In 2016, the Indian American community in Davis and the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi, India, gifted a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, at donor’s expense, installed at the Davis Central Park. The Davis City Council unanimously accepted the gift. This was welcomed widely by residents of Davis & greater Sacramento. However, one Davis resident along with a few out of Davis people with their own political agenda, tried to stop the statue by spreading misinformation about Mahatma Gandhi. Finally, the truth prevailed and the statue was unveiled on October 2, 2016. In the current environment of COVID-19 and widespread protests, the same people are coming back to take advantage of the situation. They want to promote their own political agenda by protesting against the statue and trying to influence Davis City Council to remove the statue. Inspired from this, recently some aggressors even vandalized the statue. These people have nothing to do with Mahatma Gandhi but they just want to promote their own political agenda as the 2020 elections approach...

Let's understand that Mahatma Gandhi is not only a symbol of non-violence and tolerance, but he is also a pride of the entire world. He inspired many societies to achieve their rights thru nonviolent means. Though he is "Father of the Nation" in India, he is a leader for all. Apposite to the misinformation these people are spreading, the fact is that Gandhi protested against racism in South Africa and colonial rule in India using nonviolent resistance. A testament to the revolutionary power of nonviolence, Gandhi’s approach directly influenced Martin Luther King, Jr., who argued that the Gandhian philosophy was “the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom” (Papers 4:478).

In 1955 Dr. King and his wife went to India and lived in Gandhi’s house for over a week and termed this as ‘pilgrimage’.  It is also well known that Nelson Mandela was also inspired by Gandhi and ended apartheid by non-violent and peaceful means.
Go to https://progressive.org/dispatches/mandela-took-inspiration-gandhi/ for more information on this.

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