As Indian leaders paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 73rd
death anniversary on Saturday, a statue of the Father of the Nation was vandalised, broken
and ripped from the base by unknown miscreants in a park in the US state of
California, PTI reported.

“On 28 Jan’21, Mahatma Gandhi statue at Central Park in City of Davis, California was vandalised by unknown persons. Statue was a gift by Govt of India in ’16. The Govt strongly condemns this malicious & despicable act against a universally respected icon of peace & justice,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

This act of vandalism has created outrage among the Indian-Americans. Appalled at the desecration, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has demanded that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigate the incident as a hate crime.

The six-feet tall, 650-pound (294 kg) bronze statue of Gandhi, in the
Central Park of the City of Davis in Northern California, appeared to have been
sawed off at the ankles and half its face was severed and missing, local Davis
Enterprise daily reported.

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“Embassy of India in Washington DC has taken up
the matter with US Department of State for a thorough investigation & appropriate
action. Consulate General of India in San Francisco has separately taken up the
matter with City of Davis & local law enforcement authorities,” MEA
added.

The vandalised statue, installed four years ago, was first spotted
by a park employee in the early hours of morning of January 27, the police
said. It is now being removed and stored in a safe place until it can be
evaluated, said said Davis City councilman Lucas Frerichs.

“Mayor of Davis deeply regretted the incident
and informed that they have initiated an investigation. The US Department of
State has conveyed that this act of vandalism is unacceptable and expressed the
hope that perpetrators will be brought to justice as quickly as possible,” MEA
said.

Investigators are still unsure of when exactly the statue was torn down
or what the motive may have been, The Sacramento Bee reported.

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“Seeing as it’s a cultural icon to a portion of the people in Davis, we
are taking it very seriously,” Deputy Chief Paul Doroshov of the Davis Police
Department was quoted as saying by the daily.

Indian-Americans have expressed deep anguish and shock at the incident.

“An atmosphere of hatred was being created by many anti-India and
hinduphobic radical organisations like Organisation for Minorities in India
(OFMI) and other Khalistani separatists for many years now,” said Guarang Desai
of Friends of India Society International (FISI).

The vandalism was praised on Twitter by a pro-Khalistan group in
California, who shared photos of the Destroyed statue, and others who stated
“Today Is A Good Day.”

This is not the first time a statue of Gandhi has been desecrated. In December 2020, Khalistani-supporters had desecrated a Mahatma Gandhi statue in Washington, DC in front of the Indian Embassy.