"This is great loss to the ANC (African National Congress), the broader liberation movement and South Africa as a whole. Internationally, he was staunch in his support for the Palestinian struggle," Neeshan Balton, Executive Director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, said. They played major roles in shaping the countrys policies after Mandelas election as the first democratic President of South Africa in 1994. At the tender age of 17, Kathrada participated in the 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign led by the South African Indian Congress. He was among 2,000 people who were arrested and imprisoned for defying a law that discriminated against South African Indians.

Source: India Today March 28, 2017 07:30 UTC