Neha Dahiya / New Delhi, India
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s 153-rd birth anniversary is celebrated on October 2 as international non-violence day in consonance with United Nation’s resolution of 2007.
On this day, CIHS team has compiled ten major instances where Mahatma Gandhi’s statues have been defaced, mutilated or pulled down by terror groups owing allegiance to Khalistan, Pakistan or Islamic State.
In most incidents, desecration of Mahatma Gandhi statue, Khalistan separatists were involved. They have spray-painted words like Khalistan, Racist, Rapist, never forget 84, and other divisive phrases. In one incident, separatists draped the Khalistan flag over the statue.
1. Richmond Hill, Canada| July 13, 2022
A five-meter-tall statue of Mahatma Gandhi was defaced at Vishnu Mandir in the area of Yonge Street and Garden Avenue. Statue was vandalized at around 12:30 pm and graphic words such as Rapist and Khalistan Zindabad were spray painted on the Plinth. The chairman of the temple shared that the statue has been here for the past 30 years but poignant acts like this have never happened before.
The High Commission of India in Ottawa condemned the incident on a tweet that reads, “We are deeply anguished by this hate crime that seeks to terrorize the Indian community. It has led to increased concern and insecurity in the Indian community here. We have approached the Canadian government to investigate and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice swiftly”.
Constable Amy Boudreau, the spokesperson for York Regional Police said that the crime will be investigated as a hate bias-motivated incident.
Prior to this incident, many a time Mahatma Gandhi statue was defaced, ripped or vandalised by motivated elements involved in Khalistan movement. [1]
2. New York, United States of America | February 04, 2022
An eight-feet-high bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi was defaced by miscreants in Manhattan’s Union Square. The statue was donated by the Gandhi Memorial International foundation on October 02, 1986, to mark the 117th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Consulate General condemned the act as despicable, the matter has been taken up by the local authorities.[2]
Utsav Chakrabarti, executive director of the HinduPACT said that this is not the first time that a statue of Gandhi has been vandalised in the US. “In the past few years, statues of Mahatma Gandhi have been vandalised by groups aligned with radical Islamists and their sympathisers in South Asian communities.[3]
- Accra, Ghana| December 13, 2018
Statue of Mahatma was removed from the University campus in Accra amid students and staff protest, they claimed that Mahatma Gandhi insulted Black Africans and was a Racist. Plinth stating Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), The Mahatma (Great soul) was also removed.[4]
The statue was gifted to the University of Ghana by Indian Embassy on June 13, 2016, unveiled by former president Pranab Mukherjee during his visit to Ghana and its national university.
After the Installation of Statue, online protests with #GandhiMustFall and #GandhiForComeDown sparked in many universities demanding removal of statue.
- California, United States of America | January 27, 2021
A six feet tall, 294 kg (650-pound) statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalized and ripped from the base by miscreants in central park of City of Davis in northern California. The statue was found by park employee with sawed off ankles and half face mutilated and missing.
The statue was donated by the Indian government to the city of Davis in 2017 and was installed amidst protest from Anti-India organisations. These protests were led by the Organization for Minorities in India (OFMI) and other Khalistani separatists, which opposed the statue’s installation. However, the installation had already been approved by the City of Davis. Since that time, OFMI has been campaigning to take down Mahatma Gandhi statue.
Guarang Desai of Friends of India Society International said, “An atmosphere of hatred was created by these Anti-India organisations for years and not only they have run hate campaigns against Indian icons but were also at forefront to push Hinduphobia and erase India from California school sixth and seventh-grade textbooks”[5].
California Sikh Youth Alliance shared images of the torn statue on Twitter, another user with username KHALISTAN1984 writes “TODAY IS A GOOD DAY”
On the same day the statue was ripped in Davis, Khalistani separatists in India stormed to Red Fort violently breaking down barricades and injuring over 300 Indian police officers.
- Washington DC, USA |December 12, 2020
The statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised by members of Khalistani separatists at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Plaza in front of Indian Embassy at Washington DC. Separatist Protestors draped Khalistani Yellow Flag on the statue and flashed banners and placards. They also pasted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi effigy on the statue.
Hundreds of Separatists carried out a Car rally in Greater Washington DC area, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina in support of Khalistanis in India protesting against Indian agriculture laws.
The Khalistani protestors in Washington DC brandished Kirpans and raised Anti-India slogans in front of the Indian embassy. They said they are representing the Republic of Khalistan. The Indian Embassy condemned the reckless act by hooligans masked as demonstrators.[6]
The statue was unveiled by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on September 16, 2000, in the presence of former US president Bill Clinton.
- Melbourne, Australia | November 12, 2021
A-life sized bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised by un-known people in Melbourne. The Victorian police said that a power drill tool is used to decapitate the statue.
The statue was vandalised hours after it was unveiled by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison alongwith Consultant General of India Raj Kumar at the Australian Indian Community Centre in the Melbourne suburb of Rowville.
The statue was donated by the government of India as a part of celebration of 75 years of India’s Independence.
Scott Morrison said that the vandalism of the statue was very disgraceful and disappointing.
- London, UK, June 09, 2020
During the Black Lives Matter protest, people spray painted ‘Racist’ on the Mahatma Gandhi statue plinth in Parliament Square, London. Demonstrators taped placards with anti-racism messages on the statue. Statue of former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill was also spray-painted ‘Racist’.
The statue was installed in 2015 and is one among the twelve in the square of prominent British, Commonwealth and foreign political figures like Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln. The protesters claimed that statues of historical figures associated with racism and slavery trade should be taken down from public places. The campaigners prepared a list of 78 statues and memorials to be taken down across UK.
- Yerevan, Armenia |April 28, 2021
The statue of Mahatma Gandhi was set on fire and vandalised in Yerevan. The memorial plaque was dismounted, the protesters threw eggs at the statue two days before it was set ablaze. Yerevan Alternative Municipality shared the images of the desecrated statue over its social media platforms and captioned it, the monument should be demolished’. The post further reads, “Gandhi was a hater of Armenians and was an ally of Ataturk (the founder of the Republic of Turkey). We will fight for this monument to be demolished. He has no place in Yerevan”
The group also called for a session to discuss the immediate dismantling of the statue and also invited Indian Ambassador to Armenia to the meeting. However, the ambassador ejected the invitation.
The statue was installed in the same year upon the decision of Yerevan city hall, at that time protesters opposed the installation calling Gandhi ‘An Animal’ who refused to recognize ‘Armenian genocide’ and also had relations with Turkey’s first president Mustafa Kamal Ataturk.
- Leicester, UK |June 08, 2014
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in Leicester city of United Kingdom in protest remembering 1984 operation Bluestar. The statue plinth was spray painted ‘Neverforget84’ and ‘We want justice #84’.
Sikhs from Leicester, Edinburgh, Birmingham and other areas marched through London to the 30th anniversary of Operation blue star, an anti-terrorist operation carried out for Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala.
Leicester East MP Keith Vaz said, ‘damaging the Gandhi statue was foolish’. He added, ‘To think that somebody has felt it necessary, either an individual or a group of people, to vandalise in this foolish and idiotic way, such an important part of the heritage of India, as well as the heritage of Leicester, I think is a disgrace.’
New York, USA | August 03, 2022
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside Shri Tulsi Mandir in South Richmond Hill, city borough of Queens was vandalised two times, the incident first took place on August 03, 2022, and then on August 16, 2022. Temple priest and founder Lakhram Maharaj informed the police that 5-6 miscreants smashed the statue with sledgehammers and spray painted ‘Khalistan’ on the statue, and ‘Dog’ down the block, they have also spray painted ‘Gandhi Dog’ on the road outside the temple.
New York police arrested man identified as Sukhpal Singh in the case and charged with felony criminal mischief as a hate crime. On August 19, 2022, New York police shared CCTV footage and urged the community members to help identify the attackers over their Twitter handle.
New York State Assemblywomen Jenifer Rajkumar said, “This kind of interfaith and global unity is exactly what we need right now to defeat the forces of hate.Incidents of anti-Hindu hate have been increasing, with a study by Rutgers University finding that anti-Hindu sentiments are on the rise. The FBI’s hate-crime data explorer has also recorded several incidents of “anti-Hindu bias” around the country.”
(Neha Dahiya is a specialist content writer at Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies)
[1] News, W. and News, R., 2022. Statue of Mahatma Gandhi defaced at Hindu temple in Canada, police probing it as hate crime – Times of India. [online] The Times of India. Available at: <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/statue-of-mahatma-gandhi-defaced-at-hindu-temple-in-canada-police-probing-it-as-hate-crime/articleshow/92871337.cms> [Accessed 8 August 2022].
[2] https://twitter.com/IndiainNewYork/status/1489847621153959938?
[3] Zee News. 2022. Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in New York vandalised, Indian-Americans protest. [online] Available at: <https://zeenews.india.com/india/mahatma-gandhis-statue-in-new-york-vandalised-indian-american-community-protests-2434481.html> [Accessed 8 August 2022].
[4] The Conversation. 2022. The background story to a statue of Gandhi and the University of Ghana. [online] Available at: <https://theconversation.com/the-background-story-to-a-statue-of-gandhi-and-the-university-of-ghana-117103> [Accessed 29 August 2022].
[5] Udayavani. 2022. Mahatma Gandhi statue vandalised in US. [online] Available at: <https://www.udayavani.com/english-news/mahatma-gandhi-statue-vandalised-in-us> [Accessed 29 August 2022].
[6] India Today. 2022. Mahatma Gandhi’s statue vandalised by Khalistan supporters in US. [online] Available at: <https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/mahatma-gandhi-s-statue-vandalised-by-khalistan-supporters-in-us-1749067-2020-12-13> [Accessed 29 August 2022].
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