India has strongly condemned the defacing of a Hindu temple in California with anti-India and pro-Khalistani graffiti. The Indian Consulate in San Francisco said that the defacing of SMVS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at Newark, California has hurt the sentiments of Indian community and demanded prompt action against the accused.
“We strongly condemn the defacing of SMVS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at Newark, California with anti-India graffiti. This incident has hurt the sentiments of the Indian community. We have pressed for quick investigation and prompt action against the vandals by the US authorities in this matter,” the consulate office said in a social media post.
According to news agency ANI, the incident took place on Thursday when a devotee noticed the anti-India and pro-Khalistani slogans written on the walls of the Temple. He alerted the Hindu American Foundation, which shared pictures of the graffiti on social media.
The images shared on social media showed Khalistan terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s name written on the walls with black ink. Hateful slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi were also written on the exterior walls of the temple.
“The mention of the Khalistan terrorist kingpin #Bhindranwale, who targeted Hindus for murder, is specifically meant to traumatize temple goers and create a fear of violence—meeting the CA definition of a hate crime,” the Hindu American Foundation wrote on ‘X’.
The incident comes amid rising hate crimes against Hindus in the US. It also comes days after the US authorities charged an Indian national for allegedly plotting to kill Khalistani extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.