Attacks on Hindu temples have ‘no place in Australia’: PM Albanese

Australia would not allow any extreme activities or attacks on religious structures, and such action against Hindu temples has no place, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated today during a news conference in New Delhi, according to an official release.

“Since the last few weeks, news of attacks on temples in Australia are coming regularly. It is natural that such news worries people in India. I have raised these concerns with Prime Minister Albanese who has assured me that the safety of the Indian community is a special priority for him,” PM Modi said.

Previously, at India-Australia: Exchange of Agreements and Press Releases on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the Australian PM has informed him that the safety and well-being of the Indian community in Australia is a priority.

“Since the last few weeks, news of attacks on temples in Australia are coming regularly. It is natural that such news worries people in India. I have raised these concerns with Prime Minister Albanese who has assured me that the safety of the Indian community is a special priority for him,” PM Modi said.

In the first week of March, pro-Khalistan activists vandalised the Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane, Australia. Temple President Satinder Shukla told The Australia Today,  “Temple Priest and devotees called this morning and notified me about the vandalism on the boundary wall of our temple.”

Sarah Gates, Director of Hindu Human Rights, stated, “This new hate crime follows a global trend of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) terrorising Australian Hindus. The organisation wants to convey all-pervasive threats, terror, and intimidation, in conjunction with a deluge of propaganda, illegal signage, and cyberbullying “to Australia Today.

Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs, Australia, was vandalised with anti-Hindu graffiti in January.

The incident was discovered on January 16 when temple worshippers gathered for ‘darshan’ during the three-day “Thai Pongal” holiday, which was celebrated by Australia’s Tamil Hindu population, according to The Australia Today.

On the evening of January 15, 2023, advocates of Khalisan attempted to mobilise support for their referendum through an automobile rally in Melbourne.

According to Australia Today, they failed horribly, as less than 200 individuals attended from a community of around 60,000 people in Melbourne. On January 12, a week before the aforesaid event, the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Australia’s Mill Park was defaced with anti-India and anti-Hindu graffiti.

The temple, located in the Mill Park neighbourhood, was vandalised by anti-India extremists, with anti-India slogans scrawled on its walls, according to Australia Today. An spectator, Patel, described seeing the temple’s vandalised walls when he visited the site.