Hindu temple defaced with anti-India graffiti in Australia ahead of PM Modi’s go to

By India Today News Desk: A Hindu temple in Sydney on Friday was defaced with anti-India graffiti painted on its partitions. This incident occurred weeks sooner than Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s go to to Australia for the Quad leaders’ summit on May 24.

Pro-Khalistani components are suspected to be behind the vandalism of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir as a result of the temple authorities claimed to have found a Khalistani flag on the gate, the Australia Today newspaper reported.

The temple launched an announcement in regards to the defacement and said that they’ve been are “deeply saddened” and are “disheartened that BAPS temples in Australia have been targeted.”

“For the last 23 years, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir has been a cornerstone of the local community and a prominent Hindu Temple which, like all BAPS temples worldwide, is an abode of peace and harmony, equality, selfless service and universal Hindu values,” the statement read.

The temple also appealed to its devotees and community members to maintain peace at this time.

VANDALISM OF HINDU TEMPLES

In the past few months, reports of Hindu temples being vandalised in Australia have increased. In January itself, three temple vandalism incidents were reported in the country.

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On January 12, anti-social elements drew anti-India graffiti on the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Melbourne. Then, on January 16, the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Victoria faced a similar fate. On January 23, the ISCKON temple in Melbourne was vadalised with “Hindustan Murdabad” written on the partitions.

The subsequent incident occurred on March 4 when the Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane was vandalised by pro-Khalistan supporters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed his points over the frequent assaults on Hindu temples all through Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s go to proper right here in March.

At the time, Modi, in his assertion, said that Albanese assured him of the safety and well-being of the Indian neighborhood in Australia.