Jul 2, 2021, 3:00 PM

Statues of Queens Victoria, Elizabeth II toppled in Canada

Statues of Queens Victoria, Elizabeth II toppled in Canada

TEHRAN, Jul. 02 (MNA) – Statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II have been pulled down in Canada amid protests against the country's treatment of indigenous people.

The demonstrations were against the country's residential schools system - which saw native children required to attend state-run Christian schools where they were prevented from speaking their own languages in a bid to assimilate them into Canadian society, Sky News in Canada said in a report on Friday.

Many young people were raped, beaten, verbally abused and suffered malnutrition, and up to 6,000 are thought to have died.

More than 150,000 children were forced into the institutions, which opened under the reign of Queen Victoria and finally closed in the 1970s.

Thursday marked Canada Day, a usually celebratory event marking the country's independence, which this year saw more muted recognition following the discovery of almost 1,000 unmarked graves at residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

During Thursday's protests, people could be heard chanting "no pride in genocide" around the statue of Queen Victoria in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The statue was doused in paint before being pulled over by crowds using a rope, the Sky further said.

KI/PR

News ID 175582

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