Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to satate :-

(a) whether the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka has been vandalised;

(b) whether Government has taken up this issue with Sri Lankan Government;

(c) if so, their reaction thereof;

(d) whether this was the second time that the Gandhi’s statue was vandalised in Sri Lanka; and

(e) whether the statues of other Indian leaders were also vandalised earlier in Sri Lanka?

ANSWER: THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI E. AHAMED)

(a) An incident of vandalism of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka was reported on 6 April 2012. The statues of Robert Baden-Powell, Swami Vipulananda and Pulavarmani Periyathampi Pillai were also reportedly vandalized on the same day at Batticaloa.

(b) & (c) As soon as the report came to notice, the matter was taken up with the Government of Sri Lanka as well as the provincial authorities of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka through diplomatic channels. They were also requested to have the matter investigated and to take steps to repair and restore the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

The Sri Lanka authorities had informed that the police in Batticaloa were investigating the case and that they had arrested some persons in this context. As per information available, the statues had since been repaired and restored to their original state.

(d) & (e) There have been no reports of vandalism of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Sri Lanka prior to the incident of 6 April 2012. On 9 January 2012, it was reported that the statue of Swami Vivekananda was damaged in Arayampathy-Kattankudy area in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The local authorities had since repaired the statue.
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