Hindu temple in California defaced with pro-Khalistani graffiti
The incident comes weeks after two other temples in the area were vandalised with anti-India graffiti
A Hindu temple in California was reportedly defaced with anti-Modi and pro-Khalistani graffiti.
A photo of a defaced signboard at California’s Sherawali Temple was shared by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) on X on Friday (January 5).
The incident comes days after two other temples in the area were vandalised with anti-India graffiti.
“Another Bay Area Hindu temple attacked with pro-Khalistan graffiti. The Vijay’s Sherawali Temple in Hayward, CA sustained a copycat defacement just two weeks after the Swaminarayan Mandir attack and one week after the Shiv Durga temple in the same area,” HAF said in the post.
Stating that it has contacted authorities on the vandalism, HAF said temple graffiti qualifies as hate crime and urged all Hindu temples to download its temple safety guide.
It also stressed the importance of installing alarms and security cameras on temple premises “in view of the rising threat from Khalistan proponents as well as the omnipresent risk from anti-Hindu actors”.
On December 23, 2023, the walls of the Swaminarayan temple in California were found painted with slogans eulogising Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a leading figure in the Khalistan movement, and hateful messages against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
