Gandhi statue in London: Narayana Murthy, family donate 200,000 pounds

Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy and his family have donated 200,000 pounds towards the cost of installing a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square here, a trust formed for the purpose of raising funds for the statue said on Tuesday.

Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy and his family have donated 200,000 pounds towards the cost of installing a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square here, a trust formed for the purpose of raising funds for the statue said on Tuesday.

The Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust said the donation is from Murthy, Sudha Murthy, and their children Rohan and Akshata. The donation helped the trust cross the 750,000 pounds mark, it said. Industrialist Rahul Bajaj had also donated 200,000 pounds for the statue in December.

With a target of 1 million pounds, the trust has been organising exhibitions in India and receiving funds from major and minor donors from across the world. The decision to install the statue was announced by Chancellor George Osborne during his visit to India last year.

The trust quoted Murthy as saying: “Mahatma Gandhi was someone who demonstrated the tremendous power of leadership by example. His courage and commitment are an inspiration and I am delighted that his statue will stand in such a respected setting."

Meghnad Desai, chair of the trust, said the Murthys’ donation “once again shows the deep historic links between India and the UK, as well as the respect that Mahatma Gandhi commands and the importance of having his statue at Parliament Square.”

The trust also announced two new patrons, Countess Patricia Mountbatten and Lady Pamela Hicks, who joined the trust to acknowledge the long association of their father – Lord Mountbatten – with Gandhi.

The last viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten oversaw the transfer of power in India in 1947.