By Jai Bharadwaj and Amit Sarwal
Saturday morning bought the ugly scenes of temple vandalisation to Brisbane’s Hindu community.
Visiting the temple in the morning is part of a daily routine of many locals in the Burbank suburb which is located in the south of Brisbane.
Ramesh Kumar* is a long-time resident of this suburb and lives only 3 kilometres away from Shree Laxmi Narayan Mandir (Temple).
Mr Kumar is shocked and couldn’t believe what he saw while driving towards the temple parking.
Mr Kumar told The Australia Today, “I am aware of what has happened at Melbourne Hindu Temples, but facing this hate ourselves is a very distressing experience.”
“Khalistan supporters are terrorising the Australian Hindu community and making it a very traumatising experience to practice our religion and visit temples,”
said Mr Kumar.
This time Khalistan goons have directly blamed the Australian Hindu community for a crime that was done by supporters of the Indian political party Indian National Congress.
The Australia Today contacted the temple management committee.
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.”
“We have informed the Queensland police officers, and they assured to ensure the safety of Temple and devotees.”
Mr Shukla said we will make a detailed statement after we have a meeting of the management committee with the police authorities.
Previously Brisbane’s Gayatri Mandir (Hindu Temple) received intimidating calls from Khalistan extremists based in Lahore, Pakistan.
A Khalistani goon who identified himself as ‘Guruawadesh Singh’ called President Dr Jai Ram at 11.30 am and Vice President Dharmesh Prasad at 9.30 am on Friday 17 February.
The goon intimidated him to raise ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogans and ordered that you Hindus should support (bogus) ‘Khalistan Referendum.’
Sarah L. Gates is the Director of Hindu Human Rights.
Ms Gates told The Australia Today, “This latest hate crime is a pattern of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) globally, clearly attempting to terrorise Australian Hindus. Coupled with a barrage of propaganda, illegal signs, and cyberbullying, the organisation intends to present all-pervasive threats, fear, and intimidation.”
“I’m here at the Laxmi Narayan Mandir with the temple community in solidarity and will continue to pressure the Queensland police and the authorities to end this war on Hindus.”
https://youtube.com/shorts/xnZVBX6-D9I?feature=share
The Australia Today has extensively reported on attacks on Hindu Temples in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
Earlier on 23rd February in a disturbing development, the ongoing Khalistan menace struck on Indian Consulate office in Brisbane, Queensland.
The Australia Today was given to understand that the Honorary Consulate of India located on Swann Road in the Taringa suburb of Brisbane was targeted by Khalistan supporters on the night of 21 February.
Honorary Consul of India in Brisbane Mrs Archana Singh found the Khalistan flag attached to the office when she arrived on 22nd February.
Mrs Singh immediately notified the Queensland Police, which on arrival confiscated the flag and swept the Honorary Consulate of India to clear of any immediate threat.
Earlier last month Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on his visit to Sydney met with Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and raised the issue of the safety of the Australian Hindu community and their Temples.
Ironically Foreign Minister Penny Wong was in the Indian capital New Delhi yesterday to discuss defence and security collaboration between QUAD nations.
Minister Wong in a media interaction said”;
“We do not recognise any protest by Khalistani supporters on our soil.”
“We respect India’s sovereignty. The Khalistani issue which was raised has obviously been raised through protests. But they have no status. On the broader issue, I would say we have a society where we would expect any criminal activity to be responded to.”
Note: The Australia Today has connected with multiple stakeholders for comments, we will update the story as it happens.
