A row has broken out in Leicester in Britain where a section of the local population is opposing a move to install a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
Leicester locals oppose installation of his statue
LONDON: A row has broken out in Leicester in Britain where a section of the local population is opposing a move to install a statue of Mahatma Gandhi as a symbol of the town’s commitment to multiculturalism.
Immigration in the last 25 years has resulted in Leicester having a large minority of Gujarat origin. Keith Vaz, the Goa-origin Labour MP from Leicester East, has extended his full support to the campaign to install Gandhi’s statue, and recently tabled an ‘early day motion’ in the House of Commons on this issue.
However, not everyone in Leicester is as enthusiastic. Campaigners want the statue to be located in the corner of Doncaster Road and Belgrave Road, the epicentre of Asian cultural and business life in Leicester.
The campaign is led by Jitendra Acharya, a functionary of charity organisation Samanvaya Parivar. “We felt Belgrave would be a better home for the statue than London because of the close links the city has with Gujarat, where he was born,” he said.
Samanwaya Pariwar is likely to provide the funds and a local county sculptor is being sought to make the statue. There is considerable support for the statue, but there are many residents who believe a more suitable local person needs to be honoured with a statue.
Among the names mentioned are Alec Jeffreys, who invented DNA at the University of Leicester, footballer Gary Lineker and cricketer David Gower. Expressions of support and opposition to the statue have been reflected in the local media.
In comments posted on an online petition, residents say that the statue would be a waste of the tax payers’ money; that a statue of an Englishman would be more suitable; and that Gandhi’s statue in Leicester would be fine “only if we can erect a statue of Winston Churchill in India”.
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