The Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust launches the website it will use to gather donations for the proposed statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Westminster’s Parliament Square.
The website will tell people about Gandhi’s life and teachings, and will also post updates on the progress of the statue.
The idea of a statue of Gandhi opposite the Palace of Westminster was announced earlier this year in India by the Chancellor George Osborne and then-foreign secretary William Hague. The statue will stand alongside other great figures such as Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln.
The Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust supports the ambition that the monument will be in place early next year. It is hoped the statue will provide a focal point for the commemoration next summer of the 100th anniversary of Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa to begin the struggle for self-rule. It also builds up towards the point in 2018 marking 70 years since his death in 1948, as well as to the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2019.
Professor Lord (Meghnad) Desai, founder of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, said: “The UK has a great history of statues being funded through broad public support. It may stand for hundreds of years and so I hope we receive hundreds, if not thousands, of small donations from people around the world — all of whom will be part of history. We want crowd funding because Gandhi is global and belongs to the people.”
The project has the full support of the government, and a special group led by the UK’s Culture Secretary Sajid Javid is advising on progress. Philip Jackson, a leading British figurative sculptor renowned for statues of the Queen Mother and Bomber Command, has been approached to take on this prestigious project.
Please visit – www.gandhistatue.org