US: Another Hindu Temple Defaced With Pro-Khalistan Graffiti In California

A Hindu temple in California, USA, was purportedly defaced with pro-Khalistan graffiti, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) said on Friday (5 January).

This incident occurred just weeks after the Swaminarayan Mandir in California was similarly defaced 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 a theft at the Shiv Durga temple in the same area,” the HAF wrote on social media X.

The foundation stated that they were in touch with the temple authorities and had established contact with both the Alameda Police Department and the Civil Rights Division.

Earlier in December, the vandalism of the Shri Swaminarayan temple in California was denounced by the US state department. It welcomed the Newark Police Department's efforts to hold the culprits accountable.

We condemn the vandalism of Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu Temple in California. We welcome efforts by the Newark Police Department to ensure that those responsible are held accountable,” the official handle of the US state department for the bureau of south and central Asian affairs wrote on X.

The announcement was made following an incident where suspected Khalistani extremists were accused of vandalizing the Swaminarayan temple in Newark, California. The incident, which came to light on 23 December, saw the exterior wall of the Hindu temple defaced with anti-India graffiti.

Bhargav Raval, the spokesperson for the temple administration, reported that a devotee residing near the shrine found anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti inscribed in black ink on the temple's exterior wall.