The statue was first damaged on August 3, 2022, outside the Shri Tulsi Mandir in the borough’s South Richmond Hill neighbourhood. Two weeks later, on August 16, it was flipped over, smashed with a sledgehammer, and spray painted.
A new Mahatma Gandhi statue was recently unveiled outside a temple in Queens, New York, by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and State Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar. The original statue was vandalised in a hate crime in August 2022. The statue was vandalised twice, outside the Shri Tulsi Mandir in the borough’s South Richmond Hill neighbourhood. It was first damaged on August 3, 2022, and two weeks later, on August 16, Pandit Lakhram Maharaj, the temple’s founder, told American Kahani that it had been toppled and smashed with a sledgehammer. The word “kutta” was also spray-painted on the statue by the vandals this time.
Sukhpal Singh, 27, was taken into custody one month later on hate crime-related charges of criminal mischief. In a press release, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said that he was among approximately five individuals who broke the statue and damaged the temple.
Leading the Jan. 21 ceremony outside the temple was Rajkumar, who as per QNS played “a pivotal role in having the August incident investigated as an anti-Hindu hate crime.” She was quoted in the QNS report as saying, “Hate against Hindu Americans will not be tolerated in my district, in Queens, or anywhere in New York City.” The community’s dedication to Gandhi’s ideals of love, unity, non-violence, and peace was highlighted by the report, which also stated, “Together we showed the world that we are proud Hindu-Americans, we fight hate with love and unity.”
“The community’s responsibility to continue his legacy of peace and humanity” was mentioned by Adams, along with GaHe also talked about his trip to the Indian Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram. “The bullet can take away the physical presence, but it cannot destroy the anatomy of the spirit.”
Assembly Member David Weprin, Council Member Lynn Schulman, and Pandit Lakhram Maharaj, founder of the temple also spoke.
