It was during his jail years that he became a worldwide symbol of South Africas struggle against apartheid and an everlasting inspiration for his own peoples continued struggle against the terrible repression that the minority white government unleashed on them. Mandela's task in jail was tough. He not only remained in touch with the ANC leadership in exile but also kept the people united and together. The white minority government was allout to exploit the intertribal fault lines in South Africa. In the early 1990ies it was leading the country to a never ending interethnic bloodbath and the fear of a divided South Africa. Finally the relentless and focused struggle brought its result and South Africa became free and democratic in June 1994 when Nelson Mandela, after a first free and fair election based on universal adult franchise, took over as democratic South Africas first president. Mandela demitted office in 1999 and opted for a retired life in the city of Johannesburg along with his wife Gracia Machel. Mandela may have retired from the office of the President of South Africa but continues to lead his people even at this ripe age of 93. True, because of his advancing age he rarely ventures out or speaks to public, but his mere presence ensures the continuity of hope among his people. The struggle for South Africas better future and a stabilized multicultural democracy is not yet over and does have its own moments of anxiety. But Nelson Mandelas presence and inspiration for years to come is likely to ensure its safe passage to maturity and firm roots in the democratic soil of South Africa. Nelson Mandela today is a living definition of a great leader of the people, a living legend and of course a hero whos every movement, word and uttering and even breath inspires his people. His words uttered during the election of 1994, Do not expect to be driving a Mercedes the day after the election or swimming in your own backyard pool. Life will not change dramatically, except that you will have increased your own self esteem and become a citizen in your own land. You must have patience..if you want better things you must work hard. We cannot do it all for you; you must do it yourself, will keep guiding his people for ages to come even after he has gone. Such is the mettle of true leadership and inspiration coming from a real hero.

*(bhogal-ps@hotmail.com), an alumnus of School of International Studies-JNU New Delhi, is

currently Associate Professor and Head of the P.G. Dept. of

Political Science, Arya College

Ludhiana. ------has translated Mandelas voluminous autobiography Long Walk to Freedom in Punjabi as Azadi di manzil wal lamma safar. Published by the publication bureau- Punjabi University Patiala.