Comparison between Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela of lifestyle, method of struggle .
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Both Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were outstanding leaders of men and the present destinies of their respective countries have been shaped by them.
Gandhi and Mandela mobilized the masses against oppression, against hatred and against prejudices. They suffered in jails, they suffered politically but they steadfastly pursued their missions.
The main difference would lie in the fact that Mandela’s fight was of a higher and different order than Gandhi’s. Gandhiji fought for independence from the foreign powers which he believed could result in economic emancipation and political empowerment of the natives. Mandela had to fight a bigger curse- the phenomenon of apartheid, where one human was segregated from the other due to his color and the dark-skinned were meted out sub-human treatment. Gandhiji had no such cancer to fight against the British. If at all we Indians ourselves had divided ourselves into several castes and other sects for which the British could not be held responsible.
There is another major dissimilarity in their ways. Gandhiji’s methods of Civil Disobedience and non-violence earned global acclaim and even the British feared and respected him. They could not keep him in prison for long without damaging their own image. Hence Gandhiji could use his methods as an effective counter against the imperialist British.
Mandela did not have this privilege and he had to suffer incarceration for a very long period. Also, Mandela had to briefly stray from the path of non-violence knowing well that the White regime did not understand the language of non-violence.Mandela, however, returned to a non-violent path later.