November 12, Friday, was a day to rejoice for Indians in Australia, especially in Melbourne, as the city got a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled Melbourne’s first statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the premises of the new Australian Indian Community Centre at Rowville.
Melbourne is not the only Australian city having the statue of Gandhi, who is known as “Father of Nation, India.” Cities in Australia, including Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney, already got the statute of Gandhi.
The Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) proposed in 2018 to set up a life-size bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the station at the south-eastern suburb of Dandenong. The proposal got rejected back then.
However, FIAV did not give up and planned to install the Gandhi statue at the proposed Indian Community Centre site.
During the inauguration, Scott Morrison said, “It is the second occasion where I’ve had the great honour to be able to unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. Here, of course, today in Victoria, and some years ago when the President of India was in Australia, and I had the great honour to join him in unveiling the statue in Parramatta.”
“You know, Australians have a way of appropriating everybody’s parties. Now, you know that a community is just at one with Australia when we start to celebrate the same cultural festivals with even more gusto and vigour than some, some of the others,” added Mr Morrison.
“Between Australia and India, we do share very important beliefs and values in democracy and liberal democracy, in believing in the individual, their enterprise and their freedom, in particular. And to unveil a statue in honour of Mahatma Gandhi, this is a very important opportunity for us to reflect on that particular element of the relationship.”
“You know, he sought peace over violence, an idea that transnationality, race, creed, culture and time itself. And when he passed, the Anglican congregation at St Paul’s Cathedral here in Melbourne offered this prayer: ‘And they said to hear, he said to hear the cry of India, bereft of that leader whose frail person so often stood in the gap, whose life was devoted even unto death, to his country’s cause.”
“Gandhi’s life is his message, a message that endures. It’s not a whisper from the past, but teaching embedded in the hearts of millions around the world and reflected in every respect of this building, every aspect.”
