On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany dubbed the desecration of Mahatma Gandhi's statue by Khalistani elements as "appalling". "It is terrible. No statue or memorial should be desecrated and certainly not one like that of Gandhi who really fought for the values that America represents of peace, justice, and freedom. It is appalling 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 said.
A violent group of Khalistani separatists had desecrated Mahatma Gandhi's statue outside the Indian embassy in the US during a demonstration by Sikh-American youths in support of farmers protesting against the recently enacted agriculture 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, on Saturday undertook a car rally to the Indian embassy in downtown Washington DC, where they gathered to express solidarity with the protesting Indian farmers.
However, the peaceful protest was soon hijacked by the separatist Sikhs who were carrying Khalistani flags with anti-India posters and banners. 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 raised anti-India and pro-Khalistan slogans.
The Indian embassy condemned the mischievous act by hooligans masquerading as protesters. "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 in a statement.
The statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the presence of then US president Bill Clinton on September 16, 2000, after the US Congress passed a law in 1998 This is for the second time that Gandhi's statue has been desecrated by miscreants this year.
The first such incident was reported on the intervening night of June 2 and 3 when unknown miscreants vandalised his statue outside the Indian embassy in the US with graffiti and spray painting, prompting the mission to register a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies.
