American Hindus worried about security of their temples

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – After vandals attacked three Hindu temples in the San Franscisco America within two weeks, Hindu advocates are urging temples across the United States to increase their vigilance and security measures.

Religious News Service reported on Friday (Jan. 5), the entrance sign at Vijay’s Sherawali Temple in Hayward, California, was spray-painted with the phrases “Modi is a terrorist” and “Khalistan Zindabad,” or “Khalistan Forever.” Khalistan is the name by which Sikh separatists refer to a sovereign state they hope to carve out of the Indian state of Punjab, the historic home of Sikhi.

A few days before, in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, the Shiv Durga Temple of Santa Clara was burglarized. Cameras recorded three perpetrators stealing gold jewelry that adorned the temple’s idols plus donation boxes.

On Dec. 23, the Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Newark, California, was defaced with a vulgarity aimed at Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister. 

The attacks in California come just months after the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was hit with vandalism and an attempted arson, and a year after a Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of the Shri Tulsi Mandir in New York was broken and vandalized.