In What could be seen as a hate crime, a Hindu temple has been vandalised in the US state of Kentucky by unknown miscreants.
These miscreants also sprayed black paint on the deity and left a knife stabbed into a chair in the main hall.
Officials said that “incident happened between Sunday night and Tuesday morning at the Swaminarayan Temple in the Louisville city.”
According to media report, “vandalism resulted in deity image sprayed with black paint, broken windows, walls spray-painted with inappropriate messages and graffiti. A knife was stabbed in the chair, and cabinets were emptied.”
Indian Community are in shock after this Incident in Louisville, Kentucky
Concern authorities are now investigating the incident as a hate crime
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, condemning the incident of vandalism he called upon the city residents to “Stand Up against this hatred.”
“Anytime we see hatred or bigotry we will stand against it. The cowards who did this have only given our community more fuel and determination to embrace compassion, understanding, and each other,” Fischer on Wednesday when he visited th temple.
“Sometime between the end of services at the Swaminarayan Temple on Bardstown Road on Sunday and the time a repairman arrived on Tuesday morning, vandals broke into a window and vandalised spots throughout the building,” he said.
He further added “we still have to do as a city and a nation to make sure we live to our ideals of equality,of a country where everyone is treated with the respect we all deserve.”
Fischer said on vandals note as “repugnant messages of hate.”
“Regardless of what religion you are, this should not happen,” Raj Patel from the Swaminarayan temple said.
He added “We come here to worship here and we should not have to turn our backs to see who is behind us, but we should be happy to come here and worship in peace”
On the Incident, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad told media that “It is heartbreaking but police will provide additional security.”
“ what I’m here to do today is to assure everyone that attends this temple that we will do our best to find and hold accountable the person or persons who committed this vandalism and this hate crime,” Conrad said.
Kentucky State Representative Nima Kulkarni, the first Indian-American elected to the Kentucky General Assembly, said the vandalism was an “act of intimidation designed to weaken our faith and community.”
There are numerous incidents of such are happening across the US in previous years.
In similar incidents, a Hindu temple has been vandalised in North Texas in April 2015 and in Kent and the Seattle Metropolitan areas in Feb 2015
-Sai Kumar
