‘Mahatma Debuts at Peace Park’: North Dakota in the US Unveils Its First Life-Size Gandhi Statue

The first life-size statue of Mahatma Gandhi in North Dakota, United States was unveiled at Peace Park in Bismarck on Thursday, local time. The Consulate General of India in Seattle called it a “special milestone in India-North Dakota friendship.”

The ceremony brought together First Lady Kjersti Armstrong, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, other local dignitaries and members of the Indian-American community. Announcing it on X, the consulate wrote, “Mahatma debuts at Peace Park: North Dakota’s First Gandhi Statue!”

HYMNS AND A MESSAGE OF PEACE

Local school students sang some of Gandhi’s favourite hymns, and the ceremony celebrated what the consulate called his “timeless message of peace, non-violence and harmony.”

‘A VERY DIVIDED’ WORLD

Consul General of India in Seattle Prakash Gupta said Gandhi’s message carries extra weight today. “When the world is very divided and we have conflicts raging across the world,” he said, “to have Gandhi’s message of nonviolence emanate out of North Dakota, not only to the US, but to the rest of the world, is very important.” He said it reflects the founding basis of how India and the US see each other, “as the world’s largest democracy and the world’s oldest democracy.”

MONTANA’S GANDHI BUST

The unveiling follows a similar one in March, when the first bust of Gandhi in United States' Montana was unveiled at the Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana in Missoula. Governor Greg Gianforte and the Consul General of India in Seattle unveiled it together, in a ceremony attended by senior state officials, faculty, students and members of the Montana World Affairs Council. The bust is a gift from the Government of India, presented as a tribute to Gandhi’s ideals of peace and non-violence.

“Gandhi’s life reminds us that leadership starts with character,” Gianforte said. The inscription on the bust carries a quote attributed to Gandhi that good ideas mean nothing without action. “That message resonates here in Montana,” the governor said. Montana’s First Lady, Susan Gianforte, was also present.

With inputs from ANI