Mahatma Gandhi’s bronze statue at Britain’s Parliament Square in London will be unveiled on March 14, Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Sunday.
The announcement came as the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust surpassed the 1 million pound mark in donations, with steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal adding 100,000 pounds and the Infosys board chaired by K.V. Kamath 250,000 pounds in the last few weeks.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to be the special guest at the ceremony to install the statue.
“The statue in Parliament Square not only marks his huge importance in the history of both our countries, but will enrich the firm bond of friendship between the world’s oldest democracy and its largest,” Mr. Cameron said in a statement.
“Mahatma Gandhi is an inspiration. His approach of nonviolence will resonate forever as a positive legacy — not just for the U.K. and India, but the world over. He was a man of great insight and many of his observations remain as fresh and relevant today as when he first made them — that we should be the change we wish to see in the world is timeless advice, well worth following,” he said.
The bronze statue by leading British sculptor Philip Jackson will be the focal point for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa to kickstart India’s independence movement.
“It is great that there will be a monument honouring Gandhi in London’s Parliament Square, which was one of his favourite cities. He is the first Indian and the only person honoured with a statue in the Square, who never held public office,” said Lord Meghnad Desai, the founder-chair of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust.
