Swaminarayan Mandir defaced in US; India says “sentiments of Indian community hurt”
A prominent Hindu temple, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, in the US state of California has been vandalized by pro-Khalistan elements with anti-Modi graffiti, leaving the members of the community in shock.
The walls of Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Newark, Bay Area, were spray painted on Friday with graffiti targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and eulogizing Khalistan leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Condemning the vandalization, India has sought quick action. Indian Embassy wrote on X, “We strongly condemn the defacing of SMVS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at Newark, California with anti-India graffiti. This incident has hurt the sentiments of the Indian community. We have pressed for quick investigation and prompt action against the vandals by the US authorities in this matter.”
We strongly condemn the defacing of SMVS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at Newark, California with anti-India graffiti. This incident has hurt the sentiments of the Indian community. We have pressed for quick investigation and prompt action against the vandals by the US authorities in…
— India in SF (@CGISFO) December 23, 2023
Chintan Pandya, a member of the temple, told CBS News that whatever happened last night was a clear act of vandalism and violence against the Indian community. He said the incident is “concerning” as it is the first time the temple has seen something like this ever since its opening almost two years ago.
“It is not safe for the community,” Pandya said, adding that the temple leaders will be having a special meeting to discuss the incident.
US-based advocacy organization, Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA), said thorough and urgent action is needed to address growing Hinduphobia in the region.
“Freedom of religion means little when sacred spaces that are meant to be an oasis of peace and calm, are vandalized with no consequences. We are sad but not shocked — authorities, media, and other groups have regularly downplayed or ignored the growing #Hinduphobia in the region,” CoHNA said in a post on X on Friday.
“People who put those symbols and names up…what they are promoting is a separate state of Khalistan… So if those people who did this want that, that’s something that I think most Americans, most Indians, most Hindus don’t want,” Mihir Meghani, co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation, told CBS News.
Meghani said the Indian-American community in the Bay Area is growing, and these political issues are now becoming a part of the division here.
The incident comes just after the US Justice Department unsealed an indictment against an Indian national for his alleged involvement in a foiled plot to kill New York-based Khalistan leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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