Chennai: A South African Indian filmmaker is planning to release a new documentary on Mahatma Gandhi ahead of the schedule to emphasise the relevance of his teachings amid the global outrage caused by the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd.
Titled “Ahimsa – Gandhi: The Power of the Powerless”, the film is written and directed by Ramesh Sharma. It was produced by popular South African Indian filmmaker Anant Singh’s company Videovision to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth.
Though it was originally scheduled to be screened first at film festivals across the globe, it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Singh now says negotiations were currently underway to screen the documentary on television networks as soon as possible.
According to Singh, “This film comes at a time when the world needs to be reminded of the Mahatma’s teachings of peace and non-violence, especially as support for George Floyd grows across the world in solidarity.”
Days after a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the US was vandalised with graffiti and spray painting during the nationwide protests against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd, President Donald Trump had said the defacement of the statue by unknown miscreants was a ‘disgrace’.
“It was a disgrace,” Trump said when asked about the incident. The Indian Embassy has taken up the matter with the US Department of State for early investigation into the matter, as also with the Metropolitan Police and National Park Service.
The statue, which is across the road from the Indian Embassy, was vandalised on the intervening night of 2 and 3 June, prompting the Indian embassy to register a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies.
The statue, the design of which was created by Gautam Pal, is a gift from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). The pedestal for the statue of Mahatma Gandhi is a block of new Imperial Red also known as Ruby Red a block originally weighing 25 tonnes reduced to a size of 9’x7’x3’4″.
It now weighs 16 tonnes.At a time when the US is witnessing protests against racism, it is sad that the statue of a great leader who fought oppression throughout his life has been vandalised. Strict action should be taken against miscreants.