Ela Gandhi saddened by the removal of her grandfather’s statue
"He fought all his life against the compartmentalization of people."
GRANDDAUGHTER of Indian Independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, Ela Gandhi says she is saddened by the removal of her grandfather’ statue at the University of Ghana in Accra. The removal of statue has been strongly objected by several local Gandhian advocacy groups.
According to the University, the statue was removed following complaints from faculty and students that Gandhi was racist toward black Africans. The statue was donated to the university in 2016 by the Indian government, prompting critics to create the hashtag #GandhiMustFall to draw attention to derogatory statements the young Gandhi had written while living in South Africa.
“I think that is a judgmental statement about a person based on one or two statements without giving any credence to statements made, which negate the racist slur that has been attached. It is particularly disturbing because he fought all his life against the compartmentalization of people and the labeling of individuals. He himself was very much conscious of people’s need to relate to their own before they can relate to others. This is the reason he did not take up the issues that confronted African people in South Africa, for instance,” said Gandhi, who heads the Gandhi Development Trust in Durban.
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Meanwhile, Phumlani Mfeka and Zweli Sangweni, former leaders of the Mazibuye African Forum, accused of hate speech against Indians appeared in the Equality Court in Durban on Thursday before magistrate John Sanders adjourned the matter for a ruling to be delivered in April next year. The case against the two and Mazibuye African Forum was brought by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation in 2014 and is based on utterances recorded in newspaper articles.
The applicants want some of the utterances declared hate speech and for the two men to apologise and be fined R50000 to be donated to an orphanage in Ingwavuma. The protests against Gandhi are not limited to Africa, in Davis, Calif., a similar statue has been protested, and plans to honor Gandhi with a statue in London have also met opposition.
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