Mandela reminds us of Mahatma Gandhi, says Mukherjee at Johannesburg memorial service

President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday paid tribute to South Africa's first black President Nelson Mandela at a memorial service here, and said that he reminded India of Mahatma Gandhi.

The two-hour long memorial service which was held at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, where Mandela had made an appearance during the football World Cup in 2010, was attended by heads of 53 countries.

Calling Mandela 'Madiba' as he was referred by the South African people, Mukherjee said, "His life and struggles - which represented 'hope' for the downtrodden in South Africa and all over the world, remind us of the principles that the father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, stood for. In the face of the severest persecution, punishment and relentless oppression, Nelson Mandela continued his non-violent struggle with dignity and pride, refusing to be intimidated. He never diminished his commitment to his kind of 'satyagraha' against injustice and inequality. His stoic determination, patience and magnanimity reminded us, in India, of the revolutionary methods of Mahatma Gandhi."

"For India, the passing of Nelson Mandela represents the departure of a venerated elder, a great soul. We pray for his eternal peace. Madiba lived a life of sacrifice and privation as he pursued a seemingly impossible goal for his people - and the world is richer for his legacy. We, in India, have long admired him - and all that he stood for - and we will always cherish his friendship and love for our people,"

"To us, Nelson Mandela was a visionary. He epitomised an uncommon humaneness that inspired all of mankind. He was an icon of irreversible social and economic change - the kind of transformation and emancipation that his people had only dreamt of. A towering personality of great compassion and wisdom, he guided his nation, bruised by decades of apartheid and violence, to embrace his simple message of tolerance and harmonious co-existence."

Recounting Mandela's visit to India in 1995, Mukherjee said, "It was an honour for us to confer upon Madiba our highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna when he visited India in 1990. Madiba received an unprecedented public welcome and was felicitated in Delhi and Calcutta.

"When he again visited India in 1995 as the first President of post apartheid Africa, Mandela visited Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram and said that it was for him a homecoming, a pilgrimage." Mukherjee added.

He further said that India associate's South Africa with the first chapter of Mahatma Gandhi's freedom movement. Gandhiji had staked his career as a budding lawyer in South Africa to resist segregation and inequality, before he embarked for India and took up the same cause in India.

Acknowledging the close ties India have with South Africa, he said, " Madiba often acknowledged the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and the first Prime Minister of India, Jawarharlal Nehru on his own thought process. It is no wonder then that we, in India, attach great sentiment to our unique friendship with the people of this great country South Africa."

"We have no doubt that the world will honour the historic legacy of Madiba, one of the most influential personalities of our century, who taught the world the true meaning of forgiveness and reconciliation - and steered South Africans onto the path of building a truly Rainbow Nation," he added.

Mandela is supposed to be buried on Sunday in Qunu, near Johannesburg, after his remains will be placed for three days in a government building in Pretoria, where he was sworn in as President.