Ottawa: India on Thursday expressed concerns over the desecration of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at a Hindu Temple in Canada's Richmond Hill and demanded an immediate investigation into the incident.
CBC News quoted York Regional Police as saying that the statue, which is five metres high, was vandalised at Vishnu Mandir in the area of Yonge Street and Garden Avenue on Wednesday.
The police said it is investigating into the "hate bias motivated incident."
Const. Amy Boudreau, spokesperson for York Regional Police, said that the stature was defaced with "graphic words," including "rapist" and "Khalistan".
She said, "York Regional Police does not tolerate hate crime in any form. Those who victimize others based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression and the like will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
"We recognise that community-wide impact of hate crimes is far reaching and we do vigorously investigate all occurrences of hate crimes and any hate bias incidents."
The incident has shocked the Indian community as the statue that had been here for past 30 years had never been vandalised, said Dr Budhendra Doobay, chairman of the temple.
He said, "Besides a feeling of a disgust, I was disappointed. We live so peacefully in Richmond Hill here for so many years and nothing, nothing, nothing has ever happened like this. The graffiti is in such big black letters. ... We hope these things don't happen. But what can you do?"
Following the incident, Consulate General of India in Toronto and the High Commission of India in Ottawa have condemned the vandalism and said they have contacted the Canadian officials about the crime.
India in Canada tweeted: "We are deeply anguished by this hate crime that seeks to terrorize the Indian community. It has led to increased concern and insecurity in the Indian community here. We have approached the Canadian government to investigate and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice swiftly."
"We are distressed at the desecration of Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vishnu temple in Richmond Hill. This criminal, hateful act of vandalism has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Indian community in Canada. We are in contact with Canadian authorities to investigate this hate crime," India in Toronto said. (UNI)
