Memorial reference: AJK PM, journalists pay tribute to Mandela

Say there is more to learn from Madiba’s long walk to freedom than to mourn his death.

Speakers at a memorial reference at the National Press Club on Saturday paid rich tributes to the iconic leader Nelson Mandela and described his death a great loss to all freedom movements and oppressed people of the world.

The event was organized by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the National Press Club (NPC) which was chaired by Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed and PFUJ Secretary General Khurshid Abbasi, said a press release.

They termed the life and struggle of Mandela a source of inspiration for all freedom-loving people. They said that there is more to learn from his memoir “Long Walk to Freedom” than to mourn his death.

Premier Majeed said that Mandela worked for humanity and will always remain a source of great inspiration for freedom movements of the world especially for the Kashmir struggle.

He announced that Mandela’s death will be mourned at state level in the AJK and flag will fly at half mast.   “He was the father of all resistance movements and leader of the world not merely of South Africa,” PFUJ President Afzal Butt said.

“There is also a lesson for all leadership to learn. Mandela could have ruled South Africa till his death, but he chose one term after freedom and paved the way for others. Today, not many people know who is the president of South Africa, but everyone knows who is Mandela,” PFUJ Secretary Khurshid Abbasi said.

The speakers shed light on Mandela’s sacrifices.

The participants through a resolution said that they shared the grief of the people of South Africa over the death of their great leader.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2013.