Another Hindu temple vandalised by pro-Khalistani extremists in California, third in one month

California - Another Hindu temple was vandalised by pro-Khalistani extremists in California, United States. On Thursday (Local time), the Hindu American Foundation reported that Vijay’s Sherawali Temple in Hayward California was defaced by an extremist group that drew pro-Khalistani graffiti on the temple board. The foundation noted that the incident took place just two weeks after the Swaminarayan Mandir attack and one week after the robbery that broke out in the Shiv Durga temple in the same area.

In the post on X, formally known as Twitter, the foundation also asked Hindu temples to install security cameras and alarm systems in view of the "rising threat from Khalistan proponents as well as the omnipresent risk from anti-Hindu actors". “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 foundation wrote on X. “HAF is in touch with temple leaders and in contact with @AlamedaPD & @CivilRights,” the post further reads. 

The rising extremism in the West

The incident took place weeks after the defacement of Newark's Swami Narayan temple which sparked outrage all over the world and garnered attention from the External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar. "I have seen it. Extremists, separatists and such forces should not be given space. Our consulate there complained to the government and the police and an inquiry is underway," the EAM told reporters in December last year. The police stated that the exterior wall of the Hindu temple was defaced by anti-India graffiti. "One of the devotees, who lives close to the shrine, discovered anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti in black ink on an exterior wall of the building, and the local administration was immediately informed," Bhargav Raval, the spokesperson for the temple administration, told ANI at the time of the incident.