Indian Americans hold community vigil against vandalization of Gandhi statue
What's the story
A large number of Indian Americans held a community vigil at a city park in California, where unknown miscreants vandalized a statue of Mahatma Gandhi last week. A bronze statue of Gandhi in the Central Park of Davis, northern California was vandalized, broken, and ripped from the base by unknown miscreants last week. The city has registered a case and is investigating the incident.
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Which organizations held the vigil?
Addressing the vigil at Central Park, Gloria Partida, Mayor of the City of Davis, deeply regretted the act of vandalism and said, "Vandalism will never be condoned. Gandhi is our inspiration and we will not allow this. Not on our watch." The vigil was organized by the Indian Association of Sacramento (IAS), along with other Indian-American and Hindu-American organizations.
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Gandhi's importance in today's world
"Mahatma Gandhi is inescapable in the world today in order to solve our problem in a peaceful and non-violent way," said Shyam Goyal, a retired professor of the University of California, Davis, and a member of Gandhi Statue For Peace Committee.
Disruption
Vigil disrupted by a group of radical Khalistani-separatists, report says
However, a group of radical Khalistani separatists-led Organisation For Minorities In India shouted obscene slogans against Gandhi and tried to disrupt the peaceful vigil. They demanded the statue not be restored. Nanak Bhatti of the OFMI, who was part of the protest at the park, said, "Davis did not deserve Gandhi's statue." He asked, "Why was the statue put there in the first place?"
Chaos
Pro-Khalistan protesters tried to assault a woman speaker: IAS
Further, the IAS alleged the pro-Khalistan protesters tried to intimidate the attendees in an attempt to stop the event and also tried to assault a woman speaker at the event. Police had to be called in to control the aggressive protesters. According to a media release issued by the association, a police report has been filed regarding the assault on the woman speaker.
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The Gandhi statue was installed in 2016
The vigil organizers said Khalistani separatist organizations, led by the OFMI and its leaders Bhajan Singh Bhindar and Pieter Friedrich, had been demanding that the Gandhi statue be removed from the park ever since it was installed by the city of Davis in 2016.
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Some term statue controversial, threaten to deface if reinstated
Meanwhile, many pro-Khalistan Twitter handles expressed happiness at the vandalization incident. OFMI leader Friedrich said that Gandhi's statues are controversial and expressed happiness that "someone finally tore one of them down." Some also threatened to bring it down again and deface it worse if it were to be reinstated. The IAS said it awaits justice and the restoration of the statue at Central Park.