A FORMER Kyle Academy student has been backed by hundreds in his bid to have one of Ayr’s statues removed after discovering it has links to a racist past.
Kiran Trivedy, 25, is campaigning to see the statue of James George Smith Neill, which towers over Wellington Square, taken down.
It comes as South Ayrshire Council reveal they have received complaints from residents across South Ayrshire, regarding a number of street names and monuments.
The the statue of the former Scottish military officer was flagged up on an online hit list of monuments across the UK called ‘Topple the Racists’.
After reading into the background of why the statue of Neill appeared on the list, Kiran was shocked to unearth the general’s dark past.
He found that Neill was infamous for the callous killing of Indian people, including the execution of prisoners.
Kiran, whose dad is from India, he felt moved to take action.
He has also been backed by his sister Asha, 25, who is helping with the campaign.
He told the Advertiser: “When I looked at ‘Topple the Racists’, I was surprised to see there was one in Ayr.
“When I started reading up on him, it became quite personal for me, it was painful to hear what he had done. My dad’s Indian – I come from a big Indian family.
“I thought I could make a change in my hometown, so I set up an online petition to make people more aware of who he was, and what he stands for.”
The petition started on Tuesday, June 9 quickly gathered pace, with more than 600 signatures secured in the space on a few days.
It reads: “The statue of Neill is a personal insult to those of us in Ayr whose ancestors suffered under the British occupation of India.”
The bid to remove the statue, occurs as more awareness is raised across the towns and cities in the UK about historical figures linked to the slave trade or other racist periods of history.
A statue of Edward Colston was torn down by protesters and thrown into the river in Bristol.
Kiran is not looking to desecrate the statue of Neill but find something more fitting in its place.
He said: “Ayr is a great town, with a great history.
“We want to celebrate that. There’s a War Memorial in the same square. It is quite demeaning to put this guy up with them.”
“It’s not about tearing it down. It could be moved to a museum along with other pieces that tell the true story about Scotland’s colonial history.”
Kiran was happy to see the council hold a public consultation to consider the, “appropriateness of some monuments and street names in South Ayrshire”.
He added: “It is encouraging. The danger is it could be dragged out, but it is great to see the council respond so quickly.”
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