Gandhi Jayanti: Rajnath Singh to unveil statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Lakshadweep

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–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.

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