NELSON MANDELA NOTES

Q1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration?
What did it signify the triumph of?
Ans. Really, a large number of international leaders attended the inauguration ceremony of
the new republic. The inhuman regime of 'apartheid' was universally hated and condemned.
After a long struggle, the blacks won a glorious victory under Nelson Mandela. The end of
racial discrimination and segregation was a common victory for justice, for peace and for
human dignity. Therefore, the presence of so many international leaders conferred glory and
hope to the newborn liberty.

Q2. How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
Ans. Mandela's understanding of freedom constantly changed with the age and experiences.
As a child, freedom meant to run in the fields, to swim in the stream, to roast mealies under
the stars, etc. As a student, he wanted freedom only for himself. It meant the transitory
freedoms of going and moving out freely. When he grew up his own freedom became the
greater hunger for the freedom of his people.

Q3. Why was 10th of May, 1994 a red letter day in the history of South Africa?
Ans. 10th of May, 1994 was a red-letter day in the history of South Africa. It was the day
when the hated regime of apartheid came to an end. A new democratically elected non-racial
government under Nelson Mandela was to be sworn in. Many international leaders and
dignities came to pay their respect to the new government.

Q4. After achieving political emancipation, what does Mandela want to do in South
Africa?
Ans. South Africa and the blacks have achieved their political emancipation. Mandela
pledges to liberate his people from the bondage of poverty, wants, suffering, gender and other
discriminations. He wishes the reign of freedom will never die in South Africa.

Q5. Why did the same generals salute Mandela who would have arrested him not so
many years ago?
Ans. In the apartheid regime, Nelson Mandela was a rebel and was in prison for years. After
the end of the apartheid, he was the head of the non-racial democratically elected government
of South Africa. The same generals who would have put him in prison not so long ago, were
obliged to salute the president of the new Republic of South Africa.

Q6. Why was Mandela overwhelmed with a sense of history and what bad thing
happened in the first decade of the 20th century?
Ans. Mandela is overwhelmed with a sense of history and remembers when the hated
apartheid policy was introduced in South Africa. After the Boer war, the white people of
South Africa patched up their differences. They set up a system of racial domination against
the black people of their own race.

Q7. Why does Nelson Mandela call himself simply the sum of those African patriots
who had gone before him?
Ans. Nelson Mandela gratefully acknowledges the sacrifices of thousands of his people who
fought against the apartheid regime. Their suffering and courage can never be cemented or
repaid. Mandela humbly believes that he was simply the sum of all those African patriots
who had gone. The policy of apartheid unleashed a reign of terror and oppression on the
black people but they could not break their resolution and determination. The deep
oppression produced patriot of extraordinary courage, wisdom and generosity. It produced
thousands of Tambos, Sisulus, Sadoos, Fischers and Sobukwes of their time.

Q8. Why did Nelson Mandela feel that both the oppressor and the oppressed are robbed
of their humanity and hence, both of them must be liberated?
Ans. Nelson Mandela rightly believes that both the oppressor and the oppressed are robbed of
their humanity. A man who takes away another's freedom is a prisoner of hatred.
He is locked behind the bars of prejudice and hate. A person can never be free if his freedom
is taken away. Hence, the oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

Q9. Which twin obligations does Nelson Mandela mention in the lesson? Why were he
and the rest of blacks able to fulfil those obligations?
Ans. Nelson Mandela thinks that every man has twin obligations in life. The obligation of a
man is to his family, to his parents, to his wife and children. He has another obligation too.
He has an obligation to his people, his community and his country. Every man has to do his
duty according to his situation and strength. But in South Africa it was impossible for a man
like Mandela or other blacks to fulfil these obligations.
If a man tried to live as human being, he was punished and isolated. If any person in South
Africa tried to do his duty to his people, he was forcefully separated from his family and his
home. He was forced to lead a life of secrecy and rebellion. Nelson Mandela placed his
people above his family. In attempting to serve his people, he was prevented from fulfilling
his obligations as a son, a brother, a father and a husband.

Q10. How was Mandela’s concept of freedom different in boyhood and youth than what
it was in his mature age? How were his hunger for the freedom of his people?
Ans. Nelson Mandela was not born with a hunger to be free. In his boyhood, he felt free till
he obeyed his father and tribe. The concept of freedom was limited only to run in fields,
swim in the local stream and ride on the slow-moving bulls. When he was a youth, he
realised that his boyhood freedom was an illusion. His freedom had already been taken away
from him.
He yearned to enjoy transitory freedoms like staying out at night, reading and going
anywhere as he pleased. When he joined the African National Congress, only then his own
freedom became the greater hunger for his people. He desired that his people should live their
lives with dignity and self-respect. This hunger for freedom forced him to be a rebel and live
in secrecy away from his family.