As an Indian, I have no respect for Churchill. But I empathise w/Britons who revere him for his WWII leadership. Historic personalities are complex &reflect their context. I’m an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi for the India he built but African friends often complain about his biases.

We cannot escape the fact that until the late 20th century (and perhaps even after - perhaps even today), the more common belief among the world’s people was that not all people are equal. Almost every world leader reflected this view until at least 1960s & MLK. History is ugly.

I don’t support vandalising Churchill or Robert E Lee. Deciding which statue or street name should still live is dangerous. In India, Hindutva activism against Mughals translates to Muslim hate. This isn’t social reform. You can change social norms today w/o vandalising the past.

I’m against the vandalism of statues by protestors, but I’m very willing to support the blanket removal of ALL human statues by the govt - including a ban on erecting any future statues. Among other things, that would mean that govts will have money to spend on edu, health etc! https://twitter.com/NishSwish/status/1272410451616215040

Okay I’m going to say something controversial again - and I hope that my liberal activist friends aren’t going to hate me for this - but hear me out. I think this sounds like a terrible reason to pull down Ulysses Grant’s statue. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/21/american-museum-natural-history-new-york-teddy-roosevelt