Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Johannesburg, South Africa.
ImageCourtesy: joburg.org.za
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalized on Sunday, by a group of people calling him a racist, in Johannesburg, South Africa. They threw buckets of white paint on the statue and trashed the statue. They called the great leader a racist and passed on racist taunts.
The group came in a car at about noon on Sunday, and threw the buckets of white paint on the statue and its surrounding which had details of Gandhi’s history, security guard Ntandzo Khwepe said. They bore placards which read: ‘Racist Gandhi must fall’.
This statue is in the heart of the city and is believed to be the only statue in the world that depicts Gandhi as a young lawyer in his court robes.
The statue is on Gandhi Square in Johannesburg, which is a public transport hub in South Africa. It was named as the Gandhi square since Gandhi used to practice law there, during his stay in the city.
Khwepe said that the one man who was nabbed when the group tried to flee claimed that his political bosses would soon free him. The group was wearing an African National Congres (ANC) array.
“They said we should not stop them because Gandhi was a racist man,” Khwepe said.
Police spokesman Kay Makhubela said that the detained person would be charged for malicious damage to the property. The incident occurred on the same day when the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi revealed the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Germany.
When the ruling party was named at fault, ANC spokesman Keith Khoza denied any involvement in the incident. He refused his party had any role played in causing the damage to the statue.
Since the first democratic elections in 1994, a number of statues of Gandhi have been erected across South Africa.
Tags: Johannesburg Mahatma Gandhi South Africa
