A bizarre row has erupted in Leicester surrounding the rather thorny subject of statues. At the centre of the argument are the plans from Charity Samanwaya Parivar to build a statue of Mahatma Ghandi in the City Centre. A ´No Ghandi Statue´ petition has been launched by those who believe that there are other local celebrities more worthy of one.

One man in particular is former Leicester City FC fan favorite and MOTD presenter, Gary Lineker. However, Leicester MP Kieth Vaz sees the idea of the £20.000 memorial of Ghandi as an
¨excellent symbol of (Gandhi's) and Leicester's commitment to diversity¨.

Ghandi Vs Lineker, It will be interesting to see who wins out in this particular tussle.


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42491000/jpg/_42491337_fingary.jpg

Gary Lineker played for Leicester City FC from 1978 until 1985, notching up 194 appearances and 95 goals. From there he moved to Everton, where he played in the 1985/86 season scoring 30 goals from 41 appearances and named Player of the Year. After one season on Merseyside he caught the attention of Spanish giants FC Barcelona.
Gary made 107 appearances for the Catalan side and scored 43 goals from 1986 to 1989. In addition to this he also won the Spanish Cup with a side that finished runners up three times.
After three seasons in Spain Gary moved to Tottenham Hotspur where he made 107 appearances and scored 67 goals. He also won the F.A. Cup in 1991 and was named PLayer of the Year in 1992. The second time he was awarded the accolade.
From 1992 until 1994 he played for Japanese side Nagoya Grampus Eight where he scored 9 goals from 23 appearances. That brings his grand total to 466 appearances and 244 goals and that´s not including his International record.
Gary Lineker made 80 appearances for England from 1984 to 1992 and scoring 48 goals. Furthermore he has never been booked in his entire career.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p107/Commie120/Ghandi.jpg

On the other hand... Mahatma Ghandi, who was a majour spiritual and political leader of India and led the Indian Independence Movement. He was the pioneer of Satyagraha which is a philosophy concerning resistence to evil through non-violent resistance. His example has been echoed by Peace and Freedom movements from across the world.
Each year his birthday, October 2nd if you were wondering, is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, which is a national holiday. The United Nations have recently adopted a resolution making October 2nd, Internation Day of Non-Violence. I wonder how many will celebrate that one on the Gaza Strip.

Ghandi has a great legacy to his name, he has preached the message of non-violence and been an example to us all...

..but, has he ever been to Leicester?