Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and former party president Sonia Gandhi today paid tributes to anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela on his 100th birth anniversary and recalled the strong historic bonds between their party and South Africa's African National Congress.
Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi wrote separate letters to President of the African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, and hailed Mandela's moral strength and leadership.
"I will always cherish the memories of my meeting with Madiba. We spoke at length about the need for a nation to forgive its oppressors and to heal, but to never forget the oppression unleashed on it," Rahul Gandhi wrote in his letter to Ramaphosa.
Rahul Gandhi said that Mandela had told him that it was India's freedom struggle and the life of Mahatma Gandhi that had helped him shape his beliefs.
Sonia Gandhi, in her letter wrote, "Nelson Mandela provided moral strength and guidance at a time when the world was confronted with a crisis of leadership."
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