In a shocking development, pro-Khalistani elements have once again displayed their nefarious agenda and vandalised a statue of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi in Italy. Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the statue in Italy’s Apulia during his G-7 visit to the European nation.
Apart from vandalising the statue, the attackers also wrote controversial slogans related to slain Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar at the base of the bust. On the adjacent side, they wrote ‘Arersstoo Terrsto Gandhi Modi’, which seems to be a call to arrest Gandhi and Modi.
Mahatma Gandhi's bust vandalised in Italy!
— Geeta Mohan گیتا موہن गीता मोहन (@Geeta_Mohan) June 12, 2024
A few hours after the inauguration, during the days ahead of the G7 summit, pro-Khalistani elements vandalised the bust.
Graffiti includes reference to Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Authorities say area was cleaned up in "record time" pic.twitter.com/08fy9dYrNW
Talking about the incident, foreign secretary Kwatra said the Indian authorities raised the matter with Italian officials. “We have a question regarding the vandalization of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. We have seen the reports of that and have taken it up with the Italian authorities. We understand that suitable rectification has already taken place,” he said.
Delhi: We have a question regarding the vandalization of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. We have seen the reports of that and have taken it up with the Italian authorities. We understand that suitable rectification has already taken place," says Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Foreign… pic.twitter.com/DvKsx5pn2Y
— IANS (@ians_india) June 12, 2024
The local authorities said that they cleaned up the area in record time.
The 50th G7 Summit will be held in Italy’s Apulia region from June 13 to 15. PM Modi will be travelling to the venue a tomorrow to participate in the summit at the invite of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Last year at least three statues of Mahatma Gandhi were defaced in Canada. Khalistanis first vandalized and spray-painted a Mahatma Gandhi statue next to the city hall in the Canadian province of Ontario and then vandalised another statue of his which was placed at Peace Square on the Burnaby campus at Simon Fraser University. A Mahatma Gandhi statue at a Vishnu temple in Richmond Hill was also vandalized in July of the same year.
In February 2022, miscreants targeted a life-size bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a neighbourhood in New York City. Unidentified individuals vandalized the eight-foot-tall statue in Manhattan’s Union Square, according to the Indian Consulate General. In a similar incident, a monument of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalized, shattered, and removed from its base in a park in the US state of California in January 2021.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to Italy to take part in the G-7 summit on his first international visit since being elected for the third consecutive term. It will take place between 13th and 15th June. Other top leaders scheduled to attend the event include the United States President Joe Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. On 13th June, PM Modi will depart for Italy and return late the next day. According to the sources, the prime minister would be escorted by a high-level delegation consisting of National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, among others.
