A group of academics have commenced a campaign dubbed #GandhiMustStand to protest an earlier campaign that called for the removal of the statue of Indian nationalist leader, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on the University of Ghana campus.
The petition which was signed by six persons from different fields of academia, industry and politics and was addressed to the University Council of the University of Ghana accused the petitioners of the #GandhiMustFall Campaign for providing arguments which are not “sound, bereft of comprehensive examination of the entire history of Gandhi’s political life, mischievous and wrong”.
The petitioners whose names were given as Mr. Lang T. K. A. Nubuor (Director, Centre for Consciencist Studies and Analyses), Isaac Winful Dadzie (Research Analyst and Member of the Convention People’s Party), Dr. E. Tweneboah Senzu (Head of Economic Research & Analysis – Africa, Basiat Institute Ghana), Mr. Abraham Allotey (Business Consultant), Sela Buame (Law Student, University of Ghana, Legon) and Dr. Kojo OPoku Aidoo (Senior Research Fellow, Institute of African Studies, Legon) prayed “the Council of the University of Ghana to stand firm by its decision! GandhiMustStand.
THE CLAIMS
It will be recalled that proponents of the #GandhiMustFall movement advanced the following as reasons for the demolition of the statue of Gandhi; 1) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s racist identity 2) there are currently no statues of our own heroes and heroines on our campus 3) removal of racist symbols from “world-class” universities 4)protests against statues of Gandhi throughout the world 5) there was no consultation about the placing of the statue.
However, in the 6 paged document that has been served Univers news, proponents of the #GandhiMustStand argument have observed that much against the claims that Gandhi was racist, “what you will find in Gandhi’s legacy is not righteousness but honesty, self-critique and growth, combined with a rare dismissal of personal material comfort and ambitions”. They argue that proponents of the #GandhiMustFall argument “do not examine Gandhi’s actions and pronouncements beyond the 1930s”. The central focus of the argument lays claim on Gandhi’s supposed repentance of his earlier derogatory remarks of South Africans.
“In October 1931, Gandhi visited Oxford and had this to say. In conversation with students and faculty, he said, England has got successful competitors in America, Japan, France and Germany. It has competitors in the handful of mills in India and as there has been an awakening in India, even so there will be an awakening in South Africa with its vastly richer resources…”, the statement read.
Furthermore, the group argues that “when the University finds it appropriate, it can honour any citizen who deserves it… But, that cannot be done at the expense of Gandhi”. They intimate that in establishing the quintessential role and mark of Gandhi in world history and politics, “Ghana’s decolonization struggle” was largely dependent on the immortal legacy of Gandhi. In this regard, Nkrumah writes: �?In “What I mean by Positive Action”, I called for non-violent methods of struggle. We had no guns. But even if we had, the circumstances were such that non-violent alternatives were open to us… In those days, when we talked of non-violence, we meant the kind of tactics employed by Gandhi in India.”
The remaining pro-Gandhi must fall arguments are debunked by claims that advancements for the fall of the statue must necessarily deal with “Africa’s internal problems for which they have no solutions” than “rather seek comfort in distractions born of Western concerns to hide their deficiencies”. They further observe that in bearing grudges over the ambiguous administrative processes that resulted in the erection of the statue, “the petitioners are particularly and passionately interested in finding out how much money was harvested from the deal. This can hardly be a reason to bring down the statue”. They question the readiness of the persons involved to “retract the petition if they had been told that something flowed from it.
The group admonished the management of the University to pay heed to the concerns raised by Ghana’s former high commissioner to India, Prof. Mike Ocquaye who observes that “it will be most unnecessary, most uncalled for and not in the supreme interest of Ghanaians and we must know what serves our interest best”.
With this recent development, it is only a matter of time before the management of the University announce its final decision over whether Gandhi stands or falls.
By: Eleazer Quayson/Radio Univers 105.7MHz
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