An Eton-educated hipster has poured salt over the statue of Mahatma Ghandi in London as part of Just Stop Oil's latest stunt.
Casper Horton-Kitchlew, 32, from Hackney, is descended from someone who was imprisoned with Ghandi, and claimed the Indian independence activist 'would support Just Stop Oil is he was alive today'.
After wrapping a bright orange shawl around the statue on Parliament Square this morning, Mr Horton-Kitchlew said the government is 'pouring salt on Ghandi's legacy' by locking up peaceful non-violent protestors.
He added: 'There are 40 political prisoners in the UK right now, including 24 jailed for Gandhian, nonviolent direct action in support of Just Stop Oil.'
He was joined by another Just Stop Oil member as they held speech bubbles up to the anti-colonialist's figure reading 'be the change' and 'just stop oil'.
Just Stop Oil activists have poured salt over the statue of Mahatma Ghandi in Parliament Square, London
The stunt was led by Casper Horton-Kitchlew, an Eton educated 32-year-old from Hackney
The eco campaigner claimed Ghandi 'would support Just Stop Oil is he was alive today'
In September, two Just Stop Oil activists were sentenced to two years in jail for pouring soup over Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers and are among those which Mr Horton-Kitchlew sought to compare to Ghandi today.
They followed five eco activists including the group's founder Roger Hallam who were jailed in July for conspiring to organise protests that blocked the M25 motorway.
But many objected to the comparison some between those protestors and the Indian activist, as well as questioning the latest means of protest.
One X user said: 'The first of Ghandi's 11 principles is Ahimsa, which removes jealousy, hatred or the desire to do harm towards others. Not sure how blocking roads to stop ambulances and other emergency vehicles getting to jobs is exactly Ahimsa.'
Another commented: 'Why didn't you walk 240 miles instead?'
Mr Horton-Kitchlew, a marketing manager, is the great great nephew of Saifuddin Kitchlew, an Indian independence activist who spent time in prison with Ghandi in 1919.
He said: 'The doublethink that allows the British state to both venerate past resistance and imprison those demanding change today is the same as their acknowledging the climate crisis, but continuing to burn oil and gas.'
While the Just Stop Oil member's relative was locked up with Ghandi, British Indian forces massacred hundreds protesting against Kitchlew's arrest on the instruction of brigadier general R. E. H. Dyer.
'Lives are at risk again,' Mr Horton-Kitchlew said, 'as innocent people in south and eastern Spain become the latest victims of oil and gas.'
The death toll after unprecedented floods across Spain has now hit at least 202, with scientists saying climate change is linked to the disaster.
Today's stunt referenced Ghandi's Salt March, a 24-day non-violent independence march while India was under British rule which saw taxes on salt hiked to historic levels to benefit UK traders.
After wrapping a bright orange shawl around the statue on Parliament Square this morning, Mr Horton-Kitchlew said the government is 'pouring salt on Ghandi's legacy' by locking up peaceful non-violent protestors
Mr Horton-Kitchlew is the great great nephew of Saifuddin Kitchlew, an Indian independence activist who spent time in prison with Ghandi
Mr Horton-Kitchlew (pictured) is a marketing manager, it was revealed in March
He is pictured celebrating with JSO activists after a previous case was dismissed
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: 'In 1947 the Indian Independence movement achieved an end to British Rule, something that was previously considered unthinkable. This was achieved through mass civil disobedience.
'In 2024, we must also achieve the unthinkable and bring an end to the oil and gas era, before it ends us.'
The activism group are demanding for an end to extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.
Mr Horton-Kitchlew previously scattered orange confetti over Labour politician Emily Thornberry during a speech.
He and another campaigner, Genevieve Shanahan, interrupted the then-Shadow Attorney General's address by demanding she leave Labour if the Party fails to revoke Tory oil licences granted since 2021.
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