Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest human beings to ever have walked on this earth, died at the ripe old age of 95. His life has been an inspiration for hundreds of millions and his legacy is hope for the downtrodden and oppressed of this earth. Mandela, known lovingly by his tribal name Madiba, was a life lived in sacrifice and service for his people. He was a man who brought revolution, which changed the shape of a country and gave power back to the people to whom it belonged. The people who had been enslaved by the colonialists saw hope in the person of Mandela and he did not fail them. Mandela’s greatness does not lie in getting his people what anyway belonged to them but in his acute sense of justice and forgiving nature. He was the man who forgave the people who had enslaved his nation for hundreds of years and had imprisoned him for 27 long years. This kind of generosity and forgiveness needs a certain kind of character and Nelson Mandela was a living example of that. He not only forgave his oppressors but also decided to work with them for the betterment of his people and his country.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a brainchild of Mandela, is a small but successful part of his great legacy. Through the strategy of telling the truth and reconciling with it, Mandela gained what many nations have failed to gain after decades of warfare and unrest. People like Mandela are not for one age or one nation — they are there for all ages and all nations. He was a true leader and his power did not lie in vitriolic or empty slogans; he practiced what he preached and provided a role model for his fellow human beings all over the world. His clarity, kindness and forgiving nature make him stand tall over his contemporaries. He was a torchbearer of justice and equality for nations all over the world.
We in Pakistan have a lot to learn from this great man’s legacy. Pakistan stands at the crossroads of history as a nation of 200 million people, without direction, unity and leadership. We need our very own Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which can discover and tell the truth about our country’s 66-year history, a history that is marred with coups, a major civil war, human rights violations, discriminatory laws, bigotry and obscurantism. Once the truth is discovered, the next step could be seeking forgiveness and that can start from apologising to our brothers and sisters in Bangladesh for the crimes committed during the 1971 war. This commission can also ask people to come up, acknowledge and apologise for their roles in different military coups, destabilisation of elected governments and rigging elections. Pakistan as a state owes an apology to its religious minorities (I hate to use the word minority because religion should not be a scale for majority or minority) for all the atrocities that have been committed against these peace loving and patriotic communities in the name of religion.
If we as a nation want our country to be respected and to stand tall in the comity of nations we will have to end religious apartheid. Yes, I am calling it religious apartheid because Pakistan as a state treats minority religious groups as second-rate citizens, and this is apartheid! The state will have to treat all its citizens equally. In turn, all the citizens should have equal rights and opportunities to go as far as they want to in any sphere of life. This is the only way to move forward for us and this is the only path that we can take if we want to survive as a country.
Justice and equality for all will be the best way to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s life. Let us, as a nation, come up with a new social contract for the state of Pakistan, a contract that does not favour a group of people based on their beliefs but treats all citizens of Pakistan equally. Let us make Pakistan a people’s republic where all people have equal rights, and, yes, all the people does include the 10 million non-Muslims of Pakistan. Let us make Pakistan a place where people can dream and live their dreams, let us make Pakistan a place where people are not hindered in their pursuit of life, liberty and happiness because they belong to a certain religious community or sect. That will be the best tribute we as a nation can pay to the man who spent his life fighting for equality. Let us become a free nation signifying the meaning behind the words of Nelson Mandela: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
You ran a successful race. RIP Madiba.
The writer is a linguist and sociopolitical analyst