Drawing inspiration from the black civil rights struggle in the U.S., Ambedkar returned to India to lead civil rights movements against caste throughout the first half of the 20th century. He found his staunchest opponent in Gandhi, who said in 1932, “Caste is necessary for Christians and Muslims as it has been necessary for Hinduism.” This claim won little love from Ambedkar, who remarked: “If a man with God’s name on his tongue and sword under his armpit deserved the appellation of a Mahatma, then Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a Mahatma.” Because of his historical link to the U.S., opponents of the Gandhi statue suggest an Ambedkar statue would be a more sensible choice. Arvin Valmuci, a coordinator for OFMI, also suggested another name. “Why not a statue of Kartar Singh Sarabha, a Californian who launched India’s independence movement? Sarabha, a young Sikh who immigrated to the U.S. in 1912 at the age of 17, attended U.C. Berkeley, founded the nation’s first Punjabi-language newspaper, returned to India to fight for independence from the British, and was hung at 19. Why would Cerritos choose a statue of a prejudiced and abusive Hindu preacher with no connection to America over a young Californian who died fighting for freedom?”
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:02:31 +0000
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