Student plot to block Gandhi statue ‘because he was racist’
A STUDENT politician who once tried to ban clapping has slammed plans to unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, calling him a ‘virulent anti-black racist’.
The 9ft monument is set to be placed outside Manchester Cathedral next month to ‘spread a message of peace, love and harmony’.
But Sara Khan, the ‘liberation and access’ officer at Manchester University’s students’ union, is fighting to block the tribute.
The statue of Gandhi, who used peaceful protests to secure India’s independence from British rule in 1947, was donated to the city by the Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur, a spiritual group based in his ancestral homeland of Gujarat, following the Manchester Arena bombing which killed 22 in 2017.
However, Gandhi Must Fall, an international protest organisation, has launched a campaign in Manchester, which 22-year- old Miss Khan is promoting online.
In a letter, campaigners ‘demand that Manchester City Council reconsider [the statue] on the basis of Gandhi’s anti-black racism and complicity in the British Empire’s actions in Africa’. Miss Khan, who was behind a motion last year to ban clapping at her union because it could ‘trigger anxiety’, said: ‘Gandhi was a virulent anti-black racist.’
Gandhi pioneered non-violent protest tactics, including strikes, boycotts and vigils.
Gandhi Must Fall supporters criticise him for being a stretcher-bearer for the British Empire in the Boer War – ignoring the fact that carrying injured Zulus moved him to change his views. A Manchester City Council spokesman said: ‘Most people will see the statue in the context in which it was intended – to spread a message of peace, love and harmony.’
The Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur said: ‘This call appears to diminish Gandhi’s rich and complex history.’
Miss Khan was yesterday unavailable for comment. Her proposed ban on clapping – to be replaced with ‘jazz hands’ – was overturned.