Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in South Africa in 1918 and educated in law. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 to resist apartheid policies and went on trial for treason in the 1950s-1960s. This led him to help form the military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe and he was sentenced to life in prison from 1964-1990 for plotting to overthrow the government. Despite being imprisoned for nearly 30 years, Mandela's reputation grew as a symbol of resistance against apartheid. After his release, he was elected President of the ANC and worked to achieve the goals of the anti-apartheid movement. Mahatma Gandhi was a prominent Indian political leader

2. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on
July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu
Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort
Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in
1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was
engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's
apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-
1961 and was aquitted in 1961. After the banning of the ANC in
1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing
within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered his
proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those
members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela's
campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC.

3. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was
arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with
hard labour. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and
the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to
stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by
violence.
His statement from the dock received considerable international
publicity. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including
Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to
1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape
Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the
mainland.

4. During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela's reputation grew
steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black
leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance
as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He
consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain
his freedom Nelson Mandela was released on February 18, 1990.
After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life's
work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost
four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of
the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been
banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while
his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the
organisation's National Chairperson.

5. Mahatma Gandhi was a prominent Indian political leader who
campaigned for Indian independence. He employed non-violent
principles and peaceful disobedience. He was assassinated in
1948, shortly after achieving his life goal of Indian independence.
In India, he is known as ‘Father of the Nation’. Mohandas Gandhi
was born, 1869, in Porbandar, India. Mohandas was from the
social cast of tradesmen. His mother was illiterate, but her
common sense and religious devotion had a lasting impact on
Gandhi’s character. As a youngster, Mohandas was a good
student, but the shy young boy displayed no signs of leadership.
On the death of his father, Mohandas travelled to England to gain
a degree in law. He became involved with the Vegetarian society
and was once asked to translate the Hindu Bhagavad Gita. This
epic of Hindu literature awakened in Gandhi a sense of pride in
the Indian scriptures, of which the Gita was the pearl.

6. He became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement
campaigning for home rule or Swaraj. Gandhi successfully
instigated a series of non violent protest. This included national
strikes for one or two days. The British sought to ban opposition,
but the nature of non-violent protest and strikes made it difficult
to counter. Gandhi also encouraged his followers to practise inner
discipline to get ready for independence. Gandhi said, the Indians
had to prove they were deserving of independence. In 1930,
Gandhi led a famous march to the sea in protest at the new Salt
Acts. In the
sea they made their own salt – in
violation of t British regulations. Many
hundreds arrested a and Indian jails
were full of Indian independence followers.

7. After the war, Britain indicated that they would give India
independence. However, with the support of the Muslims led by
Jinnah, the British planned to partition India into two – India and
Pakistan. Ideologically Gandhi was opposed to partition. He
worked vigorously hard to show that Muslims and Hindus could
live together peacefully. At his prayer meetings, Muslim prayers
were read out along side Hindu and Christian prayers. However,
Gandhi agreed to the partition and spent the day of
Independence in prayer mourning the partition. Even Gandhi’s
fasts and appeals were insufficient to prevent the wave of
sectarian violence and killing that followed the partition. At the
age of 78, Gandhi undertook another fast to try and prevent the
sectarian killing. After 5 days, the leaders agreed
to stop killing. But, ten days later, Gandhi was shot
dead by a Hindu Brahmin opposed to Gandhi’s
support for Muslims and the untouchables.

8. The legacies of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma
Gandhi transcend time, in terms of the impacts
they each had on civil rights and equality. They
were men of different times, yet they drew upon
similar principles in their quests to help
humanity. While their causes were distinct to
each of their homelands, they inspired similar
reverence among followers, eventually standing
as inspiration worldwide.

9. PRESENTATION MADE BY – PRINKLE SETHI
IX-A