The term politics might not agree with everyone on Earth. It has danger associated with it as the path is not always easy for people who choose to foray into the realm of politics. Naturally, several individuals who ventured into politics had to suffer the ramifications, and one the ugliest of those are to be thrown in a jail. In this article, we shall look into some of these political prisoners and try to understand the lives they had.
Kim Dae-jung:
Kim Dae-jung struggled all his life for the cause of democracy and human rights, until he was brought in power finally. However, his reign was short-lived as he was kidnapped from a hotel room in Tokyo, by the members of KICA. He was later brought to his Seoul residence but placed under house-arrest there too. Life for him had never been easy.
Yasser Arafat:
Yasser Arafat is probably the only person on the list who has been able to inspire hate and reverence alike. It is quite a challenging affair to place him in any one watertight compartment when it comes to judging what he had done in his lifetime. Yasser Arafat led his people with wisdom and diplomacy. But, he still fell short in some places which led to his eventual doom.
Xanana Gusmao:
Xanana Gusmao was arrested in November, 1992 under charges of subversion and for possessing forearms illegally. Though he spearheaded East Timor’s Independence movement, he could not save the day when it came to his own life. However, one must acknowledge and appreciate his iron will and strength of character that no amount of torture could intimidate or break him. He was abused but he rose stronger.
Mordechai Vanunu:
The man lived his life abiding by principles and working for the cause of his people. But funnily enough, he was arrested for something that had to do nothing with his political career. He was charged for having illicit affairs and this is exactly what led to his doom.
Vaclav Havel:
A writer of plays, Vaclav Havel went on to become one of the most important political leaders of his country. He changed the fate of his people and brought their plight to light. However, he was arrested and thrown into the prison, from where began a new journey of his- to rewrite the destiny of his people.
Mahatma Gandhi:
Mahatma Gandhi is revered all over the world by the name Bapu and is known to be The Father of The Nation (India). He was arrested several times for his attempts to free India from the tyranny of the British and gain independence. Gandhi’s life is something to be proud of and students learn of him as a part of their curriculum.
Conclusion:
The life of all these political leaders only teaches us to be the best version of ourselves and rise above fear and prejudices. There is so much that one can do with life and we should all aspire to lead a life like the ones mentioned above.