Known in India as the ‘Father of the Nation’, his teachings inspired the late Nelson Mandela to end the apartheid in South Africa. While Haile Selassie I, the Emperor of Ethiopia said “Mahatma Gandhi will always be remembered as long as free men and those who love freedom and justice live," he said. However, not all the people from the continent find the Mahatma inspiring.
An online petition started by the professors at the University of Ghana has acquired over 1000 signatures. The petition calls for the removal of a statue of Mohandas Gandhi from is grounds in Accra. The academics argue that Gandhi, who lead India's non-violent movement to freedom from British colonial rule, had a "racist identity”.
The petition lists quotes from Gandhi Serve - an online resource that has collated the works of Mahatma Gandhi - in which he described Africans as "savages or the Natives of Africa" and "kaffirs" (an insulting racial slur for a black African).
One example quoted is a letter written by Gandhi to the Natal parliament of South Africa in 1893, saying that a "general belief seems to prevail in the Colony that the Indians are a little better, if at all, than savages or the Natives of Africa.”
"How will the historian teach and explain that Gandhi was uncharitable in his attitude towards the Black race and see that we're glorifying him by erecting a statue on our campus?" the petition adds.
The statue in question was a gift to the Ghanaian government from the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, who visited Accra in June. A few Ghanaians used hashtags like #GandhiMustComeDown to echoing the sentiments of the professors.
Daniel Osei Tuffuor, a former student of the University of Ghana who has signed the petition, said “Ghanaians should be confident in themselves and seek to project our own heroes and heroines. There is nothing peaceful about the activities of Gandhi. Anyone who claims to uphold peace and tranquillity but promotes racism is a hypocrite.”
Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson and biographer of Mohandas Gandhi, said that his grandfather had first travelled to Africa at the age of 24 to practice law. He was undoubtedly "at times ignorant and prejudiced about South Africa's blacks. Gandhi too was an imperfect human being... the imperfect Gandhi was more radical and progressive than most contemporary compatriots.” Rajmohan said.
Dr Obadele Kambon, one of the creators of the petition, agrees. “Ideally, in its place or elsewhere, statues of classical, traditional and modern African heroes could be erected to enhance levels of self-knowledge, self-respect and self-love. At the end of the day, we need images of ourselves for our own psychosocial well-being and not images of those who called us savages... May Gandhi fall that Africa may rise!”
