In the wake of the global row against racism across the world – earlier sparked by the death of George Floyd- protesters across the world have targeted statues of prominent leaders and influencers, fighting for their removal from public sights.
Mahatma Gandhi, India’s prominent independence and ‘peace’ protest leader has not been spared.
Although he has been one of the most celebrated figures of the 20th century for leading non-violent resistance against British colonial rule in India, his derogatory views and comments towards black people in Africa have made him unpopular over the years, and especially amongst Africans.
Those familiar with his writings insist Gandhi was well known for his racist slurs. And, in one of his writings, he actually referred to black people in South Africa as “kaffirs” – an insensitive racist slur to refer to black people or an equivalent of
Countless times he also insisted Indians were a superior race to black people in Africa.
In 2018, students in Ghana finally won a milestone achievement after their petition to remove Gandhi’s statues in their University Calls was granted and the statue was pulled down.
Recent rage against the Indian non-violent campaigner has also started labelling him a “fascist, racist and sexual predator.”
In one of the online petitions with over 10 000 signatures, Leicester Black Lives Matter protesters have petitioned for the removal of his(sic) statue from Belgrave Road in Leicester.
Public outrage over statues come after the statue of a 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston was toppled and thrown into the river by protesters in Bristol, UK, while a number of Christopher Columbus’ statue in the U.S were defaced and decapitated by American natives and protesters.
Calls for the removal of statues include that of the imperialist and Zimbabwe’s colonizer, Cecil Rhodes.
The British government has responded by blocking and bordering most public statues for fear of being vandalised.