Mahatma Gandhi Statue In Canada’s Ontario Defaced with Pro-Khalistan Grafitti

TORONTO: In the latest of a string of such incidents, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Canada has been defaced and spray painted with pro-Khalistan and anti-India graffiti

The vandalism occurred in the early hours of Thursday near the City Hall in the town of Hamilton, in the province of Ontario, where the statue of the Mahatma has been located since 2012.

A video of the vandalism of the six-foot tall bronze statue, which had been gifted by the Indian Government, shows it being doused with paint and graffiti written around the base of the statue, including abuse of Gandhi himself, also an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A Khalistan flag was also seen attached to the walking stick held by the statue

The act of vandalism was discovered early in the morning and city authorities worked quickly to clean the statue and the graffiti. Hamilton Police confirmed that they received a complaint in this regard on Thursday afternoon and were investigating

Earlier, 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. It was the fourth such incident of that nature within a period of eight months.

On January 30 this year, the Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton was similarly desecrated. Before that, a 20-foot tall bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi, located at the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, was defaced in July last year. Weeks later, in September, an episode of such vandalism occurred at the front entrance to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto.

None of these incidents have so far yielded any arrests. While they have been linked by some to the so-called Punjab Referendum being organized by the secessionist group, Sikhs for Justice or SFJ, Canadian law enforcement has yet to establish that connection.

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