The new building will have an amphitheater, an auditorium, a multi-purpose hall seating 1,400 people, and a library devoted to Mahatma Gandhi’s life and glimpses of his struggle.
To top it off, according to a report in the Times of India, the government of India will install a bust of Gandhi, inside Dewan Gandhi, originally known as the Gandhi Memorial Hall.
The chairman of the building committee of Dewan Gandhi, Sham Ratnani, a third generation Malaysian Indian, was quoted as saying they had collected a total of RM3.8 million for the new building but needed another RM2.7 million.
The building is expected to be opened on Oct 2 next year. Gandhi, who has inspired millions within and without India, was born on Oct 2, 1869. The United Nations observes Oct 2 each year as International Day of Non-Violence, in honour of the man who popularised the concept.
The report said India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had noted the existence of this hall in a speech in Kuala Lumpur during his visit to Malaysia in 2015.
The Times of India report said many young Malaysian Indians who heard Modi that day had “no idea of Mahatma Gandhi’s rich legacy lying somewhere obscure in their own country”.
The report went on to give a brief history of the construction of the Gandhi Memorial Hall, noting that thousands of Indian plantation workers gave three days wages each in the 50s for its construction along Jalan Sekerat. Their daily wage was $1 (Malayan dollar).
The report said the workers and residents in that area were drawn to Gandhi’s advocacy of unity, equality and brotherhood of man, as well as his patriotism.
Among the fund raising activities held was a charity football match in 1952 between a visiting football team, Aryan Gymkhana, from India, and the Kedah Indo-Malay team, which netted $4,100.
About $60,000 was collected, including the wages from around 10,000 tappers, for buying a piece of land measuring 45,800 sq feet and building the community hall, said the report.
The hall has served as a place for free training workshops, tuition for the youth, community-related events, and sports activities.