GANDHI, KING AND MANDELA

I have been fortunate to have lived long enough to have seen Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhi, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. I was
able organise tributes to them in the United Nations in the 1960s and 1970s. They have
much in common but they were also very different from each other in their personalities,
beliefs and achievements.

All three led revolutions to success though much more remains to be done to fulfil their
dreams.

Two of them were assassinated, and the third lived long enough to see the results of his
work.

Two of them received Nobel Peace Prizes. Gandhi neither received nor desired any
awards, but after his death many streets, localities, hospitals and other institutions are
named after him and numerous statues are erected around the world though he was
against his statues. Mandela received more awards and honours perhaps than he can
remember.

Mandela was a socialist, and was reported to have been a member of the underground
Communist Party for some time during the struggle for freedom. Gandhi was reported to
have said in 1912 in South Africa that he was a hundred percent socialist. Dr. King did
not claim to be a socialist, but he praised Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, a Communist, defying
McCarthyism in the United States.

Gandhi and Dr. King believed in non-violence as part of their creed or religion, not
purely as a method of struggle. Mandela adopted non-violent resistance only so long as
produced results and abandoned it after a short time, though he was always against the
killing of innocent civilians.

Dr. King acknowledged that he derived inspiration from Gandhi. Mandela was influenced
by the writings of Jawaharlal Nehru, and showed little interest in Gandhi until he was
sentenced to life imprisonment. It was in prison – where he probably had no books about
Gandhi and saw no admirers of Gandhi – that he was transformed into an ikon like
Gandhi and King.

Gandhi took a vow of celibacy in 1906 and was celibate for over 41 years with difficulty.
Dr. King was a family man. Mandela was forced to be celibate for over 27 years but
against his will.

Gandhi chose to live in poverty. He left no material inheritance to his family. They
accepted that Gandhi belonged to India and the world. They did not benefit materially
from the Gandhi name. They did not sell the Gandhi mementoes they had. (Only one
grandson sold some letters of Gandhi to set up an institute to propagate the thought of
Gandhi). Unfortunately, Dr. King’s children quarrelled about control o f his legacy and
even went to court. Mandela’s descendants fought for control over his legacy even while
he was alive.

July 18 was an important date in the lives of Gandhi and Mandela. Gandhi left South
Africa on July 18, 1914. Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. That date is not significant
in Dr. King’s life.

I am aware that these comparisons are rather superficial, but they give some leads to
deeper study.

I will give one example – the use of lawyers and courts during the struggle.

Gandhi led mass non-violent resistance in South Africa. During the course of the
struggle, he developed the philosophy of “satyagraha” (standing firm on truth).
Satyagraha, however, was an ideal which hardly anyone can reach. Other non -violent
movements since then did not follow all the strictures of Gandhi – e.g. that the
satyagrahis should believe in religion, should abandon family attachments, should regard
jail as a palace and should always be truthful. They adapted the methods of resistance to
their faiths and conditions in their countries.

Gandhi said that pur e satyagrahis do not employ lawyers. Resisters were defended by
lawyers when he led the movement in South Africa, but in India the resisters pleaded
guilty and employed no lawyers.

In the civil rights struggle in the United States, utilisation of law was very important
because the laws and practices in the southern States were repugnant to the Federal
Constitution and laws. The sacrifices of the resisters persuaded the Federal Government
to intervene in defence of the rights of African-Americans. A Lawyers’ Committee for
Civil Rights under Law was established in Washington, with the encouragement of
President John F. Kennedy, to assist the resisters.

Utilisation of the law was perhaps even more important in the liberation struggle in South
Africa though the laws enacted by the whites were unjust and were enforced by the white
police and judges. Millions of people in South Africa were persecuted for acts which
would not be considered an offence in other countries. Death sentences could be imposed
for several offences by opponents of apartheid.

Funds for legal defence were provided by the Defence and Aid Fund, led by the Reverend
Canon L. John Collins in Britain, and by similar funds in other countries since the 1950s.
The Lawyers’ Committee set up a Southern Africa Program which helped defence in a
number of political trials. One of my contributions for the freedom of South Africa was
my work to obtain United Nations support for such funds. Altogether hundreds of
millions of dollars were contributed by Governments for this purpose through the United
Nations or directly to voluntary agencies, especially to the International Defence and Aid
Fund for Southern Africa.

Legal defence helped to expose the inhumanity of the laws in South Africa and publicise
the struggle for freedom from apartheid tyranny. Death sentences were averted in many
cases. Lawyers at inquests exposed torture of prisoners.

Legal assistance to political prisoners helped international action. United Nation s

resolutions for the release of all political prisoners were annually adopted with
unanimous votes. Publicity about prison conditions helped secure an amelioration of
conditions in Robben Island.