Patna, India - The government of India is learned to have written to the government of Switzerland, taking exception to the garlanding of a Lord Buddha statue with shoes in a footwear shop in Geneva.
Quoting a Patna resident who along with his wife and daughter had gone to Switzerland earlier this month, this newspaper had on June 26 carried a report titled, `Buddha statue in Geneva garlanded with shoes’. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) sent the missive to the Swiss government in response to a complaint made by All India Buddhist Youth Association’s national president Milind Dharmasen. Dharmasen’s complaint had the TOI report attached with it.
“I sent a letter and a copy of the TOI report to Raghvendra Shastry, special officer in the MEA, since foreign minister S M Krishna was away in Italy,” Dharmasen told TOI over phone from Bangalore on Monday. Quoting Shastry, he said the MEA has sought a clarification from the Swiss authorities even though the Geneva shop owner is reported to have since removed the statue from the showroom.
“We want the Swiss government to tender an apology for the outrageous act of its citizen. If that is not forthcoming, we will be free to decide our next course of action,” he said.
In a separate letter to minister Krishna on Monday, Bodh Gaya-based Chakma Temple’s chief monk Priya Pal Bhikkhu said, “Any statue of Lord Buddha, made of any material in any colour, size or sitting position, is a symbol of respect for Buddhists across the world.”
It is, therefore, extremely condemnable and disgraceful that such a statue in Geneva was garlanded with shoes, Bhikkhu’s letter said and urged Krishna “to take up the matter seriously with the ambassador of Switzerland”.
The Buddha statue garlanded with shoes was spotted by Patna’s Prabhat Choudhary, his wife and teenaged daughter while they were holidaying in Geneva. The girl even captured the sacrilegious sight in her videocam. The Choudharys, on their return, had also sent a letter to the MEA, requesting it to take up the matter with Swiss authorities.