Western media
confirms that the man who has ruled
Zimbabwe for 37 years looks deposed after a shock coup was orchestrated by the
vice president he sacked last week. Robert
Gabriel Mugabe was born on February 21, 1924 at a Catholic mission village near
Southern Rhodesia's capital city, Salisbury. His father, Gabriel Matibiri, was
a carpenter and his mother, Bona, was a religious teacher. He qualified as a teacher at the age of 17,
later studying at Fort Hare University in South Africa, where he met many of
southern Africa's future black nationalist leaders. It was during this period
that Mugabe was introduced to Marxism by South African communists. He later embraced Marxist doctrine, but claimed that
his biggest influence was Mohandas Gandhi because of his behavior during the
Indian struggle for independence.
When he returned to
Southern Rhodesia in 1952, he was 'completely hostile' to European imperialism.
He headed to Ghana to teach in 1958, where he was influenced by president Kwame
Nkrumah. Mugabe claimed tat went to the
country as an 'adventurist' because he wanted to see what an independent
African state looked like (Ghana was the first nation in the continent to win
freedom from a European power). In
1980, he was elected Prime minister after independence elections; in the
military actions in 1982 the Govt was accused of killing thousands of civilians. In 1987, the amended the constitution and
became the President. In 2000, Zimbabwe
witness turmoil and ugly scenes of land seizures owned by the While. In 2008, Mugabe and opposition candidate
Morgan Tsvangirayi agreed to share power after contested election; Britain's
Queen Elizabeth II annuled Mugabe's honorary knighthood. The elections were set to be held in
2018. Early this month, Mugabe fired
deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa, appearing to position first lady Grace Mugabe for
vice president post.
In his early days, Mugabe
repeatedly called for violence against
white people in Rhodesia, lashing out at them in racist rants as being
'blood-sucking exploiters' and 'sadistic killers'. The freedom had been possible due to violent
insurgency and economic sanctions forcing the Rhodesian government to the negotiating
table. Mugabe took control of one wing in the guerrilla war for independence -
the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and its armed forces - after his release
from prison in 1974. His partner in the
armed struggle - the leader of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU),
Joshua Nkomo - was one of the early casualties of Mugabe's crackdown on
dissent.
His second wife, Grace,
the First Lady has been viewed as a
front-runner to succeed her husband after decades of his vice-like grip on
power. But now has ran away to Namibia. The
man, Mugabe, aged 93, once heralded as liberator is seen differently by his own
people. In the final decades of his
rule, Mugabe - one of the world's most recognisable leaders with his thin
stripe of moustache and thick-rimmed spectacles - has embraced his new role as
the antagonist of the West.
The man believed to
be behind the coup in Zimbabwe is the country's recently sacked vice president,
Emmerson Mnangagwa - also known as 'The Crocodile'. Mnangagwa, 75, is a
notorious and much-feared figure in Zimbabwe, having led a vicious crackdown on
opponents in the 1980s with the help of the dreaded North Korean-trained Fifth
Army brigade. Thousands of civilians were killed during the Gukurahundi
campaign, but Mnangagwa has always denied involvement. His reputation for
cruelty is so legendary that he was one of the few leaders of Zimbabwe known to
drive around the country without security.
With Zimbabwe in
turmoil, it perhaps is from one tyrant to another !!
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
15th
Nov. 2017.
PS : Remember very well that famous 175 n.o. by the great Kapil Dev, retrieving the team from 17/5 against Zimbabwe. Earlier on 9th June 1983 In their very first one-day international, Zimbabwe announced their arrival with one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, beating Australia by 13 runs at Trent Bridge. Brief scorecard reads : Zimbabwe 239 for 6 (Fletcher 69*, Butchart 34*) beat Australia 226 for 7 (Wessels 76, Marsh 50*; Fletcher 4-42) by 13 runs.. Zimbabweans had played with ease the renowned Australian pace attack of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Geoff Lawson and Rod Hogg.
