Desmond Tutu

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Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner and hero of the South African people as he fought the apartheid regime, unleashed a virulent criticism against the African National Congress, whose procrastination on granting the visa to Dalai Lama led the Tibetan leader to announce he cancelled his trip to South Africa, where he was to give a lecture at a conference in honor of Desmond Tutu.
On Tuesday night, soon after the announcement made by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu said that the African National Congress was worse than the former regime of apartheid, and that ANC’s behavior was “disgraceful.”
Tutu, who won the Nobel Prize in 1984 for his nonviolent resistance against the white rule in South African, invited Dalai Lama, who was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, to celebrate together his 80th birthday.
The South African foreign minister attempted to defend his government by saying that no one denied the visa for Dalai Lama, let alone to please the Chinese regime, which is a very important partner for the African countries.
In a nationally televised conference, Desmond Tutu, who was having a hard time concealing his frustration at the decision Dalai Lama had made a few hours ago in order to spare the South African government the embarrassment of refusing his visa, reminded the ANC that he fought against apartheid side by side with them, and that they should uphold the observance of human rights they had claimed for themselves in the 1990s.
Accusing the double standard, Tutu said that the ANC government was worse than the apartheid regime, because, he argued, the apartheid regime was expected to infringe the human rights, whereas the ANC was expected to uphold them.
He warned the ANC leaders to “watch out” that they had become too complacent, and that they could be whipped out by the people’s revolt as the Arab dictators were toppled by the Arab spring.
He accused the ANC for failing to side with the Tibetans who are oppressed by the Chinese rule, and the president of the country Jacob Zuma for not recognizing the contribution of religion to the ouster of the apartheid regime. He also accused the president that he did not represent him as a citizen.
The spokesman for the government said that the accusations made by the archbishop would be studied careful and a response would be issued at a later time. Meanwhile the government came under severe criticism from human rights activists, intellectuals, and opposition parties.
It is not for the first time that Desmond Tutu lashes out at ANC. He announced that he would criticize the party by the side of which he fought hard every time its leaders are wrong.
Before Jacob Zuma was elected president Tutu announced that he would not cast a ballot, because he was not convinced that Zuma is the right choice. He did vote for Zuma eventually, but said the vote was cause for soul searching.

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