the beleaguered, gave voice to the muffled and shone spotlight to the plight of the downtrodden, then Desmond Tutu can be styled as one of the few humans blessed with a richly expended life.When the news of his demise at the age of 90 broke just a few hours after the 2021 Christmas, the world mourned the passage of a man who showed humanity that revolution must not always come from the cold nuzzles of guns and the violence they crank up.
Despite his non-violent stand, Tutu was not undisturbed by the iron-clad government hand that sought to vigorously quiet all voices of dissent against apartheid. Once after his public endorsement of economic sanctions, he was cross-examined by two ministers and was eventually remanded, with his passport seized.Tutu was also arrested and his travelling documents confiscated for participating in peaceful rallies.
“Let us work to be peacemakers, those given a wonderful share in Our Lord’s ministry of reconciliation. If we want peace, so we have been told, let us work for justice. Let us beat our swords into ploughshares.”Tutu had always described South Africa as ‘The Rainbow Nation’ because of its multiracial population. Following the end of apartheid and the emergence of Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s first black president in 1994, the name stuck.
The justice advocate is gone to rest in peace.