Mahatma Gandhi’s statue has been removed from Ghana’s most prestigious university after students complained that he was a ‘racist’.
India’s former president Pranab Mukherjee unveiled the statue at the University of Ghana in Accra two years ago as a symbol of ties between the two nations.
But academicians soon began a petition calling for its removal, citing passages written by Gandhi claiming that Indians were “infinitely superior” to black Africans.
The online protest was one of a number on university campuses in Africa and beyond about the enduring symbols of the continent’s colonial past.
The head of language, literature and drama at the Institute of African Studies, Obadele Kambon, said the removal was an issue of “self-respect”.
Ghana’s former government had said the statue would be relocated “to avoid the controversy… Becoming a distraction from our strong ties of friendship” with India.
