Nelson ‘Gandhi’ Mandela passes away

Johannesburg, December 6
Nelson Mandela, who was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi in his long struggle to dismantle the apartheid regime in South Africa and served as its first black President, died at his home today at the age of 95 after a protracted illness.

Placed on a par with civil rights icons Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King and often called the “Gandhi of South Africa”, Mandela was hailed by leaders across the world as a towering personality and a colossus in his lifetime. “Our beloved Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the founding President of our democratic nation, has departed,” President Jacob Zuma, clad in black, said in a televised address to the nation as he announced the demise of the Nobel laureate.

South Africa declared 10 days of mourning. Zuma said Mandela would be laid to rest on December 15 at Qunu in Eastern Cape province. A recipient of Bharat Ratna, Mandela was getting medical care at his home in the suburb of Houghton here since September, after three months in a Pretoria hospital for a recurrent lung ailment.

5-day mourning in India

India will observe five-day state mourning from December 6 as a mark of respect to Nelson Mandela, the government announced on Friday. — IANS