Another marker has been felled in the intense argument over whether historic figures with racist histories should be honored. The University of Ghana in Accra no longer has a statue of India independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi.
在关于是否应该尊重具有种族主义色彩的历史人物的激烈争论中，又一个标志被打倒。印度独立领袖莫汉达斯 K·甘地的雕像在位于阿克拉的加纳大学不复存在了。
Gandhi's Indian empowerment argument, critics said in a petition to remove the statue, appeared to be that the British colonial government treated Indians a "little better, if at all, than the savages or the Natives of Africa." He spoke of the "half-heathen Native" and said that treating Indians like Africans would "degrade us." The sole occupation of "raw" natives is hunting, he said and their "sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with and, then, pass his life in indolence and nakedness."
批评者们在将雕塑移除的请愿书中称，甘地关于增强印度信心的言论里，似乎提到了英国殖民政府对待印度人“比非洲的野蛮人或者土著好一点，但也许没有”。他谈到了“半异教徒的土著人”，还说把印度人当非洲人对待会“贬低我们”。他说，非洲“源自传统部落的”土著唯一的工作就是捕猎，他们“唯一的野心就是累积一定数量的牛来买一个老婆，然后，懒惰地、赤裸地度过余生。”
Critics argue that Gandhi's thoughts about Africans shouldn't be whitewashed by history—that no one's flaws should be immune from historical scrutiny. Christopher Columbus "discovered" the Americas,—then killed and enslaved the people who already lived there. Many of America's Founding Fathers owned slaves. Martin Luther King Jr. cheated on his wife. And for members of the University of Ghana council who started the petition in 2016 and the more than 2,200 people had signed it since, a statue to Gandhi had no place on campus.
批评者认为，甘地关于非洲人的想法不应该被历史粉饰——没有一个人的瑕疵应该免于历史的审查。 克里斯托弗·哥伦布“发现”了美洲——之后屠杀、奴役了已经在那里生活的人们。 许多美国的开国元勋都拥有奴隶。 马丁·路德·金有过外遇。而对于 2016 年开始起草这份请愿书的加纳大学委员会成员们，还有从那之后的 2200 多个在请愿书上签字的人们来说，甘地的雕像在校园里没有容身之地。
"We consider this to be a slap in the face that undermines our struggles for autonomy, recognition and respect," the petition says.
请愿书上说：“我们认为，甘地的雕像是一记耳光，破坏了我们对自治、认可和尊重的争取。”
————— 文章来源 / 华盛顿邮报
petition/pəˈtɪʃn/
n. 请愿书
e.g.
petition sb. to do sth. (v.)
fell/fel/
v. 打倒，击倒
empowerment/ɪmˈpaʊərmənt/
n. 使更强大（empower v.）
e.g.
movements to empower individuals (v.)
These movements are individual empowerment.
savage/ˈsævɪdʒ/
n. 野蛮人，未开化的人
e.g.
He acts like a savage.
heathen/ˈhiːðn/
n. 异教徒
sole/soʊl/
adj. 唯一的
e.g.
= only
The sole survivor of the car accident
indolence/ˈɪndələns/
n. 懒散,懒惰 (indolent adj.)
e.g.
= laziness
He was noted for his indolence.
indolent teenagers（adj.）
whitewash/ˈwaɪtwɑːʃ/
v. 粉饰，掩盖
e.g.
His wife wanted to whitewash his reputation after he died.
This report is a whitewash. (n.)
scrutiny/ˈskruːtəni/
n. 仔细观察，详细审查
e.g.
under scrutiny
Her argument doesn't really stand up to scrutiny.
Their private life came under media scrutiny.
cheat on
对配偶不忠
a slap in the face
一记耳光
在印度人民党执掌的政府中，对甘地的批评声这几年越来越大。人民党被认为具有民族主义倾向，部分政客坚持认为印度应进一步推崇印度教，以此凝聚民心。在这股思潮的影响下，有政客称甘地当年“背叛印度教，过于偏向穆斯林，造成印度分裂”。
印度学术界也一直存在“甘地怀疑论”，部分学者认为此前学界夸大了甘地在民族解放斗争中的作用。相反，一直信仰并倡导武装斗争的印度激进独立运动家钱德拉·鲍斯在印度独立运动中的功绩被掩盖太久。一名印度大学教授曾对《环球时报》记者说：“我经常在演讲中称自己来自鲍斯的国度，而不是甘地的国家。印度不可能只靠绝食和静坐就能把英国人赶跑。”
印度的年轻人自幼就被教导甘地是国父，他们认为，甘地的斗争精神值得学习，但他倡导的某些理念“已经过时”。甘地提倡民众节衣缩食，清贫度日，回归田园生活，这种苦行僧式的生活方式在斗争年代固然可贵，但对于这个高度商业化和工业化的社会已经不再适用。印度的年轻人如今更向往现代化的生活，希望以更“入世”的生活方式建设印度。
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