DAVIS, CA (TIP): Indian Americans on Sunday, January 31, held protest against the vandalism of a Mahatma Gandhi statue in California‘s Davis and demanded reinstallation of the statue.

In a statement by Deputy Chief Paul Doroshov of the Davis Police Department, the statue, broken off at the ankles and the top half of its head broken off, was found by a park worker around 9 am (local time) on Wednesday.

Stepping up in support of the Indian community at the vigil was the Mayor of Davis Gloria Partida who deeply regretted the incident. The mayor informed the protesters that they have initiated an investigation. “Vandalism will never be condoned. Mahatma Gandhi is our inspiration and we will not allow this. Not on our watch,” the mayor added.

“Pro-Khalistan radical groups from neighboring towns outside of Davis tried to intimidate the attendees in an attempt to stop the event and tried to assault a lady speaker at the event,” Bhaskar Vempati, President of the Indian Association of Sacramento, one of the cohosts of the event told media.

“Police had to be called in to control the aggressive protestors. A police report has been filed on the incident of assault on the lady speaker,” Vempati further added.

The Consulate General of India in San Francisco has separately taken up the matter with the City of Davis and local law enforcement authorities.

Speaking to Media, Dr TV Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India, San Francisco said, “The City Council has condemned the incident and issued a statement. I did take it up separately and the city council and police authorities assured me to bring the culprits to justice. They also allowed and provided security to the vigil by the community today.”