Dr. Kojo Opoku Aidoo, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies here at the University of Ghana has debunked some claims by some petitioners to have the statue of Mahatma Gandhi removed from the University.
On September 12th 2016, a five-member ‘GandhiMustComeDown’ Movement made up of academics presented a petition to the Council to the university of Ghana requesting the demolishing of the newly erected statue of Mahatma Gandhi of India on the Legon campus of the University.
In a statement released on Thursday, the counter-petitioners described the call for the removal of the monument unsound and bereft of comprehensive examination of the entire story of Gandhi’s political life. Speaking on campus exclusive this morning, Mr. Nubuor a member of the Gandhi must Stand movement, explained that holistic approach to the assessment of the life of the Indian leader leaves much to be desired. He reiterated on Campus Exclusive Show on Radio Univers that despite some ill comments passed by Mahatma in his early years, the latter days of his life saw a sharp contrast of various assertions of support for equality and the nobility of the African man.
“Gandhi had really changed and to assess him we needed to look at his entire life to be able to come to a conclusion. Admittedly, at the age of 20 when he was in South Africa, he made certain statements that were despicable and we all find that to be wrong. From 1931 onward when he visited Oxford and in various pronouncements on various platforms, the man claimed and made the position that he wasn’t against Africans, he wasn’t a racist, that he believed in equality of all men and he believed that Africans were noble and not savages. In fact he even encouraged some Indian-South Africans who had visited him in India to work closely with the Zulus and the Bantus”, he said.
The Research Fellow also added the University can eulogize Ghana’s heroes through the erection of similar monuments but not necessarily at the expense of the demolishing of Gandhi’s.
“I don’t think all these icons we are talking about are competing with Gandhi for space in this University. We can celebrate or honor any person at all”, Dr. Aidoo added.
Also speaking on the show, Mr. Lang Nubuor, Director of the Centre For Conscientist Studies and Analysis at the University of Ghana articulated that the negative actions that Mahatma Gandhi were as a result of his ignorance of the practices of the African people. This he said changed later when the Indian icon learnt the ways of the indigenes.
“He had just gone to South Africa and was not even interacting with the blacks. But in the course of time, he started interacting with them and he got to know the ways of the blacks. And he has stated that the Zulus and Bantus were a dignified people”, he asserted.
He also recommended that people read Gandhi’s autobiography for more comprehensive appreciation of his life.
By: Kenneth Awotwe Darko/ Radio Univers 105.7MHz
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