In the California city of Davis, unknown persons desecrated a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
This is not the first time such an act of vandalism against the memory of an Indian public and political figure has occurred in the United States: twice in 2020, another statue of Gandhi, installed in Washington, was doused with paint.
The United States has a large Indian community, accounting for 1.2% of the total number of Americans, according to the latest census. Current US Vice President Kamala Harris and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley have Indian roots.
What happened in Davis caused not only indignation, but also bewilderment: in America it has become a fashionable phenomenon to destroy and spoil the statues of those who had anything to do with slavery. Perhaps the hatred of Gandhi among the vandals was caused by his philosophy of non-violence (satyagraha), which influenced the movements of supporters of peaceful change.
The incident became known in the White House: one of the journalists reported to Jennifer Psaki about the damage to the Gandhi monument in Davis.
A White House spokeswoman said during the briefing that the administration was concerned about what had happened. She promised to discuss this with President Biden.
