Gandhi Statue Desecration: White House Steps In

The heat of protests by farmers in the national capital seeking repeal of the new agriculture laws reached the distant USA as members of Khalistani separatists desecrated the statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the Indian embassy during a demonstration organised by Sikh-American youths in Washington. The youths staged protest in support of farmers opposing the farm laws in India.

Hundreds of Sikhs from in and around Greater Washington DC area, Maryland and Virginia, along with many from other states like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina, carried out a car rally to the Indian Embassy in downtown Washington DC, in support to the farmers protesting in India.

However, the peaceful protest was soon hijacked by the separatist Sikhs who were carrying Khalistani flags, along with anti-India posters and banners. All of a sudden, many pro-Khalistan Sikh youths, flashing Kirpans, jumped on the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and defaced the statue by pasting a poster over it. The group raised anti-India and pro-Khalistan slogans.

While the Indian Embassy condemned the “mischievous act” by hooligans roaming as protesters, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany described the desecration as “appalling”. The US said it has highest respect for Mahatma Gandhi as he had fought for the values America represents.

The Indian Embassy, in a statement, said: “The statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Plaza in front of the Embassy was defaced by Khalistani elements on 12 December 2020. The Embassy strongly condemns this mischievous act by hooligans masquerading as protesters against the universally respected icon of peace and justice.”

It said that it has lodged a strong protest with the US law enforcement agencies and has also taken up the matter with the Department of State for an early investigation and action against the culprits. The Washington DC Police and Secret Services personnel were present when the protest was held.

After half-an-hour, another group of pro-Khalistani supporters hung a dummy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture with a rope around the neck of the statue.

It may be recalled that on June 26, US former President Donald Trump had signed an executive order, according to which an individual can be imprisoned for up to 10 years for destroying, damaging, vandalising or desecrating a monument, memorial, or statue within the United States or otherwise vandalises government property.

Gandhi’s statue was unveiled by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the presence of the then US president Bill Clinton on September 16, 2000, after the US Congress passed a law in this regard in 1998.

This is for the second time that Gandhi’s statue has been desecrated by miscreants. It was first vandalised on June 3 during the George Floyd protests by an unknown person. Post the desecration, an expert was called in to refurbish the Gandhi statue.

Now, it should be seen if the Khalistani separatists would be punished by the US officials, basing on the order signed by Trump.