Last Update: January 17th, 2023, 7:34 pm IST
Australia Today website reports that the historic Sri Shiv Vishnu Temple in Carrom Downs, Victoria was vandalized on Monday (Image: IANS)
The act of vandalism was witnessed when devotees came for ‘darshan’ as the three-day “Thai Pongal” festival is being celebrated by the Tamil Hindu community.
“Khalistani supporters” have allegedly vandalized a Hindu temple with anti-India graffiti in Australia, the second attack on a temple in the state of Victoria within a week, a media report said on Tuesday.
The historic Sri Shiv Vishnu Temple in Carrom Downs, Victoria, was vandalized on Monday, reports The Australia Today website.
The act of vandalism was witnessed when devotees came for ‘darshan’ as the three-day “Thai Pongal” festival is being celebrated by the Tamil Hindu community.
“We are a Tamil minority group in Australia, many of us have come as refugees to escape religious persecution,” said Usha Senthilnathan, a longtime devotee of the Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple. He said, “This is my place of worship and it is not acceptable to me that these Khalistan supporters are breaking it with their hate messages without any fear.”
Senthilnathan said, “I urge Premier Dan Andrews and Victoria Police to take strong action against these hooligans who are trying to intimidate the Victorian Hindu community.”
Makarand Bhagwat, president of the Victoria chapter of the Hindu Council of Australia, told the website, “I cannot tell you how upset I am to see another Hindu temple being vandalized for Khalistan propaganda.”
“The vandalism of our temples is condemnable and should not be tolerated by the wider community.”
Sachin Mahte, a member of the Melbourne Hindu community, said, “If these Khalistan supporters have the guts, they should graffiti the Victorian Parliament House instead of targeting religious places of peaceful Hindu communities.”
Victorian Liberal Party MP Brad Battin said, “There is no way our future can be built on hatred when it has been built on working together for so long.”
“There is no place in Victoria or Australia for the kind of behavior 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,” Battin said.
On 12 January, the Swaminarayan Temple in Melbourne was defaced with anti-India graffiti by ‘anti-social elements’.
In a statement, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Australia appealed for peace and said that they are deeply saddened by the incident.
“We are deeply saddened by the anti-India graffiti on the entrance of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Mill Park, Melbourne, Australia by anti-social elements. BAPS Temple at Mill Park, like all BAPS temples across the world, is an abode of peace, harmony, equality, selfless service and universal Hindu values.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)