Another Hindu temple has been vandalised in Carrum Downs, Melbourne, Australia, allegedly by Khalistan supporters and defaced with anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti. The vandalism at the iconic Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs comes in less than a week after the walls of BAPS Swaminarayan Temple, Mill Park, were defaced with hate messages against India and Hindus.
The act came to notice on January 16 after temple devotees came for ‘darshan’ amid the three-day long “Thai Pongal” festival, which is being celebrated by Australia’s Tamil Hindu community. This has left Australia’s Indian-Australian community in shock, The Australia Today reported.
Usha Senthilnathan, a devotee of the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple, told The Australia Today, “We are a Tamil minority group in Australia; a lot of us came as refugees to escape the religious persecution.”She has also urged premier Dan Andrews and Victoria Police to take strict action against the miscreants who are trying to scare the Hindu community.
According to The Australia Today, on January 15, 2023, the Khalistan supporters tried to draw support for their referendum by organising a car rally in Melbourne. However, they failed miserably, as less than two hundred people joined the rally.
Makrand Bhagwat, President of the Hindu Council, Victoria chapter, Australia, as quoted by The Australia Today, said: “I can’t tell you how upset I am for witnessing a second Hindu Temple vandalised for Khalistan propaganda.”
Sachin Mahate, a member of the Melbourne Hindu community, said, “If these Khalistan supporters have the courage, they should go and draw graffiti on the Victorian Parliament building rather than target peaceful Hindu community’s religious places.”
Victorian Liberal Party MP Brad Battin has said that “In no way our future can be built on hate when it has been built on working together for so long. There is no place in Victoria or Australia for this kind of behaviour what we are seeing here.”
“Victoria is and will remain the best multicultural state in the world as long as people learn to work together not against each other,” added Brad Battin.
Notably, last week on January 12, the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in the Mill Park area, Melbourne, was allegedly vandalised by Khalistani supporters with anti-India and anti-Modi slogans written on the walls of the BAPS temple.
Meanwhile, in a video message, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has extended “warmest wishes” to Pramukh Swami Maharaj ji and the BAPS organisation on his 100th birth anniversary. The video message of Anthony Albanese has been shared by Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrell.
