London Shock: Gandhi Statue Defaced Just Before His Birthday

What a disgrace. Just days before Mahatma Gandhi’s 156th birth anniversary — and the International Day of Non-Violence — vandals in central London spray-painted the word “terrorists” on Gandhi’s statue at Tavistock Square.

The Indian High Commission in London reacted sharply, calling it “a violent attack on the idea of nonviolence and the legacy of the Mahatma.” Officials rushed to the site, demanding swift action from Camden Council and the Metropolitan Police, and promised the bronze statue — standing tall since 1968 — will be restored to dignity.

Social media erupted in outrage. “An attack on Gandhi is an attack on peace itself,” one user wrote. Others noted the bitter irony: the man who preached ahimsa worldwide now being branded in London with the very word he opposed.

With India pressing for answers and the UK authorities scrambling to investigate, the question remains: who dared to spray-paint history, and why?