Vandals deface temple wall in US, India reacts angrily
18 Feb 2015 11:20 PM GMT
The incident happened when unidentified miscreants sprayed swastika and painted “Get Out” on one of the walls of the temple in the Seattle Metropolitan area.
It is one of the largest Hindu temples in the entire North West. The Snohomish county sheriff's department is investigating this case as malicious harassment. Yesterday top county officials visited the temple.
“This kind of thing should not happen in the US. Who are you telling to get out? This is a nation of immigrants,” Nitya Niranjan, chairman of board of trustee of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre, Bothell, Washington said.
Today the temple is celebrating Mahashivratri. Niranjan said some kind of painting was sprayed on the outside wall of the temple a few years ago, but they did not bring it to the notice of the law enforcement authorities as nothing was written. “We have no idea, who did it,” Niranjan said. While the temple has been there for nearly two decades, the construction on the second phase of the current building began recently.
The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) condemned the incident. “The timing of this crime, occurring before a major Hindu festival, warrants special attention from law enforcement,” said Jay Kansara, director of government relations, Hindu American Foundation.
The incident got some strong, angry reactions from India as leaders took to Twitter to express their disdain. Opposition leaders in India took a dig at the US over the incident.
Congress leader PC Chacko said, “They always say,they are pluralist and inclusive society, what happened is totally unacceptable. The US authorities must take stringent action against this and come out with a statement,” he said.
“Hindu temple vandalised with hate message in US. But this doesn’t include in “Religious Intolerance”,” former J&K CM Omar Abdullah tweeted.
Of late there has been increasing incidents of vandalism of Hindu temples in the US including one in Loudoun County, Virginia and Monroe, Georgia last year. As of Jan 1, 2015, the Department of Justice ordered all crime reporting forms to include the category anti-Hindu under the possible motives of hate crimes.
It is one of the largest Hindu temples in the entire North West. The Snohomish county sheriff's department is investigating this case as malicious harassment. Yesterday top county officials visited the temple.
“This kind of thing should not happen in the US. Who are you telling to get out? This is a nation of immigrants,” Nitya Niranjan, chairman of board of trustee of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre, Bothell, Washington said.
Today the temple is celebrating Mahashivratri. Niranjan said some kind of painting was sprayed on the outside wall of the temple a few years ago, but they did not bring it to the notice of the law enforcement authorities as nothing was written. “We have no idea, who did it,” Niranjan said. While the temple has been there for nearly two decades, the construction on the second phase of the current building began recently.
The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) condemned the incident. “The timing of this crime, occurring before a major Hindu festival, warrants special attention from law enforcement,” said Jay Kansara, director of government relations, Hindu American Foundation.
The incident got some strong, angry reactions from India as leaders took to Twitter to express their disdain. Opposition leaders in India took a dig at the US over the incident.
Congress leader PC Chacko said, “They always say,they are pluralist and inclusive society, what happened is totally unacceptable. The US authorities must take stringent action against this and come out with a statement,” he said.
“Hindu temple vandalised with hate message in US. But this doesn’t include in “Religious Intolerance”,” former J&K CM Omar Abdullah tweeted.
Of late there has been increasing incidents of vandalism of Hindu temples in the US including one in Loudoun County, Virginia and Monroe, Georgia last year. As of Jan 1, 2015, the Department of Justice ordered all crime reporting forms to include the category anti-Hindu under the possible motives of hate crimes.
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