Statue of Gandhi won’t be removed, says mayor
MAYOR SAYS HE HAS NEITHER DESIRE NOR POWER TO DO SO
A CAMPAIGN to pull down the statue of Mahatma Gandhi has been stopped in its tracks by the city mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby.
Sir Peter said not only did he have no desire to remove the statue, he did not think he had the power to anyway, as the statue was paid for by the community when it was put up in 2009.
On a Change.org petition, the anti-colonial campaigner who inspired people around the world to use non-violent resistance, is described as a “fascist, racist and sexual predator”.
The petition, which has more than 6,000 signatures, calls on Leicester City Council to remove the statue.
Earlier this month, people, including former Leicester East MP Keith Vaz, formed a ring around the plinth to express their support for Gandhi and the statue.
Sir Peter said: “There’s no prospect at all of us removing it. And I’m not sure we’d have the power to take it down anyway.
“It was a community effort to put it there to celebrate someone who, for all of us, was a very inspirational leader in India who inspired the rest of the world with his creed of non-violence.”
Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe, who replaced Mr Vaz when he stood down, has described the debate over Gandhi as an unecessary distraction from the Black Lives Matter campaign.
Sir Peter has written to Mr Vaz, saying: “I am delighted to be able to give you an absolute assurance there is no prospect whatsoever of the council agreeing at any time to the removal of the statue – and certainly not while I remain mayor.”
Statues across the UK are being reviewed by councils in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests prompted by the death of George Floyd in the United States on May 25.
The Gandhi statue was funded with donations from local people to celebrate the man who led the campaign against British dominance of people in India during the early 20th century.
Gandhi, who was born in Porbandar, India, in 1869, studied law at University College in London and campaigned for equality in South Africa before joining the struggle for Indian independence.
He was killed in 1948 by a Hindu nationalist, Nathuram Godse, who was angry Gandhi had supported the British plan to divide India into India and Pakistan along religious lines.