Life-Sized Mahatma Gandhi Statue Vandalised In New York, Indian Consulate Calls It 'Despicable'

The bronze statue at Manhattan’s Union Square was defaced by some unidentified persons, an act that was strongly condemned as ‘despicable’ by the Consulate

New Delhi: The act of vandalization of an eight-feet high statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a New York City neighbourhood on Saturday has evoked condemnation from the Consulate General of India.

The bronze statue at Manhattan’s Union Square was defaced by some unidentified persons, an act that was strongly condemned as ‘despicable’ by the Consulate, that added the matter has been taken up the by authorities.

According to the Consulate, the matter has also been taken up with the US State Department for immediate probe and urged appropriate action against those responsible.

The vandalization of the statue, that was donated by the Gandhi Memorial International Foundation and dedicated on October 2, 1986 to mark the 117th birth anniversary of Gandhi, has shocked the Indian-American community here.

Notably, the statue was removed in 2001, conserved and reinstalled in a landscape garden area in 2002.

This is not the first such incident where a Gandhi statue has been desecrated in US.

In January last year, some unknown persons vandalized and ripped a statue from the base in a park in California, evoking strong response from India.

The 6 feet bronze statue of Gandhi was sawed off at the ankles and half its face was missing. It was found by a park employee in the early morning hours on January 27, 2021, the police had said.

In another incident in December 2020, Khalistani-supporters vandalized a Gandhi statue in Washington, DC in front of Indian Embassy, the act that was termed by the then White House Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany as ‘terrible’.

It is appalling to see that it has happened more than once and we believe the reputation of Mahatma Gandhi should be respected, especially here in America's capital, she had said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

In June 2020, some unidentified persons had desecrated the statue of Gandhi outside the Indian embassy in the US with graffiti and spray painting, that led to the mission to register a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies.

Vandalism of the statue took place during the week of nationwide protests against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.