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Mahatma Gandhi’s statue vandalised at Canada university campus
The bust of the Mahatma was located in the Peace Park within the campus of Simon Fraser University in the town of Burnaby in British Colombia
Toronto: In the second such incident within a week, a bust of Mahatma Gandhi located in the campus of a university in British Columbia was targeted and decapitated by unidentified vandals.
The incident is believed to have occurred on Monday. The bust of the Mahatma was located in the Peace Park within the campus of Simon Fraser University (SFU) in the town of Burnaby in British Columbia.
The vandalism drew a sharp reaction from India’s consulate in Vancouver, as it tweeted, “We strongly condemn the heinous crime of vandalising the statue of harbinger of peace Mahatma Gandhi.”
“The Canadian authorities are urged to investigate the matter urgently and bring the perpetrators to justice swiftly,” the consulate added.
The bust has been a fixture at the campus since 1970, and was created at the Fine Arts Studio of the Wagh Brothers in Mumbai.
On October 2 every year, the university organises garlanding of the bust.
Just last Thursday, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, located at the City Hall in the town of Hamilton in Ontario was defaced and anti-India and pro-Khalistan graffiti spray-painted near its base. That incident is being investigated by Hamilton Police’s Hate Crime Unit.
In July last year, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, located at the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, was also defaced. The 20-foot tall bronze statue was situated in the temple’s Peace Park.
Similar incidents have continued to take place over the past nine months. In February, a Hindu temple in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was desecrated, with anti-India and pro-Khalistan graffiti spray-painted on its back wall. The target of the vandalism was the Shri Ram Mandir in the town of Mississauga in the GTA. On January 30, the Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton was similarly desecrated.
None of these incidents have so far resulted in any arrests. While they have been linked by some to the so-called Punjab Referendum being organised by the secessionist group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Canadian law enforcement has yet to establish that connection.
Statues of the Mahatma have been targeted in North America even earlier. In February last year, one was discovered decapitated in New York, while in January 2021, another was vandalised in Davis, California.
