NEW DELHI: Responding to attacks on Hindu temples overseas — in Australia, Canada and the UK — External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that India has taken up this issue and has cautioned these governments.
In an interview with ANI, Jaishankar said, “We have taken this up and we have cautioned these governments that these are very radical, extremist forces at work. They need to respond to it appropriately.”
Notably in Canada, the Ram Mandir in Mississauga was defaced with anti-India graffiti. The Consulate General of India in Toronto condemned the defacing of Ram Mandir in Mississauga with anti-India graffiti. It requested Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action against the perpetrators.
This is not the first time that a Hindu temple in Canada was defaced with anti-India graffiti. Earlier, a Hindu temple in Brampton, Canada, was defaced in January with anti-India graffiti, triggering outrage among the Indian community. The Indian Consulate General in Toronto condemned the vandalism at the Gauri Shankar Mandir stating that the act has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Indian community in Canada.
The consulate office, in a statement, said, “We strongly condemn the defacing of Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton, a symbol of Indian heritage, with anti-India graffiti. The hateful act of vandalism has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Indian community in Canada. We have raised our concerns on the matter with Canadian authorities”.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown also condemned the vandalism and the Canadian authorities are investigating the incident.
In September 2022, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Canada was defaced by ‘Canadian Khalistani extremists’ with anti-India graffiti. Also, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was defaced in July 2022.
In both instances, pro-Khalistan slogans were painted and the vandalisation was promoted on social media by pro-Pakistan handles.
Meanwhile, the Indian community condemned the vandalism of Hindu temples in Australia. In January, the Swaminarayan and ISKCON Temples in Melbourne, and the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs, Victoria, were defaced by ‘anti-social elements’, with anti-India 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, The Australia Today reported.
On the evening of January 15, 2023, Khalistan supporters tried to draw support for their referendum through a car rally in Melbourne. However, they failed miserably as less than 200 people gathered out of an almost 60,000-strong Melbourne community, according to The Australia Today.
A week before the 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 walls, located in the suburb of Mill Park, The Australia Today reported.
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 attack on ISKCON temple came two days after Victorian multi-faith leaders held an emergency meeting with Victorian Multicultural Commission, per the news report.
The Victorian Multicultural Commission issued a statement condemning the vandalism of Hindu temples in Mill Park and Carrum Downes. Later, India condemned the vandalisation 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.
A Hindu temple was targeted by unidentified men in UK’s Leicester, invoking a strong response from India. The Indian mission in London has sought action from the UK government.
The strong response came after a Hindu temple was vandalised and a saffron flag outside it was pulled down by unidentified persons in East Leicester. A video of the incident showed a man, clothed in black, atop a building, pulling down a saffron flag while onlookers cheered him on. The temple was targeted in the presence of the UK Police.
Following similar attacks in Leicester and Wembley, an Islamist group shared posts calling for a demonstration outside the Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir in Wembley. (ANI)