The UK government has been criticised for a proposal to erect a statue in honour of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, because of Gandhi's "unspeakable and absolutely unacceptable" sexual antics with younger women.

The founder of the Indo-British Heritage Trust said she had been forced to speak out about Gandhi's "hush-hushed obsession with sex" because of the rise in violent sexual attacks on women in India, which has focused the world's attention on women's right in the country.

Dr Kusoom Vadgama is chair of this year's 400th anniversary celebrations of Britain and India's political relationship. She said Gandhi's "habit of sleeping naked with young women" in order to test his commitment to a life of celibacy had been overlooked in the years since his death in 1948, but can no longer be ignored.