WASHINGTON: US’s Mississippi To Install Mahatma Gandhi’s Bronze Bust

WASHINGTON: A US city in the heart of the
Mississippi Delta region, whose economic fortunes have been recently revived
largely by a company founded by an Indian-American, will install a bronze bust
of Mahatma Gandhi.

The
unveiling of the bust, which has been commissioned and supplied by the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations and designed by famous sculptor Ram Sutar, would
be carried out during a ceremony in the city of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and
Coahoma County on Friday.

“We are
humbled by this most generous gift. Gandhi was among the most courageous and
spiritual of men. He led his nation to freedom not with guns but with
simplicity, determination, truth and non-violence. His efforts inspired the
world, including the leaders of our own nation’s Civil Rights Movement, such as
Dr King (Martin Luther King Jr) and the late Congressman John Lewis,” said
Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy.

India’s
Consul General in Atlanta Dr Swati Kulkarni would formally present the bust to
the city, a media statement said.

The
ceremony takes place in the week of Gandhi’s birthday and during the
celebratory 75th anniversary year of India’s Independence.

Clarksdale
and Coahoma County are located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta region,
near the Mississippi River.

While the
region has suffered depopulation and loss of jobs in recent decades, an influx
of new industry, job opportunities and people during the past four years have
begun to reverse the community’s fortunes, according to the statement.

The
Indian-American community has played a significant role in that progress, a
city official said.

“Having
recruited PeopleShores to Clarksdale, which was founded by Indian-American
Murali Vullaganti, I have seen firsthand their commitment to training their
employees not only with technical skills, but most importantly, essential life
skills,” said Jon Levingston, executive director of the Crossroads Economic
Partnership.

PeopleShores
is a for-profit social enterprise that brings technology-driven jobs to the
“shores” of economically challenged communities in the United States.

The event
is being sponsored by the Crossroads Economic Partnership, a collaboration of
the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Authority of Coahoma
County; PeopleShores, a social enterprise; and Indiaspora, a nonprofit
organisation of global Indian diaspora leaders.

“Their
care and thoughtfulness in providing employees new educational and job
opportunities are helping to break the generational cycles of poverty that have
gripped our region for decades,” Levingston said.

There is
also a fully staffed medical clinic in the PeopleShores building to address
without charge the healthcare needs of those citizens who have no health
insurance, he said.

“Their
leadership in this endeavor and their embodiment of the legacy of Mahatma
Gandhi makes this gift even more meaningful and resonant for us,” he said.

“Mahatma
Gandhi’s teachings and principles continue to be a guiding light now as much as
ever. This is especially relevant today when we are grappling with uncertainty
in the face of a global pandemic, as well as a new social awakening in the US,”
said MR Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora.