Tutu, moralist in an amoral world

The death of South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town on Sunday at the 90 truly marks the end of a moral crusader, a man who fought political battles on moral and idealistic grounds. He was the vocal anti-apartheid fighter through the 1970s and 1980s, and he berated the racist regime of whites on grounds of injustice. He did not fight the apartheid battle as a black against the whites. He lifted the fight to a higher plane of humanity and principles.

After the end of apartheid, he headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which has set out to record the facts of brutal crimes committed during the apartheid era. He kept the proceedings above the level of mere acrimony and racial resentment. There were times when he broke down when he heard the testimony of cruelties committed. What he wanted from the commission was redemption and forgiveness on all sides. He was an inspiring figure who kept out of politics and acted as a lightning rod for politicians in South Africa as well as abroad. It is not an easy thing to be a moralist and a religious person. He used his religious position to spread the message of compassion and forgiveness, and he managed the message of morality through humour and wit.

He told his followers: “Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.” Bishop Tutu did not spare the leaders of African National Congress (ANC) led by Nelson Mandela when they came into office for neglecting the poor blacks.

This man of small physical stature used his moral stature to rebuke and reprimand those in power. He criticized the South African government for refusing a visa to Tibetan Buddhist spiritual head, the Dalai Lama, with an eye on diplomatic sensitivities of China. He won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984 for his non-violent fight against apartheid. Steven Gish, biographer of Tutu told Al Jazeera, “He never hated his oppressors and always believed in dialogue and appealing to people’s moral conscience.”

It has been lamented for a long time now that we do not have the people who know what is right and good and who are willing to stand up for them. Tutu stood up fearlessly for the right and the good, and he spoke fearlessly and tirelessly about it all the time and everywhere.

He was not the proverbial preacher who put you to sleep with his soporific sermon. He spoke passionately and he laced it with wit and humour. He communicated and he connected with people. And that was the importance of Tutu. Though he belonged to South Africa, and he was involved in the struggle of the people of South Africa, he did not confine himself to the affairs of his country. He spoke up for the Palestinian people and he led a group of The Elders comprising former American president Jimmy Carter and former Irish president Mary Robinson and went to Darfur in Sudan.

Tutu did not seek popularity and he did not say and do things which would make him popular. That is why, even people who did not see eye to eye with him could not but respect him. It is easy to be admired by people who agree with you, but the real test is when people who disagree with you respect you.

Tutu commanded this kind of respect. Every country and every generation needs a figure like Tutu to look up to. It is an irony that in a world where questions of morality have almost disappeared, a man who preached morality, albeit laced with humour and compassion, should be mourned globally.