GUWAHATI, Dec 6 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today deeply mourned the demise of a South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela and an icon of the humanity�s anti-racial discrimination struggle.
In a statement here, Gogoi said the great leader, who has left an indelible imprint on the sands of time, led his country out of decades of apartheid. �We�ve lost one of the gems and a beautiful soul that the world has ever produced. He belongs not only to Africa but to the entire humanity,� said Gogoi, adding that the world has lost a colossus, an epitome of humility, equality, justice and peace. He expressed the hope that the great leader would continue to motivate and inspire generations to work for justice and humanity.
The State president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Sarbananda Sonowal has also mourned the death of Mandela. He said in a statement that Mandela worked for an apartheid-free world and he �dedicated his life for the equal status of the blacks with the whites�. Humanity will always remember him for the services he rendered to uplift the status of its oppressed and exploited section, said Sonowal.
