http://www.publishaletter.com/readletter.jsp?plid=29444
Dear Editor: July 17 is observed by the UN as International Mandela day. The UN Secretary General observed on 2011 that "Nelson Mandela has been a lawyer and a freedom fighter, a political prisoner, a peacemaker and president. A healer of nations and a mentor to generations, Nelson Mandela .. I join with the Nelson Mandela Foundation in encouraging people around the globe to perform 67 minutes of public service on Mandela Day ..Nelson Mandela himself once said. 'We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference'. Let us embrace this message. Tutor a child. Feed the hungry. Volunteer your time at a local hospital or community center. Make the world a better place". http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2011/07/17/un-secretary-general-message-on-nelson-mandela-international-day/ Yes, it is in the hands of inter-state organisations, state, markets, community, families and individuals to make a difference. But is feeding the hungry, tutoring a child, volunteering time at local hospital the way forward to end apartheid? Are his dreams of putting an end to apartheid fulfilled in South Africa and globally? Mandela at the time of freedom of South Africa from apartheid perceived apartheid it to be a state led process of segregation (backed by violence) of races and providing differential power, resources, and services to each. But has removal of this state led barrier reduced apartheid in South Africa? The answer is no. Majority of blacks in South Africa are much poorer than the Whites, living in abysmal conditions barring the elite amongst them. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/south-africa-after-mandela/242021/ There is a subtle apartheid all over the world. Against blacks, dalits (in south Asia), tillers in developing economies (who are being evicted through creation of Special Economic Zones), slum dwellers (who are being evicted through beautification projects), migrants, people of diverse sexual identities and gender orientation and women (with exceptions) within households. Who is to blame? It is not just state that is responsible, but the entire neo liberal paradigm, imposed on states, markets, communities and families by inter-state organisations (in particular Bretton Woods Institutions) and silently endorsed by UNSC. While Mandela believed in truth and reconciliation very much influenced by Gandhi, what is required is a process of peaceful democratic revolution from below with alliance of oppressed groups who live below $2 per day and let them define pathways ahead. Moving the World from economic growth, human development, human rights to human Justice is the pathway ahead and it is to the left parties globally that we need to turn to- but they too need to listen to voices of oppressed and not impose intellectual views from top. Tutoring a child, feeding the hungry and volunteering time at a local hospital or community center is simply not enough. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
