British Prime Minister David Cameron led Britain to pay homage to India’s Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi…writes Kaliph Anaz
British Prime Minister David Cameron led Britain to pay homage to India’s Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
The prime minister was addressing the audience at Parliament Square during the unveiling of 9-feet tall Gandhi statue created by British sculptor, Philip Jackson. Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled the statue in the presence of Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan; Lord and Lady Desai; Sajid Javid, British Cultural Secreatary and several dignitaries from the British-Indian community.
“This stunning 9-foot bronze statue is a magnificent tribute to one of the most of the towering figures in the history of world politics. And for me there are three reasons in particular why I believe this statue is so important for our country,” Cameron said. “The first is that in putting Gandhi in this famous square we are giving him an eternal home in our country. The man who turned the politically unimaginable into the politically inevitable, whose work in South Africa paved the way for Mandela and whose doctrine of Satyagraha became the inspiration for the civil rights movement across the world.
“That inspirational man worked out who he was and what he stood for right here in Britain. It was in London as a young man that Gandhi first learnt to petition, to draft letters and make speeches. It was here – where he was treated equally by his colleagues at Inner Temple – that the foundations were laid for his battles with segregation and discrimination.
“And even years later when he was striving for Indian independence his respect for the people of this country shone through. If Gandhi could have lived anywhere in the world outside India, he said it would have been London. We should be proud of that. And we are proud of him.
“Second, this statue celebrates the incredibly special friendship between the world’s oldest democracy and its largest. I think of the one and a half million Indians who do so much to make Britain the country it is today” the prime minister added.
“Finally, this statue celebrates the universal power of Gandhi’s message. Many of his teachings remain as potent today as when he first said them: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
The day was added to history in golden letters. Bapu is still creating history several decades after his assassination by a Hindu fundamentalist. Cameron is the political descent of Winston Churchill who called Gandhi – the Half Naked Fakir. The unveiling of the statue was done by Mr Jaitley, a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janta Party – an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi shocked the audience when he mentioned the ongoing plan in India by some people to build a temple for Gandhi assassin Nathuram Vinayak Godse.
“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,” said Mr Gopal.
“We need Gandhi in India today more than we ever have. He 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. I have used ‘she’ for India with deliberation for that ‘she’, the woman in India, worshipped in concept but neglected, exploited, abused in reality, is the one of the scorching truths of India.”
Keith Vaz MP, the UK’s longest serving MP of Indian-origin, was the official representative of the Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, at the historic unveiling ceremony.
“There are very few events which bring with them such a sense of symbolism, as today’s unveiling ceremony,” Mr Vaz said. “ Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most influential individuals in history, and to have him to be immortalised outside the world’s oldest Parliament truly demonstrates the strength of the United Kingdom’s relationship with India.
“It is also a special day for 1.4 million British Indians, a community which has so powerfully influenced the United Kingdom’s greatest institutions, such as the National Health Service. It is the diversity of cities like Leicester which make them truly special, and I look back to the incredible unveiling of our Gandhi statue in 2009.”
Priti Patel, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and UK Indian Diaspora Champion said: “The statue of Gandhi will be an incredible symbol of democracy and celebrate the life of a man of true greatness.
“His story and work is one that the whole of humanity can learn from and be inspired by but it, of course, also has a special resonance with the Indian Diaspora community living in Britain today. The statue will be a lasting tribute to our strong ties with India.”