Nelson Mandela died on December 6th, 2013 while the whole world lauded him for his struggle for freedom and human values, not just for his country but for all humanity. Ever leader of the world has called him a great human being. Britain and the US lowered their national flags at half staff for his passing. The UN Security Council honored him with a minute of silence. But despite this, it is perplexing that among world leaders, Ali Khamenei did not send a condolence message on the occasion!
Mandela’s life is a lesson for all humanity and it can be summarized in three words: The Long Walk to Freedom. These are also the title words of his autobiography that he chose when he was still in prison with the aim that people of the world know that the road to freedom is a long and difficult one.
As a young man, Mandela took up arms against the apartheid regime in South Africa. He was convicted in court and spent 27 years of his youth behind bars. After his freedom and the end of the apartheid regime, he was elected as the first black president of South Africa. To demonstrate his high human spirit, it is sufficient to point out that he did make himself a presidential candidate after his first term and left that to others.
Mandela received more than 250 prizes and awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize and the UN commemorates July 18 every year as the International Nelson Mandela Day in appreciation of the legacy that he has left for mankind.
But his real legacy was nothing other than his pure non-revengeful spirit. Not only did he not engage in revenge, but during his presidential inauguration ceremony he invited his prison warden and invited the very prosecutor who had asked for the death penalty for him to lunch.
The question that comes to mind is that if the South African regime had not imprisoned him for 27 years, would Mandela’s justice-seeking calls have been heard? Had he not been imprisoned, would the sense of compassion in others have been ignited?
Leaders of Iran’s Green Movement and Mandela
There are plenty of differences between the leaders of Iran’s Green Movement who are under house arrest and Nelson Mandela. But what is common among them is the injustice of their imprisonment.
The apartheid South African regime was at least committed to its own laws and tried and imprisoned him according to them. But the leaders of Iran’s Green Movement have been deprived even of the right to a trial in the supposedly merciful Islamic regime.
Aung San Suu Kyi
The cries of injustice that are made against Mandela are heard around the world, but not by dictators. Ms Sung San Suu Kyi is another example that the leaders of the Islamic republic have witnessed and heard off who after 15 years of prison was released with grand fanfare. Her rightful demands and her manner too earned her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize which was bestowed upon her while she was behind bars.
This woman became the voice of injustice in Burma who rose up against the ruling military junta. Her message too came only in three words: Unity, discipline and love.
Ayatollah Montazeri
It is strange that a regime that has witnessed the ineffectiveness of prison continues to practice it relentlessly. If the leader of the Islamic republic of Iran has not noticed that the message of Nelson Mandela and that of Aung San Suu Kyi became louder with imprisonment because of that injustice, he has certainly seen the ineffectiveness of imprisoning ayatollah Montazeri who upon his release after 5 years of house arrest emerged more popular than before.
The mourning ceremony for ayatollah Montazeri, despite the restrictions imposed by the regime, was a clear message to the rulers of the Islamic order that illegal and unjust imprisonment of Karoubi, Mousavi and Rahnavard are futile efforts because they too like Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and Montazeri will eventually be released and when that happens, their calls for justice will be heard in far many more ears.
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