UK city council rules out removing Gandhi statue

The Leicester City Council on Friday dominated out the potential of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue being faraway from an arterial highway within the metropolis, days after an internet petition in search of its removing with over 6,000 signatures was submitted to the council.

Peter Soulsby, mayor of Leicester, gave the peace of mind that the statue put in on Belgrave Road in 2009 is not going to be eliminated in a letter to former Labour MP from Leicester East, Keith Vaz. The metropolis within the east Midlands has a big inhabitants of Indian origin.

Soulsby, a Labour celebration politician, wrote: “I well remember the pride and pleasure we enjoyed when this very prominent statue was unveiled on Belgrave Road”.

“It was a matter of great pride that our City with the generous support of the donors was able to celebrate the life of Bapu who was so inspirational in the creation of modern India and such as example to the rest of the world”.

“I am delighted to be able to give you an absolute assurance that 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”, Soulsby added.

The council had beforehand famous that it was conscious of the petition and would think about it as a part of wider overview of statues, avenue names and constructing names within the metropolis. The overview was sparked all around the UK by the Black Lives Matter marketing campaign towards symbols of racism and slavery.

According to a council spokesperson, “In such a culturally-diverse city as Leicester, it’s important that we respect the histories of all our communities and understand the context for the historical references that are part of our streetscape and built environment.”

The Gandhi statue in Leicester put in with donations from charity organisation Samanwaya Pariwar is amongst seven throughout the UK: Tavistock Square, London (1968), Parliament Square, London (2015); Saughton Park, Edinburgh (1997); Museum Quarter, Hull (2004); Belgrave Road, Leicester (2009); Cardiff Bay, Cardiff (2017), and Manchester (2019).