A Hindu temple has been vandalised with hate speech in the US state of Washington, sending shock waves through the community in the area
A Hindu temple has been vandalised with hate speech in the US state of
Washington, sending shock waves through the community in the area and
prompting authorities to launch an investigation.
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. On Monday 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.
On Tuesday, 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.
“We are encouraged by the ongoing thorough investigation of the Bothell
City Police Department. HAF will continue to engage through the local
community with city, state, and federal officials until the perpetrator
is brought to justice,” Kansara said.
“Houses of worship are places where people should be able to be safe, at
peace, and inspired to serve others,” said Padma Kuppa, HAF board
member.
“Instead, the vandalism of the Hindu temple in Seattle and the arson of a
mosque in Houston this past weekend incite fear and result in distrust
among communities,” he said.
Anti-Hindu vandalism on the rise
There has been a spate of anti-Hindu attacksacross the US in recent
months. In August a murti of Shiva at the Vishwa Bhavan Hindu Mandir in
Georgia state was desecrated with black paint. The phone lines of the
temple in Monroe, near Georgia, were cut and graffiti wits hate messages
were written on it. The local sheriff’s office arrested two people in
connection with the attack.
Between July and October in Loudon County in Virginia, police documented
17 separate incidents of anti-Hindu vandalism, HAF said.
In response to these attacks, the US Justice Department has mandated the
inclusion of anti-Hindu hate crimes as a category in crime-reporting
forms starting in January.
In an incident involving an Indian, but not directly linked to his
religion, 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel was attacked by a police officer
in Madison in Alabama state and left partially paralysed. The officer
was dismissed from the police force.
In Bothell, a government-run school was also defaced with a swastika and the words, “Muslims Get Out,” according to Q13 Fox.
