India has demanded ‘immediate action’ after a statue of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in central London.
The statue in Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, was spray-painted with the slogan ‘Terrorists’ and the words ‘Gandhi, Modi and Hindustani [Indians].’
‘This is not just vandalism, but a violent attack on the idea of non-violence, three days before the international day of nonviolence, and on the legacy of the Mahatma,’ the Indian High Commission said in a post on X, calling the act ‘shameful’.
The Indian mission added that it was ‘co-ordinating with authorities to restore the statue to its original dignity’.
Images shared on social media show the black graffiti on the bronze figure.
The Metropolitan Police said it responded to reports of the damaged statue on Sunday.
It is unclear who was behind the defacing of the statue, but police are treating the incident as ‘racially aggravated’, and said no arrests have been made, the BBC reports.
A cleaning team sent by Camden Council was seen power hosing the statue earlier today.
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi in central London has been vandalised
Police said they are treating the incident as ‘racially aggrevated’
The incident comes just days before Gandhi’s birthday on October 2, which is also India’s Day of Non-Violence.
The statue, which was crafted by Polish sculptor Fredda Brilliant, shows Gandhi sitting crossed legged.
This is not the first time a statue of Gandhi has been vandalised in the UK. In 2014, statue of the activist was defaced in Leicester.
Indian- born Gandhi was named the Father of the Nation after his peaceful struggle to lead India to independence from the British.
He was the architect of a form of non-violent civil disobedience, organising boycotts against British institutions in a tactic that would influence the world.
The political and spiritual leader famously staged 17 hunger strikes during his long-running freedom campaign, the longest lasting 21 days.
But less than a year after he was finally able to celebrate independence from Britain in 1947, Gandhi was assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse.
He was 78 when he was shot and killed in New Delhi on January 30, 1948 after leading his usual multi-faith prayer group in New Delhi.
