22-Nov-2018: President Kovind unveils statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Sydney

On the second day of his three-day visit to Australia, President Ramnath Kovind unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Jubilee Park in the town of Parramatta, which is a bustling suburb of Sydney.

The bronze statue designed by Indian sculptors Ram and Anil Sutar was presented to the Indian President by Andrew Wilson, the Mayor of Parramatta. Also present at the event was Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The unveiling of the statue is part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Father of the Nation, which is being observed in different parts of the world. The life-size statue, which is a gift from the Indian government, is identical to the one presented to the city of Brisbane in Australia in 2014.

President Kovind presented a book titled 'Hind Swaraj' to Australian Prime Minister Morrison and Parramatta's Mayor Wilson. The book was penned by Gandhiji in 1909. In this opus, Gandhiji inscribed his nationalistic views on independence, modern civilisation and mechanisation, among other topics.

Several members of the Indian community also participated, even though the ceremony was in the middle of a working day. As per current estimates, Indians top even the Chinese as the largest number of immigrants to Australia. Parramatta, where the Gandhi statue was unveiled on Thursday, is among the more popular suburbs where Indians choose to live in Sydney, the other being Harris Park, which is often described as Little India.