India has lodged a protest with the United States and demanded early investigation and action against the people responsible for defacing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Washington DC on Saturday.
The statue of Mahatma Gandhi in front of the Embassy of India in Washington DC was desecrated on Saturday. The incident took place when hundreds of people – mostly Sikh Americans – took out rallies in and around the capital of the US to express solidarity with the farmers protesting against the new agricultural laws enacted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in India. Similar rallies were also held in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina.
The Embassy of India in Washington DC accused the “Khalistani elements” of defacing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. It issued a statement strongly condemning “the mischievous act by the hooligans masquerading as protesters against the universally respected icon of peace and justice”.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) reported from Washington D.C. that the peaceful protest was soon hijacked by the separatist Sikhs, who were “carrying Khalistani flags with anti-India posters and banners” indicating that they represented the “The Republic of Khalistan”.
“During the protest, many of the pro-Khalistan Sikh youths flashing Kirpans jumped on the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and pasted a poster over it. The group was raising anti-India and pro-Khalistan slogans,” reported the news agency, adding: “Around half-an-hour later, 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.”
A picture taken at the scene immediately after the incident showed the statue covered with a Khalistani flag.
The Embassy of India in Washington DC issued a statement, stating that it lodged a “strong protest with (the) US law enforcement agencies” and also took up “the matter with the US Department of State for an early investigation and action against the culprits under the applicable law”.
The majority of the farmers protesting against the new agricultural laws enacted by the Modi Government are Sikhs from Punjab and Haryana.
The activists of the pro-Khalistani Sikhs for Justice and Federation of Sikh Organizations, UK, were also spotted among the people, who staged a rally in front of the Embassy of India in London on December 6 last to express solidarity with the continuing protests by the farmers in the northern and western entry points of Delhi. Some of them were also seen waving flags of the organizations that support the secession of Khalistan from India.
The statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Washington D.C. was unveiled by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the presence of the then American President Bill Clinton on September 16, 2000.
The statue was earlier desecrated by miscreants during “Black Lives Matter” protests that swept the US after the death of George Floyd while being arrested by police in Minneapolis on May 25. The statue was refurbished and unveiled again on July 2 in the presence of US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and India’s ambassador to America, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.