Focus on this artwork and explore the History.
In July 2014, Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, George Osborne, announced while on a visit to India that a statue of Mahatma Gandhi would be placed in Parliament Square, Westminster. He said that "I hope this new memorial will be a lasting and fitting tribute to his memory in Britain, and a permanent monument to our friendship with India." It was announced at the same time that sculptor Philip Jackson had been asked to create the statue. He had previously created the statue of the Queen Mother, the RAF Bomber Command Memorial, and the statue of Bobby Moore. Planning permission was granted by Westminster City Council later that year in November.
Financing for the statue was by public donations and through sponsorships. This was supported by the work of the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, which was set up by Meghnad Desai, Baron Desai, as well as a special advisory panel created by the Government. This was chaired by Sajid Javid MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. By the time that planning permission, £100,000 had been raised by the Trust, but a further £500,000 was needed and they sought to raise that by January 2015 in order to tie in with a planned visit to London by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi of India.The statue was unveiled by the Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 14 March 2015. It was dedicated as a commemoration of the centenary of Gandhi's return to India from South Africa, which is generally regarded as the commencement of his efforts for Indian independence. Speakers at the unveiling of the statue included Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron, the Indian film actor Amitabh Bachchan and Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi.In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, the statue was vandalised by protesters along with the statue of Winston Churchill. Someone painted the word "racist" onto the Gandhi statue.
India Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid Parliament Square Narendra Modi Meghnad Desai, Baron Desai RAF Bomber Command Memorial George Floyd protests Finance Minister Gandhi Amitabh Bachchan Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Westminster Gopalkrishna Gandhi Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Philip Jackson Arun Jaitley Mahatma Gandhi David Cameron Queen Mother London Indian independence statue of Bobby Moore Prime Minister George Osborne