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Toronto: The vandalisation of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi within the city of Hamilton within the Canadian province of Ontario is being investigated as a hate crime.
In an electronic mail, a spokesperson for Hamilton Police stated that the incident that befell within the early hours of Thursday is being investigated by the pressure’s Hate Crime Unit.
The spokesperson stated Hamilton Police is interesting to members of the group with data to contact them.
The statue, situated on the Metropolis Corridor, was vandalised with paint poured on it and abusive anti-India graffiti sprayed on at and close to its base, and a Khalistan flag connected to it. “We’re conscious of the defacing of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Hamilton Metropolis Corridor this week,” a spokesperson for the Metropolis Supervisor’s workplace stated.
Metropolis employees shortly eliminated the paint and the graffiti on Thursday and a grievance was lodged with the police. The Metropolis spokesperson stated, “It is very important the Metropolis to make sure that respect for public areas and property is maintained.”
“The place markings do threat the erosion of/compromise the integrity of the fabric of the property we take steps to take away it as shortly as potential,” she stated.
The statue of the Mahatma has been at that location since 2012. The six-foot tall bronze statue had been gifted by the Indian authorities.
The vandalism was found early on Thursday morning.
This was the newest in a collection of what seems to be linked episodes. In February, a Hindu temple within the Higher Toronto Space (GTA) was desecrated, with anti-India and pro-Khalistan graffiti spraypainted on its again wall. The goal of the vandalism was Shri Ram Mandir within the city of Mississauga in GTA.
On January 30, the Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton was equally desecrated. Previous to that, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, situated on the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, was defaced in July final yr. The 20-foot tall bronze statue was located within the temple’s Peace Park. Weeks later, in September, an episode of such vandalisation occurred on the entrance entrance to BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto.
None of those incidents have to date resulted in any arrests. Whereas they’ve been linked by some to the so-called Punjab Referendum being organised by the secessionist group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Canadian regulation enforcement has but to ascertain that connection.
As with earlier episodes, a video of the incident, apparently taken through the night time when the vandalisation occurred, was shared on social media by some apparently pro-Pakistan handles. The movies seem to have been faraway from social media and the handles tweeting them suspended.
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