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NELSON MANDELA: A GEM AMONG THE GIANTS OF HUMANITY
Memorial Service at the Indiana State House
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
December 8, 2013
Kanwal Prakash Singh.
Mr. Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, a Nobel Laureate for Peace, a great statesman and humanitarian of our times, evokes many images: a revolutionary, a freedom fighter, an enlightened teacher to the world, and a venerated community elder and beloved Tata Madiba to his people.
I see Nelson Mandela as the Father of a free South Africa, an honorable public servant, an emancipator, and as a rare gem among the giants of humanity. His successful fight against tyranny of apartheid: injustice, racial inequality, and oppression, and achieving freedom from wrongful indignities for the Blacks in South Africa will stand as a crowning achievement. This is an everlasting testimony of one ordinary man’s amazing triumph in the face of incredible odds to bring about change. He suffered hardships and invested blood, sweat, and tears to honor his vision of uplifting and transforming those who were suffering under unjust and unfair laws.
Nelson Mandela made public service and common good an honorable calling and a struggle for righteous change, including forgiving and working with his former tormentors.
President Mandela symbolizes a higher assurance that great souls inspire and enlighten us and leave an everlasting imprint of moral conscience on the soul of humanity for generations to come. Nelson Mandela stands with President Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, Pope John Paul II, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama in their tireless quest for a just measure of dignity and sunshine for all God’s Children.
We proudly join legions of Mr. Mandela’s admirers across the continents and cultures that are paying tribute to this good and gracious man, a truly iconic and remarkable public servant, who leaves behind a legacy of timeless lessons for each of us, and especially for our leaders. Nelson Mandela is asking each of us to assure the basic rights of everyone as inalienable sacred rights and as universal blessings. He is asking us to take a page from his exemplary testimony and unite, bridge unfortunate divides, and adopt a culture that no sacrifice or struggle is too great to make things right, to make our collective mandate to uplift humanity a reality.
President Mandela: May your soul rest in much-deserved and rightly-earned eternal peace among the stars. May each of us find hope and inspiration, light and challenge from your life and legacy: that the “impossible is nothing” when we see a higher purpose in our opportunities and responsibilities; keep faith with ourselves and people we lead and serve.
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