Controversy Arises in India Over Plan to Replace Mahatma Gandhi’s Statue Amid Beautification Project

Mahatma Gandhi, who India regards as the Father of the Nation, was a lawyer, politician, social activist, and freedom fighter who became the leader of the nationalist movement against British rule in India.

Senior Telangana Congress leaders, on Saturday, appealed to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to not replace Mahatma Gandhi’s statue with a new one at MG Road in Secunderabad, a city in the Indian state of Telangana.

The statue of Mahatma Gandhi at MG Road is slated to be replaced with a new one and surrounded with gazebos, seating arrangements and greenery while the old one will be moved to a less prominent place.

The bronze statue of the freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi is a historic landmark that commemorates his first arrival in the state during India's independence in 1947. The statue was donated by the owner of Paradise theatre in the 1950s.

The replacement of the statue is a part of the GHMC's ongoing "beautification" project on MG Road, formerly known as James Street, which was renamed Mahatma Gandhi Road following the nation's independence. It is one of the prominent shopping streets in Secunderabad.

Senior Telangana Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy urged the GHMC to not proceed with the plan as the statue holds a lot of heritage significance.

“The Gandhi statue in Secunderabad has a lot of history. In the 1950s the owner of Paradise theatre, Anjaiah, donated the statue to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi,” Reddy told the Indian news agency ANI. “...Installing another statue in the same place is unfortunate, we are against it. This should not be touched, we will not allow this to be touched."

Calling the statue 'heritage', another former Congress parliamentarian and the party’s senior leader V Hanumantha Rao said that instead of replacing the original statue, the new one can be installed at another location, near Secunderabad railway station.

"This statue is a monument and heritage. The new statue can be installed at another location near Secunderabad railway station. This is our request, if you won’t stop the work here, we will conduct an all-party meeting and we will take up the issue seriously."

Congress party in a letter to the GHMC and Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Commissioner has said that they welcome the beautification project at MG Road but the proposal to shift and erect a statue of Mahatma Gandhi to another location is not acceptable.

“The original statue should remain in the same place and must not be touched/shifted. There can be no compromise on both these things. We would welcome any beautification work that is taken up but the sanctity of the location should be maintained at all times,” the Congress party said in a letter.

Several netizens have also taken to Twitter making an appeal to the government to not replace the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

Indian Congress Leaders Oppose Replacing Mahatma Gandhi’s Statue Amid Beautification Project in India's Telangana

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