The White House in Washington has condemned the recent vandalism of a Mahatma Gandhi statue in California’s Davis city by unknown miscreants.
“We would certainly have concerns about the desecration of monuments of (Mahatma) Gandhi. We would condemn the desecration and watch it closely,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing.
She was responding to a question on the desecration of the six-foot-tall, 294 kg bronze statue of Gandhi in the Central Park of the city of Davis in northern California. It was broken and ripped from the base by unknown miscreants recently.
In a statement by Deputy Chief Paul Doroshov of the Davis Police Department, the statue, broken off at the ankles and the top half of its head broken off, was found by a park worker.
In protest against the vandalism of a Mahatma Gandhi statue in California’s Davis, Indian Americans on Sunday held a vigil and demanded reinstallation of the statue.
On Sunday, the vigil was also met with protests and outrage from some, who accused Gandhi of genocide, racism, and molestation.
“Pro-Khalistan radical groups from neighbouring towns outside of Davis tried to intimidate the attendees in an attempt to stop the event and tried to assault a lady speaker at the event,” said Bhaskar Vempati, President of the Indian Association of Sacramento, one of the cohosts of the event.
The vandalisation of Gandhi’s statue has evoked a strong response from India which sought a thorough investigation and appropriate action against those responsible for the “despicable act.”
Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the US Department of State has conveyed that the act of vandalism is unacceptable and expressed the hope that the perpetrators will be brought to justice as quickly as possible.
“The government of India strongly condemns this malicious and despicable act against a universally respected icon of peace and justice,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on January 30.