Question

2. Write an article on the parallelism in the lives and work of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. (word limit - 200 words)​

Answer 1

Answer:

This article first appeared on Creamer Media’s

This contribution is adapted from a presentation to a panel hosted by the Consulate General of India, to honour the centenary of Nelson Mandela and in preparation for next year’s 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, at Constitutional Hill on 2 October 2018.

Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” Gandhi and Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela were very different types of persons in most respects. But it is too easy to dismiss a comparison by virtue of Mandela having taken up arms and Gandhi devoting his life to peace and incorporating his commitment to non-violence within his overall world view of satyagraha (roughly meaning “soul force”). We need to avoid essentialising the advancing of peace and war, in the case of both, because the course they followed, when they chose their strategies and tactics, were never unqualified.

Beyond that, there are certain key features of their lives that enable us to talk about common characteristics.