Canberra: A bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Australian Indian Community Centre in Rowville, Melbourne, has been stolen, triggering a police investigation and deep concern within the Indian-Australian community.
The incident has also drawn a sharp response from New Delhi, with India formally taking up the matter with Australian authorities and urging immediate steps to recover the statue and identify those responsible.
Ministry of External Affairs Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India “strongly condemns the vandalization and removal” of the Mahatma Gandhi statue by unidentified persons. “We have strongly raised the matter with Australian authorities and urged them to take immediate action to recover the missing statue and hold the culprits accountable,” Jaiswal said.
According to a statement provided to The Australia Today, police believe the statue was stolen by three unknown offenders from the charity premises on Kingsley Close, Rowville. The statue was gifted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi, and was inaugurated on November 12, 2021, by former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. It holds a significant cultural, historical, and symbolic importance for the community.
