The government of India has cancelled the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship, a scholarship scheme instituted for nearly 2,000 Ghanaian students studying in India. The cancellation of the scholarship comes after a group of students and faculty members pulled down the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the University of Ghana campus, claiming that Gandhi was “racist”.
According to the local media reports, a statement issued by the Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship Secretariat said “Ghanaians cannot continue to enjoy a scheme set to honour someone they describe as racist, someone they hate to see his statue”.
The Mahatma Gandhi Scholarship provides eligible students all over the world with full financial support throughout a University education in India and partner universities across the globe.
A group of students and faculty members of the University of Ghana have been protesting against the statue which was unveiled in 2016. The protesters claimed that Gandhi was “racist” and African figures should be put up first. Finally, the statue was pulled down on December 11.
Obadele Kambon, head of language, literature and drama at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana, hailed the move to take the statue down.
“His utterances when he was alive show he did not want to be with us black folks,” he told CNN. “Why would we want to be with him after his death by having his statue on our campus?”
According to a CNN report, activists in Malawi in southeastern Africa also see Gandhi as “racist” and are protesting the erection of a statue of him in the city of Blantyre.
The persistent propaganda of India leftists intending to tarnish the image of Mahatma Gandhi, citing his earlier writings and lecturers, resulted in an international outrage against him. Arundhati Roy, in interviews to some foreign media, had accused Mahatma Gandhi of discrimination and called for institutions bearing his name to be renamed.
