Brown pays tributes to Mahatma Gandhi

Prasun Sonwalkar

London, July 2 (PTI) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
has paid rich tributes to the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi
during a visit to Leicester, where an imposing bronze statue
of the apostle of peace was unveiled last week.

A crowd welcomed Brown on Belgrave Road, the heart of
Asian business and culture, where people often stop by to
marvel at the seven-and-a-half foot statue.

The Prime Minister was presented with a garland of roses
and chrysanthemums by a representative of the Indian charity
organisation Samanvaya Parivar, which funded the 20,000-pound
statue sculpted by Kolkata-based Gautam Pal.

Laying a garland at the feet of the statue Wednesday,
Brown wrote a message in the visitors' book: "This statue is
an inspiration to all who will visit. It reminds us of the
great courage and vision of Gandhi and the great changes we
can all work together to achieve."

The bronze statue in Leicester is the second Gandhi
statue in a British town. The first Gandhi statue was
installed in Tavistock Square in London in 1968.

The two-year campaign for the statue was surrounded by
some controversy with several local residents opposing
Gandhi's statue on the ground that he did not visit or have
any links with Leicester.

The Leicester City Council, however, approved Samanwaya
Parivar's request for permission to install the statue.

The organisation said it will bear the cost of
maintaining the statue located in a busy area mainly inhabited
by people of Indian origin.

A multicultural town, Leicester has the largest Indian
population in the UK outside London. By 2012, it is predicted
that it will be the first city in Europe with a majority of
non-white population. PTI PS
RAI
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