The unveiling of Gandhi statue at Parliament Square in London was shadowed by a comment from Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma.
Gopal, a former diplomat and a state governor, said when Britain was honouring Mahatma with a statue at a prime spot in the capital, a section in the Indian society denigrating the father of the nation by building a temple for his assassin.
He was referring the move by the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha to build a temple to Nathuram Vinayak Godse at Sitapur district in Maharashtra.
“The fact that London, the capital of the then Imperial Power he dis-engaged India from, raises a statue for him even as India has some of her people contemplate a temple for his assassin, shows that Gandhi’s work for truth in freedom succeeds in the most unbelievable ways,” Gopalkrishna said.
Gopal said India needs Gandhi more than anybody else.
“We need him in India today more than we ever have,” Gopal said. “Bapu said there was so much he had left unfinished he would like to be re-born. But he would not want us to be looking out for the re-born Gandhi. In any case, that would be a loser’s way of doing things. India is no loser. India finds herself, from the debris of her mistakes, the ruins of her aspirations. Whenever she has been considered ‘lost’, she has been found by an astonished world, a relieved world, to be as true as she can be to the message of her greatest son, Gautama the Buddha, and to the genius of her immensely wise and even sagacious people, of all faiths and of the other great faith – faith in their striving hands.
The veteran diplomat also said the woman in India, worshipped in concept but neglected, exploited, abused in reality, is the one of the scorching truths of India.
“You were not infallible Mohandas Gandhi, you erred often, as your wife, Kasturba knew more than any other person. But you owned your errors, tried always to be better than your best,” he added. “Bronzed and hearkening , here, in what is your ‘opposite ground’, you will give heart to those who believe in a world without fear of the bully, fear of the bomb and fear of the blatant lie. You will show us, too, that money cannot buy, nor power suborn the truth.”
Gopal Gandhi added: On behalf of the ‘Gandhi family’, by which I mean not his biological descendants – for he did not elevate family descent – but all those anywhere who fight against the tyranny of bigotry and exploitation, I felicitate Great Britain and Her Majesty’s Government for creating space for this Gandhi statue on this great Square. That large ‘family of Gandhi’s values’ celebrates the fact of his statue taking its place right beside that of his political descendant , Nelson Mandela. On behalf of all present here today and the generations of pedestrians, young and once-young, from all nationalities and customs who will see it, I offer to the master-sculptor of this statue, salutations.”