God’s own country comes looking for apostle of peace in Gujarat

Municipal officials from Alleppey district in Kerala arrived in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to collect clay from Sabarmati Ashram for a platform that would be built at a proposed 'Gandhi Smriti Mandap' at the district collectorate. The Mandap will also have a statue of the Mahatma.

Seven delegates from Alleppey (Alappuzha) district committee visited Sabarmati Ashram on Wednesday to collect the clay for the construction of the platform.

"The statue will come at Alappuzha district collectorate," said district information officer, N.Sunilkumar, who was part of the visiting team. "It's inauguration, which has been fixed for January 30 (Gandhiji's death anniversary), will be done jointly by Union defence minister AK Anthony and Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan."

The proposed 'Gandhi Smriti Mandap' is unique in another way. While the Kerala government is in charge of the construction of the statue and the adjoining platform, the entire project is being funded by the people of Alleppey. The people have been invited to donate just one rupee for the project.

The collection of clay was done on Wednesday morning. Jayesh Menon, head of Gujarat Malayali Association, was the special guest on the occasion. Amrut Modi, director of the Ashram, said that in 2000, a stone taken as souvenir from Hriday Kunj where the Mahatma had stayed from 1918 to 1930, was put on display at an Indo-Japanese exhibition in Tokyo.