THE GANDHI WHO STAYED BACK

 

 

He remains, perhaps after Nelson Mandela, one among the most resolute crusaders against apartheid of his time. Heralded today as a powerful voice defending the cause of justice, ending poverty and preventing human rights abuse, 75-year-old Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s ascent from a modest beginning to that of a revered world figure is a remarkably inspiring tale.

Born on 7 October 1931 in Klerksdorp, near Johannesburg, Tutu initially aspired to be a doctor, but the family’s limited financial means forced him to graduate in Arts instead. After he took up teaching for a living, the disturbances in the political climate of the country swept down on the citizens as came along the notorious Bantu Education Act in 1953 decreeing ‘separation of races’ in educational institutions too. Morally disillusioned, he quit to start ordination training at St. Peters Theological College in Johannesburg.

Leaving for England not long thereafter, where he obtained Bachelors in Divinity and then a Masters in Theology, he returned and resumed with his pedagogic pursuits. Garnering world attention with his passionate speeches against the white man’s excesses, Tutu became the first black to become dean at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg. Thumping another first in 1978 as he became the first black to become General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), his advocacy of nonviolent resistance against the ‘evil and unchristian’ was the making of another Gandhi on South African soil.

Using his position to the greatest good against rampant discrimination, even in the face of authoritarian sabotage, Tutu’s efforts gained international recognition culminating in the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 recognising, among other things, his active role as a prime spokesman of the United Democratic Front (UDF), a coalition of nearly 600 organisations established to abolish apartheid. With the dissolution of the old order, the government freed Nelson Mandela in 1990, and there followed the first ‘multi-racial’ elections in 1994. During the harshest years of apartheid, the Anglican Archbishop faced dirty abuse, arrests and threats for highlighting racial injustice. In a free country now, Tutu went on to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) – a widely-admired panel that investigated human rights violations from the racist regimes of the past and set a global model for other countries trying to come to terms with legacies of political violence. In 1998, he set up the Desmond Tutu Peace Trust, towards research and establishing a nondenominational Peace Trust.

Awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2005 recently, Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh described him as a ‘living Gandhian’; one who, true to his spirit of justice, remains a dedicated campaigner be it lashing out against the Iraq invasion, the release of Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the atrocities in Darfur or increasing health care spends in Africa.

“Sometimes strident, often tender, never afraid and seldom without humor, Tutu’s voice will always be the voice of the voiceless.” Nelson Mandela’s assessment could not have been any better.