The Man in the Mirror

The life and times of Mahatma Ghadhi, before he became a living legend and in death, forever to serve as a reference point for political maturity, were as ordinary as each of our lives. He is testament to the force of the human spirit and its resilience in the face of huge challenges. We as a world today are better off because of this great man. Thank you India for having given us such a pillar of peace and the first proponent of self-rule through nonviolence and a firm opponent of that singular shame of India - its caste system of untouchability.
Mohandas K.Gandhi, before he attained the distinction of being called Mahatma (Great Soul), hardly seemed destined for greatness (not that this exceedingly humble individual sought fame.) He was a simple lawyer working in S.Africa before he embarked on a journey that would forever change human-human relations.
The greatest lesson that developing nations can draw from the lifework of Mahatma Ganhdi is that monumental change can be brought about by the most peaceful forms of overt protest. The concept of Civil-disobedience to right a wrong, should be urgently nurtured in this Africa of ours where in too many nations, the slightest sign of discontent is taken by the authorities as treasonous behavior.
We Africans, despite deep poverty and underdevelopment, have nevertheless attained a certain level of sophistication and no longer should violence be seen as the only recourse to bringing about social transformation. The continent's peoples know only too well that violence begets violence.
An important point should be made at this point and this is that Gandhian principles of peaceful disobedience do not only apply to national or international political issues. In fact, at the core of Ghandh's philosophy is the enhancement of the self to the level when the 'self ' exists solely for the common good. This selflessness was reflected in each and every one of his actions in Ghandh's private life and formed the basis on which he went on to help free 700 mln people from 400 years of colonization - without firing a shot.
A bittor irony of fate that one so benign would die by an assasin's gun … but then what dove of peace that ever walked this earth has not met a violent death?
We applaud the government of India and particularly its earnestly engaged diplomatic representative in Ethiopia, H.E. Ambassador Gurjit Singh, his enlightened spouse, and the Indian Embassy proper, for staging a comprehensive and eminently successful series of functions linking the Ethiopian Millennial celebratory year with India's 60th anniversary of Independence as well as the celebration of MahAtma Gandhi's 139th birth year.
May this day be heard loudly in Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and other challenged countries who have nothing to lose except only misery if they can find it in themselves to think peace instead of war. At this point, we remember especially, our suffering brothers and sisters in Darfur who are being butchered by people of their own faith - a religion whose very name means peaceful submission. It is our fervent hope that the feuding rebel armies, the murderous janjaweed and the inexplicably warmongering government of Sudan will soon realize that violence is not a solution.
We also take a moment to recall the memory of the recently slain A.U. peacekeepers in Darfur. They only went there to help and their ultimate sacrifices shall never be forgotten.
May the significance of Ghandhi’s message, sometime in the not too distant future, perform its function so well to make it unnecessary because everyday of the year, everywhere in the world will be filled with peace. Unrealistic? Ghandhi would beg to differ.