Srinagar/Jammu, December 07, (Scoop News)- Jammu and Kashmir Government is observing five-day state mourning as a mark of respect to former South African President Nelson Mandela, who passed away on Thursday night.
Official spokesman today in a statement said that the State Government has decided to observe State Mourning from December 6th to 10th.
Statement said that the national flag and the state flag will fly half-mast on all buildings and there will be no official entertainment during this period.
Nelson Mandela, an iconic global symbol of struggle against injustice and of racial reconciliation, in a condolence meeting held at Srinagar, Jammu & New Delhi.Padmashri S P Varma along with other dignitaries offered floral tributes at International Youth Hostel, New Delhi where the volunteers of Gandhi Global Family & YHAI participated to show their respect to the greatest Gandhian of the world. Padmashri Varma said that Nelson Mandela showed world the path of global peace by following the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi. He not only inspired the people of Africa but today he’s the most remarkable role model for the entire world fraternity. His notion of “Rainbow of Cultures” is universal & can be
accepted in all the parts of the world. His thrust on equality, pluralism & multi-ethnicity are the key components of democracy.
In his message, Vice President Gandhi Global Family, Padmashri S P Varma conveyed heartfelt condolences to bereaved family and nation and paid tributes to Nelson Mandela. Mr Verma said that Nelson Mandela was, next only to Mahatma Gandhi, the tallest personality of the 20th century. He said that Mr Mandela frequently praised Gandhi for his principles of ‘Satya and Ahinsa’ – the belief that truth must prevail in all considerations of politics and that the concept of nonviolence must be upheld.
Mr Varma said that Gandhi Global Family will held a “Tribute March” world-wide in remembrance of great Gandhian Nelson Mandela in coming days. In the end, two minutes silence is also observed by the volunteers.
All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) eader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq paid glorious tributes to anti-apartheid icon and global defender of human rights, Nelson Mandela over his demise at the age of 95. He said the world still remembers his immense contribution towards defending the rights of people. He said the biggest tribute to this leader would be that international community should shun its double standards on human rights issues.
National Executive of NPP today in an emergency meeting expressed deep shock on the death of one of the great revolutionaries in the 20th century who fought for the freedom of the people of South Africa in particular and struggled for dignified living of all the people of the world.
Prof. Bhim Singh, Chief Patron of National Panthers Party who chaired the meeting of the National Executive said that South Africa has lost a great and noble leader of the time whereas people of India have lost one of the greatest friends in the century. He said Nelson Mandela’s life and experiments in the freedom struggle of his country have left a unique foot-print for the younger generations to live in peaceful co-existence, honour and dignity.
The Panthers Party in its condolences resolution expressed sympathy with the people of South Africa in particular and the African continent in general.
It may be mentioned that former South African President Nelson Mandela, who passed away on Thursday night in Johannesburg. He had been suffering from a lung infection for several months. Mandela ultimately died at home at 8:50 p.m. local time, and he will be buried according to his wishes in the village of Qunu, where he grew up. The exhumed remains of three of his children were reinterred there in early July under a court order, resolving a family squabble that had played out in the news media.
Nelson Mandela (Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela) is South Africa’s first black President(May 10th 1994 to June 14th 1999). He was one ofthe most renowned fighters against the Apartheid regime for the rights of the black population. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.From September 3rd 1998 to June 14th 1999, he was the general secretary of the Non-Aligned Movement. He is an honorary member of more than 50 international universities.
Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th 1918 near Umata, in the eastern part of Cape Province. He was the eldest son of a Thembu tribe chief. The tribe spoke the Xhosa language. Mandela was 9 years old when his father died of tuberculosis.
Mandela emerged after 27 years in prison (1963-1990) to become president of South Africa and is generally considered the father of his country. After his presidency, 1994-1999, he founded a global charitable organization. There have been many activists who have been mistreated and/or unjustly imprisoned, but Mandela’s story captured the imagination of the public — and artists — much more intensely than most.
Nelson Mandela was the most respected, and probably the most loved of all world leaders in the late 20th century, and the most enduring of the heroes who emerged from the political convulsions of the 1980s. He personified the peaceful and rapid transition of power in South Africa that many had thought impossible, while his commitment to reconciliation was underlined by his own experience of personal sacrifice and forgiveness.
For 27 years in jail he refused to compromise his principles, while for most of that time his own party, the African National Congress (ANC), was broken. But he emerged in February 1990 to become the dominant influence in his country, without whom peace was unlikely. When he was elected President in April 1994, he was accepted by whites as well as blacks as the embodiment of his country’s new democracy, with a unique moral authority.
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