Rajnath Singh to unveil statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Lakshadweep on October 2

Barring Ashoka pillars erected in a few uninhabited islands, Lakshadweep, India's Muslim majority archipelago, has been free of statues till now.

For the first time, the country's smallest Union Territory in the Arabian sea is going to get its first statue tomorrow--that too the statue of the Father of the Nation on Gandhi Jayanti day.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Kavaratti on Saturday on the occasion of his 152nd birth anniversary, official sources said. An area near Western Jetty at Kavaratti is being spruced up where the statue in standing posture facing the sea will be installed, an official told PTI.

The Defence Minister, who will arrive here from Kochi tomorrow, will unveil the statue at a function to be presided over by the Island's administrator Praful K Patel in the evening, he said.

"The uniqueness of this year's celebration is the unveiling of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi by Rajnath Singh in the presence of Praful Patel. This will be the first ever statue to be unveiled in Lakshadweep islands to commemorate the contribution of our great freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the cause of India's independence," a statement issued by the administration said.

The administration said it is a "historic milestone" for Lakshadweep to unveil the statue of Father of the Nation on the day of Gandhi Jayanti and dedicate it to the nation on the auspicious occasion by the Defence Minister.

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The name of Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal P P, who is at loggerheads with Patel, is missing from the programme list prepared by the administration. Faizal and activists of the Save Lakshadweep Forum (SLF), a forum of various organisations fighting against the alleged "anti-people policies" of the administrator, said they would attend the statue unveiling programme organised at the Mahatma Gandhi square.

"Since Rajnath Singh invited me personally, I am attending the unveiling function only," Faizal told PTI when asked whether he was not invited for the function. Sources said the efforts to install the Gandhi statue in the islands had started over a decade ago but could not be fulfilled due to a variety of reasons.

They said the statue to be unveiled tomorrow is newly sculpted. In 2010, during the UPA rule, a Rs 2 lakh statue of Gandhi was brought to the island but it could not be installed.

Officials then had reportedly blamed the "bad weather" condition prevailing in the sea for failing to offload the bust of Gandhi bought from Kochi in a vessel. Sangh Parivar groups then had alleged that local sentiments had prompted the authorities to send back the vessel without offloading the cargo.

Talking to PTI, activists of Save Lakshadweep Forum (SLF), which is fighting against the "anti-people policies" of administrator Patel, rejected the allegations, saying the people of the islands had never objected to the installation of the statue of Gandhi in the islands.

SLF leader Komalam Koya said Gandhiji has got a special place in the hearts of the people of Lakshadweep.

"You can see photos of Gandhiji on the walls of the houses of the people of Lakshadweep, who are Muslims.. despite their faith not allowing them to do so. This is because the Mahatma has got a special place in the hearts of the people of the islands. But we are saddened by the propaganda unleashed by some vested interests to brand us as a section of people who think against the national interests," Koya, who is also a CPI(M) leader, said.

"However, we will continue our fight against the anti-people policies of the administrator," Koya added.

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