Nelson Mandela

He has rightly become a symbol of the best aspects of human nature and how they can be utilised by those in power. Nor is he the only non-British person to be honoured by a statue in Parliament Square.

Abraham Lincoln, the man who freed the slaves in the US and forced that great nation to live up to its creed that "all men are born equal"

has similarly been honoured.

It is notoriously difficult to pin down exactly what is meant by British identity, as it will often mean something different to each and every one of us.

However, it can be argued that if it means anything it should be a respect for fairness and tolerance which makes both men excellent candidates for statues outside the Houses of Commons.

Peter Sagar, Newcastle.

I WAS surprised to read Mark Anderson's letter suggesting Nelson Mandela should be regarded as a terrorist (HAS, Sept 3).

More than anyone else, Mr Mandela has ensured the relatively peaceful transition of South Africa from apartheid to democracy. By his Truth and Reconciliation Commission he has allowed the wounds on both sides to be exposed and addressed.

If Mr Anderson wishes him executed, what would he do about the massacre at Sharpeville - 69 dead and 180 injured when several hundred armed officers fired on unarmed black civilians?

Would he want the perpetrators executed, along with officers who tortured and killed Steve Biko and the many other murderers of activists?

What would Mr Anderson suggest the ANC (African National Congress) should have done in the 1960s when 60 years of peaceful campaigning for justice had produced nothing for the non-whites?

He mentions the Church Street bombings, but much of the ANC activities was aimed at damaging infrastructure, bringing down power lines for example.

Mr Anderson talks about "innocent victims", but the vast majority of those were the non-white victims of the regime.

Eric Gendle, Middlesbrough.

I MUST respond to the rather offensive and mean-spirited letters concerning the statue of Nelson Mandela erected in Parliament Square (HAS, Sept 3).

First of all, anybody who thinks that South Africa, and hence Mr Mandela, has nothing to do with Great Britain should go back to school and read their history books.

We must never forget that South Africa for many years was governed by a regime where terrorism and torture had the legal authority of the state. The state motto could have read "Justice for Whites Only".

Mr Mandela, at the time, took on this injustice with the only weapons at his disposal. He paid a heavy price for doing so.

On release from prison he could have sparked off an orgy of revenge.

Perhaps with the wisdom of old age, vengeance was not in his vocabulary.

Instead, he and Archbishop Desmond Tutu steered South Africa into the most amazing non-violent transition of power to black majority rule. Thus, his statue in our country is richly deserved.

A small postscript. Mahatma Ghandi started his legal career in South Africa fighting injustice.

Peter Hill, School Aycliffe.

IT is not often I get angry about letters in HAS, but the criticism of Nelson Mandela (HAS, Sept 3) left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Particularly upsetting was Mark Anderson's vitriolic diatribe against Mr Mandela, a political giant among so many pygmies who was instrumental in preventing a bloodbath in South Africa after the overthrow of the white supremacist regime.

The ANC (African National Congress) leaders were thirsting for revenge after decades of torture, murders and oppression.

Mr Mandela probably saved the lives of countless thousands of white South Africans by introducing a period of reconciliation.

If Mr Anderson had been a victim of the white racist government in South Africa he would be whistling a different tune.

Hugh Pender, Darlington.