Two Hindu Temples in Australia have been vandalised by masked extremists. The extremists vandalised the Temples and also carried out a robbery.
In all four men crashed their black Honda van into the front door of the Hindu Temple at Florey, Canberra. Four donation boxes were stolen. One of them weighed 200 kilograms and had thousands of dollars in it.
The attack that coincided with the annual Deepawali Mela lasted for around 15 minutes, the Australian media reported. The vice president of the Hindu Temple Tarun Agasti told Australia Today that they are deeply saddened and disturbed by the recent attack and theft that took ace over the weekend.“This senseless act of disrespect towards our place of worship and our community is disheartening. We want to assure our community that we are working closely with the local authorities to investigate this incident and bring those responsible to justice,” Agasti also said.
He also called for immediate action against the extremist elements. He went on to add, ‘ this act of vandalism not only affects the Hindu community but also undermines the values of respect, tolerance and inclusivity that our diverse Canberra community holds dear.’
From there the extremists drove to the Shri Vishnu Shiva Mandir in Canberra at around 2 pm. Out there they destroyed boxes (Hundi) with a sledgehammer. They ran away with two safes which had cash in it.
At the sanctum sanctorum of the Temple they damaged the cupboards with contained clothes for the deities apart from breaking the Vasant Mandaon. A Shivling was also destroyed by them.
President Thamo Sritharam told the media that he urged the newly elected government to provide support needed to ensure the safety of the Temples and also the Hindu community.
Attacks in the past
This is however not the first time that Hindu Temples in Australia have come under attack. In recent times, the Khalistanis had stormed the Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane and splattered graffiti with a hateful message to the Hindus.
In addition to this the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Sydney was defaced with anti-Modi slogans and graffiti, yet again by the Khalistanis. They had also threatened the Kali Mata Mandir in Melbourne as they did not approve of the bhajan programme that was being conducted out there.
The Intelligence agencies had sounded a very high alert last year in the wake of the Khalistani elements targeting the Hindu Temples. In 2023, three Hindu Temples were vandalised in a span of 15 days. Following those attacks, they had written slogans on the walls which read, ‘ SJF Zindabad’S
Similar incidents have also taken ace pain Canada. A Ram Mandir in Mississauga, Canada had been vandalised in 2023. Hindu Temples have also been attacked in Pakistan and Bangladesh. There has been a sustained attempt by both the radical Islamists and Khalistanis to attack Hindu Temples in various parts of the world.
The messaging by these elements is very clear and that they hate the Hindus. In some of these attacks, it became clear that the Sikhs for Justice had given the call to attack Temples.
The Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajot had said in 2022, nearly 8,900 acres of land belonging to Hindus had been grabbed by Islamists. Three Islamists had also set ablaze 128 Temples and vandalised 481 idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
