The University of Ghana in Accra no longer has a statue of Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi. And in 2016, the Ghana statue was dedicated by then-Indian President Pranab Mukherjee as a symbol of strengthening ties between the two nations. The Ghana University petition cited other protests against — and removal of — tributes to historical but controversial figures at universities around the globe, including the former slave-owning Royall family at Harvard University and apartheid founder Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town. The protests against Gandhi are not limited to Africa: In Davis, Calif., a similar statue has been protested, and plans to honor Gandhi with a statue in London have also met opposition. But the Gandhi statue has raised an uncomfortable question: At what point does a person’s transgression’s overshadow the good he or she has ushered into the world?

Source: Washington Post December 15, 2018 23:48 UTC