"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought white domination, and i have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if need be, It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
-Nelson Mandela
It is one thing to speak like this from the safety of a newsroom or in front of a crowd at a town hall, but to speak with this conviction at a trial for which you are being accused of a number of crimes which could lead to a lifetime of incarceration is nothing short of amazing. Even more amazing is that Mandela was able to endure 27 years in prison without succumbing to anger or resentment, or becoming disillusioned. Far from it, I remember when he was released, and he spoke these same words.Obviously his conviction remains unshaken.
In a similar way, Gandhi did an incredible job leading India to it's independence through his own unshakable conviction. India had claimed it's independence much earlier than Africa and I feel owe a lot of their success to leaders such as Gandhi, as well as the Congress Party. However, much like Africa, the transition was not smooth. Unfortunately the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan has been horrible, and now that they both have nuclear arsenals, there is always fear of what would happen should conflict flare up again. In other ways though, India has been incredibly successful. Their economy is doing incredibly well (even as much of their population is poor), and they have managed to create working democracy in a country so diverse that there exist 23 official languages.
Unfortunately, the struggle in Africa was met with some problems not faced by Gandhi. Although the tactics used were very similar the fact that major political parties were made illegal made non-violent solutions much more difficult. A number of other factors were explained in the chapter such as the strength of India's Congress Party,the gradual transfer of power from Britain, and the largest proliferation of technical skills among many Indians, all of which were not so in Africa. These I am sure have contributed to the fact that Africa, unlike India, is not in a very good state of affairs right now.
I also remember Rwanda in the 90's, and unlike the Berlin wall coming down, images of it were rarely on the TV, but nonetheless, it was a conflict that most people had heard of and amounted to genocide. I think the combination of these images bring to mind the idea that while we should strive to encourage people to break from oppression and establish for themselves systems of government that work for the people, we must also be aware of the challenges this transition may bring about and provide the support necessary for a transition to be one that creates a thriving country like India and avoids many of the pitfalls seen in Africa.
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