A red-painted hate message “Go home brown Ct** splashed across the sanctum walls of the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Boronia. Two nearby Asian-owned eateries, similarly defaced. A 23-year-old Indian student in Adelaide brutally beaten and left to die by the roadside, his head bloodied, his only ‘provocation’—his skin colour.
Australia, the land once lauded for multicultural inclusion, now stands at the edge of a moral crisis. A coordinated chain of racially motivated attacks has left the Indian-Australian community shaken, angry, and questioning the sincerity of the state’s commitment to religious freedom, racial equality, and public safety.
In the early hours of July 21, the peaceful precincts of the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, nestled in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Boronia, turned into a crime scene. Red spray paint screaming, “Go Home Brown Ct**,” desecrated the walls of a Mandir that serves as a spiritual, cultural, and emotional anchor for thousands of Indian-origin families.
🚨 Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Boronia was desecrated with red‑painted slurs telling our community to “Go home, Brown C**t.”
Read details here: https://t.co/Nq2xLLqdFgTwo nearby Asian‑run restaurants were also targeted—yet it’s the attack on the temple, a place of peace,… pic.twitter.com/1UnhooyYL1
— The Australia Today (@TheAusToday) July 24, 2025
According to The Australia Today, the slur wasn’t an isolated act. Similar graffiti marred two Asian-run restaurants on Boronia Road and a healing centre on Mountain Highway four linked incidents that Victoria Police are now formally investigating as racially motivated.
“This is not just vandalism. This is terror by paint,” said Makrand Bhagwat, President of the Hindu Council of Australia’s Victoria chapter. “This attack wasn’t just on a building it was on our identity, our right to exist, worship, and be safe in the country we’ve called home for decades.”
The Swaminarayan Mandir is not just a place of worship. It is a vital socio-cultural hub that hosts daily aartis, free community meals, youth programs, and festivals that draw thousands across the Greater Melbourne area. The hate message scrawled across its facade sent a clear signal: You are not welcome.
While the graffiti sparked outrage across the community, Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan remained conspicuously absent from the public discourse for days. No press conference. No social media statement. No symbolic visit.
Only a private letter, quietly sent to Mandir authorities and later cited in The Australia Today, offered a sterile attempt at reassurance: “What happened this week was hateful, racist and deeply disturbing… It wasn’t just vandalism — it was a deliberate act of hate, designed to intimidate, isolate, and spread fear.”
“You carry with you the full support of our government. We stand beside you, with respect and unwavering support.” But for a community nursing the wounds of humiliation and fear, these carefully typed lines felt hollow.
“Why the silence? Why the delay? Why not stand with us in public?” asked Vikrant Thakur, a community organiser based in Dandenong. “If this was an attack on any other religious community, would the response have been as muted?”
Just 24 hours before the Boronia Mandir was desecrated, another incident arguably more violent, but equally hateful shook the Indian student community to its core. Charanpreet Singh, a 23-year-old student in Adelaide, was viciously attacked and left unconscious by the roadside near Kintore Avenue, in the city’s heart. According to 9News, a group of men approached Singh during a parking dispute and launched into a verbal and physical assault.
“They shouted, ‘F*** off, Indian!’ and started punching me. I didn’t even argue with them. I didn’t say a word. They just wanted to hurt me,” Singh said from his hospital bed, his skull bandaged, eyes sunken in trauma.
He was found bloodied and semi-conscious by passersby and rushed to hospital. He is recovering from severe brain trauma. Police have yet to charge any suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.
These are not isolated “incidents.” They are symptoms of a rising racial hostility against Indian-origin residents—students, priests, business owners alike. In recent months:
- Hindu Mandirs across Sydney and Brisbane have faced defacement.
- Sikh gurdwaras have reported intimidation by Khalistani-linked gangs.
- Indian cab drivers have endured a spike in racial slurs and physical threats.
- And now, peaceful religious spaces and innocent students are being assaulted.
What links all these attacks is not just their racial undertone, but their psychological intent to intimidate, isolate, and expel. The message is explicit: “You do not belong here.” “We are not interested in symbolic apologies or private letters,” said Dr Surya Chandrasekar, spokesperson for the Australasian Coalition for Hindu Rights. “We demand concrete action tougher hate crime laws, visible police protection for places of worship, and immediate prosecution of racially motivated crimes.”
Multifaith organisations such as the City of Greater Knox’s Multifaith Network have extended support, but grassroots leaders remain frustrated with the lack of urgency shown by political leaders.
“Jacinta Allan may speak of ‘inclusion,’ but where was she when our community was bleeding?” asked Bhagwat, referencing both the vandalism and the Adelaide assault. “Inclusiveness isn’t a campaign slogan. It’s a test in moments like this.”
In a related racist incident, an Indian man in his 40s was attacked in Tallaght, Dublin on July 19, just days before the Australia attacks. The man, employed by Amazon and newly arrived, was falsely accused of indecent conduct near children before being set upon by a group of teenagers.
The Irish Times reported that he sustained multiple injuries and was hospitalised. Police later confirmed that no wrongdoing was committed by the victim, and the incident is being investigated as a hate crime. The vulgar phrase used in Melbourne’s vandalism isn’t just offensive. It’s existential. It’s the verbal equivalent of a swastika on a synagogue or a cross burnt outside a Black church.
And yet, the response from Australian leadership has been tepid. Where is the national condemnation? Where is the federal probe into hate crimes against South Asians? Where is the zero-tolerance legislation to crack down on repeat offenders? Australia, if it wishes to remain a beacon of multicultural harmony, must face its reality: brown lives cannot remain a footnote in its diversity narrative.
From Boronia to Adelaide, from Dublin to Dandenong, the Indian diaspora now stands at a dangerous crossroad accepted in word, targeted in deed. But if the aim of these cowards was to intimidate, they have failed. The Hindu community has responded not with violence, but with prayer, solidarity, and resolve.
As Bhagwat powerfully stated, “They painted walls with hate. We will paint them again with love, colour, and faith. We’re not going anywhere.”
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