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World pays homage to Mandela — ‘giant of history’
The man who shaped the new South Africa
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Mathai takes over as envoy to the UK
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World pays homage to Mandela — ‘giant of history’
Johannesburg, December 10 Sanskrit shlokas were read out from Hindu scriptures in a moving ceremony in the FNB stadium in Soweto, the nerve centre of his campaign, as tens of thousands South Africans gathered to pay homage to the anti-apartheid icon and first black President who died on December 5. "It is hard to eulogise any man...how much harder to do so for a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world," Obama said in a 20-minute speech punctuated by reference to the struggle for racial freedom in Africa and America. Pranab Mukherjee, who headed a high level Indian delegation including Sonia Gandhi and Sushma Swaraj, in his eulogy, called Mandela an icon of irreversible social and economic change who never diminished his commitment to his kind of 'satyagraha' against injustice and inequality. Obama also referred to Mahatma Gandhi when he said Mandela, like Gandhi, led a resistance movement that at its start held little prospect of success. UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon, African leaders including Robert Mugabe, the last white President F W de Klerk, Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai were among the other leaders present. The other world leaders on the stage included present and former Prime Ministers of Britain, French President Hollande and former Presidents including Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Nicolas Sarkozy. As multi-religious prayers were said, a person of Indian origin recited Sanskrit shlokas to say that Mandela has attained immortality and that people were offering their humble worship so that he leads the world from darkness to light. Mukherjee, who received a thunderous welcome when he entered the stadium, highlighted th e strong political links between South Africa and India especially through Mahatma Gandhi having started his career here before leading India to freedom. Mandela's widow Graca Machael, separated wife Winnie Mandela, children and grand children attended the ceremony that virtually into a long celebrations of the late leader. Songs of the anti-apartheid movement were sung as heavy rains pounded the stadium where he had made his last public appearance a few years ago. One of the speakers that the rains signified that God welcoming him to heaven. Mandela's funeral is scheduled to be held in his childhood home, Qunu village in the Eastern Cape on December 15 and it will be a private affair. President Mukherjee, who was seated next to South African President Jacob Zuma, said India has no doubt that the world will honour the historic legacy of Mandela. He said Mandela was one of the most influential personalities of the century who taught the world true meaning of forgiveness and reconciliation and steered South Africans on to the path of building a rainbow nation. UN Secretary General, who was the first foreign dignitary to pay homage, said termed Mandela as a "greatest teacher" and said "He was one of our greatest teacher who taught by example." Obama, while paying tributes to his fight against anti-apartheid, said "we know that like South Africa, the United States had to overcome centuries of racial subjugation. "As was true here, it took the sacrifice of countless people - known and unknown - to see the dawn of a new day. Michelle and I are the beneficiaries of that struggle," he said. Obama regretted that around the world today men and women were still imprisoned for their political beliefs; persecuted for what they look like, or how they worship, or who they love. — PTI
Barack Obama, US President
Pranab Mukherjee, Indian President "That we are Madiba's compatriots and that we lived in Madiba's time is a reason for great celebration..In his honour, we commit ourselves to continue building a nation based on democratic values, of human dignity and democracy" Jacob Zuma, South African President "His victory over apartheid, his refusal to give in to bitterness and the desire for revenge, represent one of the biggest victories of mankind. Mandela certainly lived up to the highest standards of the Nobel Peace Prize bestowed upon him 20 years ago" Thorbjoern Jagland, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman
Ban-ki Moon, UN Secretary-General "He was an unavoidable force against injustice. Madiba's exemplary leadership was based on a collective thinking. Millions of South Africans are now trying to emulate the greatest of this man in what they are doing." Andrew Mlangeni, Mandela’s long-time comrade
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The man who shaped the new South Africa By the end of 1980s, it was clear that apartheid as a political system would soon end. What no one knew was how it would end and what would replace it. The end of the Cold War meant that the United States and Britain no longer felt they had to prop up dictatorships - or white power in South Africa. Many people assumed that democracy and majority rule in South Africa would bring chaos and bloodshed. No political organisation was allowed to non-white South Africans except those created by the apartheid state.
Crushed by the repression of the early 1960s and dominated by the South African Communist Party (SACP), the African National Congress (ANC) was unimpressive. Some of its leaders, including Nelson Mandela, were in prison in South Africa. Despite this, the ANC managed to survive, held together by the personal charm of its indefatigable president, Oliver Tambo, and the rigorous, secretive structures of the SACP. But their leaders had no idea how quickly the end of apartheid would come. They were not even close to preparing for government. Their fears were groundless. Looking back, it is impossible to imagine the end of apartheid and the birth of the new South Africa without Mandela. Jail had strengthened and matured Mandela. For the exiled ANC, he had remained firmly within the ideology and policy of the party, describing himself as its humble servant. Even jailed, Mandela firmly believed in the Freedom Charter: "that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white - that only a democratic state, based on the will of the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or creed." The passionate re-assertion of the fundamental principles of human civilisation by a man imprisoned for 27 years for being black was like the rediscovery of childhood innocence and happiness. In South Africa, those principles became the foundation of the world's most liberal constitution. In the rest of Africa however, the impact was less certain. Among other African rulers Mandela's belief in freedom, democracy and justice sounded like something from another planet. Until the beginning of the 1990s there were only two nominal multi-party democracies on the continent: Botswana and Gambia. Most African countries were one-party states ruled by dictators, many of them military. Opposition was not tolerated. But to Britain, France and the US, Mandela and the new South Africa gave hope for the rest of Africa. The continent could be taken seriously. Mandela also gave hope to ordi nary people in Africa. Wherever he went he was greeted by cheering and dancing crowds. But he did not explicitly promote an agenda of freedom and democracy on these early journeys. Most of the visits were to thank African rulers for the support they had given the ANC during the struggle. During white rule in South Africa, the ANC and its supporters argued that Africa's poverty was the result of apartheid. At one level it was true; Africa's biggest economy was cut off from all but its immediate neighbours. But it was nonsense to blame hunger in Ethiopia on South Africa's race laws. At a deeper level one legacy of colonialism has been a lack of self-belief, belief in Africa, Africans' ability and African institutions. Nelson Mandela changed that. His dignity, self-belief and refusal to become a victim inspired millions of people, especially Africans. Here was a role model for any black people facing oppression. He renewed Africa's pride in itself. In 1994 against all predictions, South Africa's first democratic election passed off peacefully and brought Mandela to power. Under Mandela, South Africa took the political lead in other African crises too. In 1996, Congo - then Zaire - was in crisis and Mandela tried to broker peace between President Mobutu Sese Seko and the rebels headed by Laurent Kabila and backed by Rwanda and Uganda. He did not succeed. He understood clearly, despite his decades in prison, the nature and the power of the symbolic; he was not going to allow any member of the government to release him; he was simply going to be seen walking out. — The independent
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Mathai takes over as envoy to the UK
London, December 10 Born on May 24, 1952, Mathai joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974, after completing Post Graduate studies in Political Science at the University of Poona. He served in the Indian missions in Vienna, Colombo, Washington, Tehran and Brussels. As Joint Secretary (BSM) in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi (January 1995 to February 1998), he headed the division dealing with India’s relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Maldives. — PTI
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"For nothing he achieved was inevitable. In the arc of his life, we see a man who earned his place in history through struggle, persistence and faith. He tells us what's possible not just in the pages of dusty history books, but in our own lives as
well." 
"Mandela was one of the most influential personalities of the century who taught the world the true meaning of forgiveness and reconciliation and steered South Africans on to the path of building a truly
rainbow nation."
"He (Mandela) was one of our greatest teacher who taught by example.He showed the awesome power of forgiveness — and of connecting people with each other...
the true meaning of peace.I hope you will be able to see the rainbow he
created." 
Teary-eyed Thai PM says won’t resign before polls