My Letters - Tutu: In the steps of Mahatma Gandhi

This is with reference to Mark Tully's Tutu: In the steps of Mahatma Gandhi, (January 2). I fully agree with the author. Desmond Tutu, the archbishop of Cape town and Mahatma Gandhi had a variety of things in common - goal, ideologies, beliefs, etc. It was really warming to see the Indian and South African cricket team observing a minute of silence in honour of Archbishop Desmond Tutu before beginning with the test match. This symbolized India's recognition of the link between the Archbishop and Mahatma Gandhi - a physical as well as political link. Both Tutu and Gandhi adopted non-violence to battle apartheid and the independence movement respectively. Both of them were deeply concerned about their country and worked tirelessly till their last breath to achieve what they had always dreamed for. As for Gandhi, it was a place where the minorities were as much valued citizens of the state as the majority of the state. And for Tutu, he wished to make his country, a multiracial nation in which people of all races and creeds coexisted happily. He wanted a country, what he called the "Rainbow nation". 

Regrettably, their hopes and dreams have yet to be realized. In his final year, Tutu stated in his own words that his ideal of a Rainbow nation had not yet come true. Even during his final year, Gandhi hoped and wished that his countrymen would never use violence to resolve any human problem, demonstrating that he was unable to witness what he had envisioned during his lifetime.

 
Just the next day of Christmas, we could hear the militant Hindu leaders calling for their followers to fight Muslims. Christmas celebrations were disrupted in many places by the Hindus. The statue of Jesus was desecrated. Christians were the target. Sikhs butchered two men suspected of sacrilege in Amritsar and Kapurthala. This clearly indicates how often we follow Gandhi's teachings and how much of his wish have we actually fulfilled over the years.

In the end, as the author said, there is always joy in the memory of a life well-lived. The same can be said about Desmond Tutu's life.