New Delhi:
South African anti-apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu died on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said. He was 90.
Tutu was one of the best known figures across the globe. President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is “another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans”.
He further said, Archbishop Tutu had helped bequeath “a liberated South Africa”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted saying, “Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was a guiding light for countless people globally. His emphasis on human dignity and equality will be forever remembered. I am deeply saddened by his demise, and extend my heartfelt condolences to all his admirers. May his soul rest in peace.”
As per a report by Reuters, Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 post which he was hospitalised several times for treatment.
Tutu was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his non-violent resistance to the apartheid regime.
He was one of the driving forces behind the movement to end the policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the white minority government against the black majority in South Africa from 1948 until 1991.
For the unversed, Tutu had coined and popularised the term “Rainbow Nation” to describe South Africa when Nelson Mandela became the country’s first black president.
Over the last two decades, Tutu had spoken on a range of topics including Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, LGBTQ rights, climate change and assisted death.
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