Just a week after being brutally attacked by a man on the street of Queens in New York, Hindu priest Swami Harish Chander Puri has chosen to resume his temple duties.
As the Shravana festivities are around the corner, Swami Harish Chander is carefully examining the preparations at the Shiv Shakti Peeth Temple. Shravana is a Hindu calendar month associated with the time of monsoons in the Indian subcontinent.
Though the priest still has physical signs of the attack, he maintains a calm deportment. On being asked why he is back at the temple so soon, he says, “This is where I belong. The temple is my home, I live here. I have dedicated my life to it, and I will continue doing it.”
On Thursday morning at around 11:00 a.m., Swami Harish Chander was attacked by a white man just as he stepped out of the temple in Floral Park, New York. The man confronted the priest, who was in religious garb. The man, wielding an umbrella, struck the priest with it and also punched on his legs, arms, hand, and head. The man also reportedly said, “This is my neighborhood.”
Though the Indian community is still grappling with the news that a hate crime such as this can take place in their neighborhood, the priest remained benevolent. “God bless my attacker,” he says. “He is human, too. He made a mistake and we should all take it as that.”
Asked what raced through his mind, when he was confronted by the attacker, the priest says, “I was, of course, surprised because incidents such as these have not happened to me ever since I made America my home back in 1988.”
But then, he also views it philosophically. “I take it as an accident,” he says. “Things happen sometimes which have no reason or meaning but one has to bear it. Sometimes we are in a car and there is a collision and an accident happens. I view it like that and would move on. One incident would not change my impression of America.”
The 52-year-old Sergio Gouveia has been arrested for the attack. He faces criminal charges on possession of a weapon, and second-degree assault. Currently, the police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. The attacker, according to reports, was arraigned on Friday and was released on his recognizance.
“Yes, the police are dealing with it,” the priest says. “I do not know whether that guy was suffering from a mental disorder or if he was mentally sound. The police would investigate that and find out.”
On his injuries, he says, “I am doing better now and healing, and the temple work keeps me busy.”
“This is the temple that I built, we bought the land and made a mandir and moved here in 1998.”
Talking about his early life as a religious man, the priest says, “I am a sanyasi and I came to the U.S. in 1988 to be a part of Satya Narayan Mandir in Jackson Heights. I was also a part of Geeta Mandir for 10 years and many mandirs in the New York City area before we set up Shiv Shakti Peeth.”
Hailing from Kurukshetra in India, the priest, religiously attends the Kumbh Mela in India when it is held.
On his daily life in America, he says, “Most of my time is spent taking care of the temple and the responsibilities that come within. For instance, we are now prepping up for bhandaras (religious feasts) which will be held for the Sharavan month. This apart there are various other mandir programs and weekend activities.”
Swami Harish Chander signs off by saying, “I wish the best for everyone, including the attacker. Things happen but we need to move beyond that.”
Civil rights organizations have called on the police to investigate the matter as a hate crime. Many of these groups have pointed out that hate crimes have seen an abrupt rise under the Trump administration. The activists also urge that there is an urgent need to step up to stop the growing religion, color and race-based extremism in America.
The incident comes in aftermath of an already volatile situation when there is an ongoing uproar about President Trump’s remarks and tweets about four congresswomen of color who were asked to go back to “their” countries.
