Click to play videoLondon: Tamil anger is boiling over in the streets of London. The Tamils want the world to stop what they fear is the massacre of Tamil civilians as the Sri Lankan army closes in on the LTTE. And that anger saw at least one casualty in London - not of a man or woman but a statue.
The bust of Pandit Jawarhalal Nehru opposite the Indian High Commission in London was broken off from its pedestal. It was found on the ground on Thursday morning when the High Commission opened.
It is difficult to say what really happened between the evening of April 8 and April 9 morning. Could it really be an act of vandalism? And by who? The police are still investigating.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner S S Mukherjee was circumspect.
"The statue has been damaged and the police are investigating. The police were there at night and they are on the job," is all he had to say.
High on the suspects' list are the Tamil demonstrators. Many had come to the High Commission the day before demanding India stop supporting the Sri Lankan government. Some were vocal about their sympathies for the LTTE.
But this is only a suspicion. The vandalism could have been the work of Sikh militants or other anti-Indian groups that have made England their home.
According to eyewitness accounts, some 50-odd demonstrators gathered at the High Commission on April 8 calling on the Indian Government to stop supporting the Lankan regime. Some said it was a peaceful demonstration and by 7:00 pm in the evening London time, the crowd had cleared and the statue was intact.
However the next morning the dislodged bust was discovered.
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