Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 18: The Indian community in Australia is upset over the defacement of Hindu temples in several parts of the country and demanded firm action against the perpetrators. Earlier in January, several Hindu temples were vandalized in various parts of Australia purportedly by Khalistan supporters.
“I expect the Government to take appropriate actions against this. We are Hindus and in our culture, the meaning of Hinduism is a way of life and we respect every religion,” said an Indian in Sydney while speaking to ANI.
https://twitter.com/ani_digital/status/1626798650117742592
“Every time we hear something like this, it makes us concerned. As a Hindu or a Christian or a Muslim, we’re all one and we support each other. The government has to take care of this and take action against people creating problems for a particular community,” said one more Indian in Sydney.
Speaking to ANI, another Australian of Indian origin said that what is happening in the country against the community is a matter of concern. “The Government says we are a multi-culture country but they should take strict actions against the miscreants and should show support for our temples,” said an Indian in Sydney, Australia.
In January, Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Australia’s Carrum Downs was vandalised with anti-Hindu graffiti. The act came to notice on January 16 after temple devotees came for ‘darshan’ amid the three-day long Thai Pongal festival which was celebrated by Australia’s Tamil Hindu community. On the evening of January 15, Khalistan followers tried to draw support for their referendum through a car rally in Melbourne. However, they failed miserably as less than two hundred people gathered out of an almost 60,000-strong Melbourne community, according to The Australia Today.
A week before the above incident, on January 12, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Australia’s Mill Park was smeared with anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti. The temple was vandalised by anti-India elements with anti-India slogans written on the temple’s walls, located in the suburb of Mill Park.
The management of Melbourne’s International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple also known as the Hare Krishna Temple found the temple walls vandalised with anti-India graffiti. The Victorian Multicultural Commission had issued a statement condemning the vandalism of Hindu temples in Mill Park and Carrum Downes.
Later, India had condemned the vandalization of Hindu temples in Australia and said that the matter has been raised with the Australian government in Canberra and asked for expeditious investigation against the perpetrators.
Notably, Australia’s High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell AO had also condemned the incidents and said that Australia is stunned at the vandalism of two Hindu temples in Melbourne, and authorities are investigating the same.
