Dismayed over the incident of desecration of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Canada, India has said it is “distressed” and the act has hurt the sentiments of the Indian community there. The local police is handling it as a case of “hate bias motivated incident.”
The strong reaction by the Indian Consulate in Toronto on Thursday came after the five-metre-tall statue at the Vishnu temple around Yonge Street and Garden Avenue there was found defaced at about 12.30 pm on Wednesday, according to reports.
The statue is nearly 30 years old and was made in Delhi. It was reportedly unveiled in 1988. The Indian Consulate said it was “distressed” at the vandalism of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vishnu temple in the Richmond Hill neighbourhood.“We are distressed at the desecration of Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vishnu temple in Richmond Hill. This criminal, hateful act of vandalism has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Indian community in Canada. We are in contact with Canadian authorities to investigate this hate crime,” it said in a statement on Twitter.
The High Commission of India in Ottawa province said it has approached the Canadian government to investigate the issue. It also said added the incident has resulted in a feeling of “increased concern and insecurity” among the Indian community in the province and its capital city of Toronto.
"We are deeply anguished by this hate crime that seeks to terrorize the Indian community. It has led to increased concern and insecurity in the Indian community here.
We have approached the Canadian government to investigate and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice swiftly," the High Commission said in a tweet.
The York Regional police described this as hate and a "bias-motivated incident" and its spokesperson Constable Amy Boudreau said the authorities “do not tolerate hate crime in any form.”