Ahmed Kathrada - A Hero of Peace
Mallika Chopra - November 11, 2005
In June 1964, Ahmed Kathrada, along with Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to life in prison during the famed Rivonia Trial for sabotage against the South African government. He was the only Indian among the famed Rivonia 7 convicted. Kathrada is a major figure in the history and shaping of the new South Africa. On Wednesday night, I had the honor and privilage of co-hosting a reception to launch Ahmed Kathrada's new book, Memoirs.
It was the second time I met Mr. Kathrada, a living hero who to me represents truth, justice, forgiveness and the hope that peace and reconciliation is a possibility.
My first encounter with him was during a visit to South Africa several years ago when Mr. Kathrada was gracious enough to host several of my classmates from Business School and me to Robben Island. This event is one of the most memorable ones in my life. "Kathy", as he is referred to, took us through the prison, telling us about his daily life with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and the many other heros of the anti-apartheid movement. It was a rivoting day to hear about the torture, the political planning, the games, the thrills, the fight for basic rights, and the deaths that they faced over two decades in prison. He told us about going over twenty years and not seeing children or hearing their laughter.
And most remarkable to me was his sentiment of forgiveness. He writes in Memoirs:
While we will not forget the brutalities of apartheid, we will not want Robben Island to be a monument of our hardship and suffering. We would want it to be a triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil; a triumph of the wisdom and largeness of spiritu against small minds and pettiness; a triumph of courage and determination over human frailty and weakness; a triumph of the new South Africa over the old.
Nelson Mandela has written about Kathrada saying:
…He is a person of strong opinion and sharp insight. But he also has great humor and humanity. These qualities shine through his letters as they illuminate the ways in which we rose to the challenge facing every prisoner: how to survive prison intact…to emerge from prison undiminished.
And, Archbiship Desmond Tutu adds:
We are richly blessed in South Africa. People like Kathy have helped because of their lack of bitterness, their magnanimity, and generosity of spirit, and willingness to forgive, even after so much suffering. That is why we avoided revenge.
At the book party, Sydney Poitier introduced Ahmed Kathrada. Mr. Poitier spoke about 11 weeks he spent shooting a movie in South Africa in the 60's. He said coming from the West, he thought he new what racism was. But that 11 weeks in South Africa was the most hellish in his life. In his talk, Mr. Kathrada pointed out that he and many of his comrades were considered terrorists, and that the US government, in particular, was one of the few countries that continued relations with apartheid South Africa. He pointed out that things began to change when citizens around the world (and particulary in America) NOT their governments, began to say that apartheid was unacceptable.
At Intentblog, we are fortunate to have many people who are dedicated to conflict resolution and seeking a vision of peace. I would encourage you to read Ahmed Kathrada's Memoirs. It is an inspirational book that gives hope that in a world of oppression and violence, forgiveness, compassion and change is truly possible.
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Posted by Mallika Chopra at November 11, 2005 09:32 AM
Comments
Dear Mallika,
What a wonderful post.
Robben Island stands as a monument and symbol of the long, fierce and bloody struggle against apartheid and against racism by the courageous, long-suffering peoples of South Africa; just as the Statue of Liberty stands as a symbol of universal freedoms in America.
But it also stands, as Mr. Kathrada says, as a symbol of the triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil and recriminations, as well as the dawn of the much-anticipated democracy and electoral choice in this seared land and the end of centuries of oppression and tyranny.
May the current custodians of this new South Africa forever proudly hold the mantle of freedom and peace and never let it slip away.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!
Love,
Ron.
Nice posting and thanks for introducing such a great personality. I am going to read this book to my kids.
Mallika,
Good to have you back. I have missed you. You were busy while you were gone!
How wonderful that you were able to spend time with one of your heros. Thanks for sharing.
Love, Bo
Wow! You have met Mr.Kathrada twice! One lucky girl. He was one of the greatest Indian orgin in the struggle and an inspiration to manywho have read about him. That's a book not just for us, but for our children to learn the value of democracy and freedom which would not have come but for people like him. Good Post Mallika.
Karu and Vijay
Thank you for bringing up the point about sharing Ahmed Kathrada's story with our children. This is so necessary!
It is said often that the new generation forgets the trials of the generations before them. I feel that in the US, we do a good job of remembering Martin Luther King, but there are so many others to also teach our children about.
I have heard complaints from my cousins in India about their children not knowing much about Mahatma Gandhi -- to be honest, I don't really know about how he is used in the curriculum, but I hope that he is honored.
And, of course, I think people like Ahmed Kathrada and Mandela, who continue to fight for justice, should be introduced to our children as modern day heroes.
Love Mallika
What a beautiful post. We all benefit from learning about the triumphant lives of these heroes.
What amazes me about "heroes" is they dare to do; what most of us fear. IT is their convictions that gave them strength; truth, to guide their way; and courage, to stay on path towards peace for ALL.
Change is as iminent as the breeze; as perpetual as a moment.
The both, made such sacrifice; and paid the ultimate price of prison.
IT must be so satisfying to know; that thier efforts were not in vain; nor forgotten; and that the path they paved and made ready; is still about to harvest it's fruitful changes.
Kudo's, to all men/women of bravery!!
North
The Greatest Roles are the Hardest To Play
~An Act of God
I don’t know who I am. Sometimes when I look at myself in the mirror, I find myself staring at a stranger. Read more on Kabir, Katrina and ketchup dreams at http://www.sanitysucks.blogspot.com/
Hi Mallika, good post. thanks.God bless.
Mallika, thank you for your article.
ITS SO EASY TO APPRECIATE FORGIVENESS!
I was privileged to be guided around robben island by a larger-than-life woman who was an ex-prisoner. Her booming voice -much more a remnant of who she was than an attempt to be heard -gave away far more than information, it revealed pain,torture,perhaps even bewilderment, both in being alive, as well as in understanding the logic of a world in which colour was ever so important.
Perhaps she could forgive, and greatness to her and all those who could do so. I, who have never experienced apartheid, cannot. Why? Through their pain just past, I fear that forgiveness can lead to forgetfulness! I fear that forgiveness granted easily sweeps crime away without punishment! I fear lessons will be forgotten soon. I fear that forgiving has become fashionably easy, and unless we live on the edge of pain, we will let in the past all too easily.
Joy to Kathy! He has the greatness to grant such an emotion. But as for me, living a life of a happy tourist, merely in receipt of knowledge torturously earned by others, I truly fear that if they forgive too easily and too well, I could be a victim of an enemy that has not been punished enough! Suspend the sentence.Yes! Understand that the future is important. Yes!Advocate peace and love. Fine, yes!But I beg you... do not forget! Atleast so easily, atleast in your lifetime, and in mine.
Prabhu, Compelling comment. Forgive NOT Forget, I think is key.
Forgiveness by those who experienced the worst of apartheid - decades in prison, torture, executions, for seeking equality -- is both overwhelming and inspiring to me. Of course it sounds fashionable, but when you listen to these leaders you hear genuineness. They really do not seem to hate the white man.
And it is so relevant today -- there are no shortage of political prisoners labeled as terrorists, and my sense is there will be not be much forgiveness from those held unjustly at Guantanomo Bay, no?
But, I do think that you can only move forward on an individual basis by embracing the anger, but then figuring out how to heal personally, socially, historically.
Dont know if any of the above makes sense...
Anyways, my visit to Robben Island and meeting Kathrada and Mandela even for such a short time was an incredible and life transforming experience. Glad you were able to see it through those eyes as well...
This is the gift of your writing, Mallika - to let us see and feel - through those eyes....that lead to .... what becomes a transformation in our very being.
Love and Blessings to you,
~~ Kate
p.s.
it is true as you say, healing is first a personal journey, but One's example can be a touchstone, a revealing of character that illuminates the ability, for all to see, and embrace!
Dear Mallika,
Of course you are right in your viewpoint!
I wish I had been embraced with the honour of meeting the people you did! But in that one sentence of yours..." moving forward on an individual basis by embracing the anger." therein lies the irony and the agony.
It is on an individual basis that I find "moving forward" an uneasy emotion. The pain of apartheid was experienced by SINGLE black men,women,children - and how frightened I am that they are able to forgive. Instead,although I am inspired by the thought of forgiveness on a grand and human scale...just as one fears the fearlessness of an angry mob made up of single people otherwise understanding.. so I am convinced that the pain of an individual can be met only by the deep acceptance of guilt of individual proponents of apartheid and not by the collective white race.
Let every white man who hurt - look his victim in the eye, place his hand upon his heart and say "I am sorry, and I was wrong", and then let his victim grant his forgiveness. That human transaction I will trust.
In the end of course, when the cows come home, and the eternal starlight smiles upon an insignificant earth, I agree with you.. what hope is there but optimism and forgiveness..?But let there be memories as well!!!
Prabhu
Does forgiveness have to be from both sides? This is definitely a unsettling and complicated question/emotion.
"Let every white man who hurt - look his victim in the eye, place his hand upon his heart and say "I am sorry, and I was wrong", and then let his victim grant his forgiveness. That human transaction I will trust."
I agree with you that would likely never happen.
Kathrada did speak about the stigma that came with being a white person in South Africa. He said that one of the first things that Mandela did when he became President was invite all the former First Ladies of South Africa to tea. And there was one -- I forget her name, who was the wife of former President who had been a staunch apartheid leader -- who was sick. So, Mandela flew to her and had tea at her home. Symbolically, that gesture challenged individuals to come to terms with their own notions of forgiveness.
All that said, Kathrada did say that the reason for writing his Memoirs was to record history, to remember. He said the already todays youth in South Africa have forgetton, so it is critical to recognize and talk about the evils of apartheid so society can really grow and move forward.
Thanks, Prabhu for helping me think this through! I think these feelings, emotions, notions are totally relevant to what we are facing in the world today.
Mallika
Humbling indeed-the Mandela tea gesture.
I guess, in the end, those qualities of humility, forgiveness and enormous humanity shown by those that did suffer, belittle the spontaneity of the simple emotion called revenge that may so easily haunt the soul of lesser mortals such as I.
Its such a gut churning topic - this - and if nothing else, and far beyond the few words exchanged between us thus far, its a strangely cleansing experience to even enter into a world that is beyond the comfort zone that we currently inhabit! How grateful we should be that we do live how we live..?
Thank you Mallika, and look forward to your next interesting blog. Real heroism never goes out of style!
Prabhu
Hey Mallika:
Apologize for being off topic.. but I just wanted to leave a simple tip to enhance the aesthetics and the space use of a post like this where a small pic is included.. If you look at the code for the image insert it will read something like
What you need to do is add the style verbiage and make it look like this:
This will make the words envelope the picture... like in this post:
http://www.drishtikone.com/?q=node/653
hope it helps you.. :-)
cheers,
desh
www.Drishtikone.com
You guys are the 42457 best, thanks so much for the help.
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Caty Tota commented on Ahmed Kathrada - A Hero of Peace
You guys are the 42457 best, thanks so much for
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desh commented on Ahmed Kathrada - A Hero of Peace
Hey Mallika:
Apologize for being off to
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prabhu commented on Ahmed Kathrada - A Hero of Peace
Humbling indeed-the Mandela tea gesture. -
Mallika Chopra commented on Ahmed Kathrada - A Hero of Peace
Prabhu
Does forgiveness have to be from b -
prabhu commented on Ahmed Kathrada - A Hero of Peace
Dear Mallika,
Of course you are right i
Respect!
Extraordinary league of gentlemen!
God bless, Love, Passion,