To wonder why there is suddenly a statue of Ghandi in London?

[AWholeLottaNosy]

So, I'm not against this, just a bit bemused as to why someone who fought against British colonial rule is being celebrated by a statue in Parliament Square? Why now? Is it something to do with trade agreements with India? As I said, I'm not against it, he did a huge amount for his country but I've been to the Ghandi museum in Madurai in India and there's photos there of people who died fighting against the British. Does anyone have any views on this? Apologies if there are already any threads on this, didn't see any so thought I'd start one.

So he is amongst other great figures for freedom, statues like Nelson Mandela & Abraham Lincoln. It's because of what he stood for.

There was an article on Radio 4 about this the other day. They did give reasons, but I can't remember what they were They did discuss the irony of it, but the general consensus was, that it was a good thing and he was a top chap.

'A top chap' lol. I doubt they thought that at the time...

There's always been a statue of Ghandi in London. Go to Bloomsbury.

And YABU. Completely. He was a great man.

That BASTARD!

It commemorates 100 years since he began his fight for independence, upon his return to India, from south Africa.

But yeah, there's been a statue in Tavistock Sq for yonks. In fact the bus bomb that exploded there could be 'seen' by the statue, which is a horrible coincidence for someone who preached non - violence. The bastard.

Yes, clearly Ghandi was a bastard. World peace and all that. Tut. How dare he?

OP, do you understand what "British colonial rule" was?

I prefaced my post by saying I'm not against this at all just found it a bit curious that they decided to do this now and was wondering about the motivations for it?

Wasabi, you beat me to it

His name is spelt Gandhi

I was a bit raised-eyebrow when I read about this. I can't figure out the motivation.

Certainly, Gandhi did a lot to focus on India's independence from colonial rule, but given that Britain couldn't financially support/control the Empire after WWII, independence was probably a given at that point.

Apparently, Gandhi's view was that post-colonial India should revert to village economies, rather than towns/cities and industrialisation. Nehru had different ideas, and I think it was better for India that Nehru was elected.

Allegedly, one of Gandhi's entourage said that it took a lot of money to keep Gandhi in poverty.

Thanks, haveago