AS in Guyana, the Indian media have been carrying glowing tributes on the anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela from Indian politicians as well as intellectuals at the universities (I spoke at Indira Gandhi University), and the common man. 

India declared five days of mourning as a mark of respect to the South African leader’s legacy.  The Indian President, Leader of the ruling alliance, the Opposition Leader, and head of the left went to the state funeral.
The relationship between India and Mandela has been long and enduring. Mandela maintained contact with India while he was in prison for 27 years and after he was freed. Apartheid was abolished in 1990, and a post-apartheid nation held its first multiracial elections in 1994, overwhelmingly voting for Mandela as the country’s first black president.
In gleaming through the Indian media, Mandela is referred to as a giant and the politicians call him a great friend. Indian intellectuals I interacted with view him as a source of inspiration for future generations. These glowing tributes came in because Mandela touched the lives of the Indian people in deep, personal ways as no other Black leader did in any part of the globe. He deeply admired and respected Indians worldwide for standing with the anti-apartheid movement.
Many recall Mandela with fondness the few times he visited India before, during and after he became president. Commoners know him as first elected black president expressing respect for his role in fighting racism and for also opposing and condemning those who organised attacks on Indians in South Africa. There are over one million people of Indian descent in South Africa and Mandela rallied to their protection when their homes were invaded and they were beaten and robbed.
Mandela reminded the anti-Indian racist attackers that Indians were also victims of the apartheid system and that many Indians fought apartheid alongside him and many went to jail serving lengthy jail sentences as he.  Mandela’s lawyers were Indians and his Attorney General after winning the presidency was his Indian lawyer who served time in jail fighting apartheid. It was not surprising, therefore, that all the Indian newspapers carried editorials saluting the iconic figure.
Mandela is only one of two foreigners (Mother Theresa is the other one but she had acquired Indian citizenship and was given a state funeral when she died)  who was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in honour of his contribution to the friendship between South Africa and India.  When Mandela was freed from prison, India was the first foreign country he visited as a gesture for India’s unswerving support to the anti-apartheid struggle and the financial contributions to the movement.  India gave tens of millions of dollars to the anti-apartheid movement and the front line countries threatened by the racist White government.  When other African governments failed to back India for a UN Security Council seat in 1997, supporting Japan instead because of the greater financial assistance they obtained from Japan, then President Mandela rallied with India out of principle, expressing gratitude to India for its consistent support.
In his condolence message on Mandela’s passing, President Pranab Mukherjee, who was Foreign Minister when Mandela was President, said: “Mandela was a statesman, world leader and icon of inspiration of humanity. He was a great friend of India and his contribution for strengthening the close ties between our two countries will be always remembered”.
The India media quoted Vice President Hamid Ansari, as describing Mandela as the “greatest personalities of our times who represented the best of human spirit values”. He added: “While his courage, determination and sacrifice inspired millions of people during the anti-apartheid movement, his message of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation thereafter, united them and led the rainbow nation on the path to peace and progress.  His life and message of courage and goodness would continue to inspire and guide all of us around the world in the years ahead”.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated Mandela’s passing was “as much India’s loss as South Africa’s. He was a true Gandhian. His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come. I join all those who are praying for his soul”.
The opposition prime ministerial candidate for the BJP, Shri Narendra Modi, the most popular political figure in India as I found in my surveys, associates Mandela with Mahatma Gandhi as Manmohan also did. Modi tweeted in the social media: “Mandela’s struggle against apartheid featured several South Africans of Indian origin; he later appointed several South African Indians to his cabinet after becoming President in 1994”. Modi said he deeply admired Mandela “for his remarkable, lifelong contributions to the promotion of freedom, democracy, justice, human rights and reconciliation.” Modi stated: “Many of us are not fortunate to see Gandhiji alive. We are blessed to see the life of Nelson Mandela, who embodied his values & ideals”.
The newly elected Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, said “in Mandela’s passing, the world has lost a great leader, but most importantly, a beautiful soul”.
The Indian Parliament suspended business last Friday to allow M.Ps to pay tribute to the great leader. Many recalled meeting the South African leader and visiting the prison where Mandela served time. Senior BJP Leader L.K Advani referred to Mandela as a great leader and the father of a free South Africa, who inspired his nation. Many M.Ps compared Mandela in the mold of Gandhi who had supported inclusive governance. Mandela was a great admirer of Gandhi and even delivered a feature at a conference on the great Mahatma in Durban when he was president. As the Indian media, politicians and people asserted, Mandela would long be an inspiration to all of humanity because of his selfless struggle for racial equality and freedom.

VISHNU BISRAM