India presents gift of Gandhi statue to Hamilton

The message of Mahatma Gandhi lives on, most recently in the unveiling of a statue of the world icon in Hamilton, Ont.

According to a Hamilton Spectator article by Carmela Fragomeni, the six-foot bronze statue that will be revealed at City Hall is a gift from from the government of India and the Indo Canadian community of Hamilton to celebrate the city’s annual Gandhi Peace Festival.

“It’s a big honour for the Indian community to have Gandhi’s statue installed on the City Hall grounds,” said Rama Singh, chair of the peace festival committee. “It’s symbolic of accepting that what the peace festival does is worth doing.”

The free festival, says the Spectator article, will feature peace and justice-related activities. It takes place at Hamilton City Hall on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Gandhi statue unveiling is at 11 a.m. It will be adorned with flower garlands — a traditional way of unveiling statues in India and also a way of welcoming people, according to Singh.

For more information visit, www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/gandhi