Letter to a Malawian protesting the statue of Gandhi

If Gandhi’s statue affronts you in any way, it should not be built. As someone who has not only known Gandhi as a father of the nation but also explored his life as a matter of historical interest, I can be sure that had he been alive and asked if his statue should be made or not – he would have declined building a statue and suggested possible better ways to spend the resources reserved for building such a statue.

When going through the details of your protest online and learning about the historical references behind it – I felt a strange familiarity with them. A search that I had started to find counter-arguments with an intention to talk you out of your protest soon made me realize that perhaps we both are making a same mistake. A mistake of taking a part of someone– and considering that part as a whole version of that person. We make this mistake even worse by forming opinions based on our fragmented versions that we consider to be whole. I am not trying to tell you that you should understand Gandhi more fully – please don’t misunderstand me. I am just saying not to feel hurt by taking a specific piece of history outside of its entirety.

It is this mistake – that politicians around the world capitalize to their own advantage. Not just in any one country, across the world – the tendency to take a small part of someone and come to a full judgement of their value has been the weapon of choice for many demagogues. India and Africa’s shared history of British Imperialism also show such selective view – that somehow considered British rule better than the home rule for both these colonies.

This mistake is also at the very core of racial prejudice we see around us. Be it against people of color, migrants, minorities from religion, sexual orientation or opinions – all forms of discrimination have at their root this tendency of taking small part of a group and using it to project a full image of that group. Those of us who have suffered such discrimination – owe it to ourselves – more than anyone else, not to succumb to such fallacies.  At personal level, such a tendency can have negative impact on way we understand other people around us. Therefore, if time permits - try and tease out what exactly is hurting within you and find a way to heal it. I have no say whether there will be a statue in Malawi, but if it is of any help – I wish they don’t build it.

Personally, I don’t think truth and non-violence needs anyone’s statue to prove their worth. Nor they are property of any country, individual or a group. In some sense, your freedom to express the opinion and the exchange it results into – is a better tribute to Gandhian spirit than any statue and in that endeavor, I wish you well.