Australia: The Indian High Commissioner to Australia, Manpreet Vohra, extended his respects at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Melbourne on Sunday, where he discussed the community’s concern regarding the recently occurred vandalization incidents.
During his visit, he also shed light on the violence in Melbourne on Sunday. In addition, Indian High Commissioner Manpreet has paid respect to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Melbourne, which is a sacred place of spirituality and service, said reports.
As per the reports of Australia Today, men from alleged pro-khalisani groups carried out a deadly attack on the Indians carrying the Indian National flag in their hands. “Five people were hospitalized after the attack by Khalistani groups”, Australia Today posted on their official Twitter account.
Furthermore, incidents of vandalization have been carried out in Melbourne for quite a while now. Another video was captured of Khalistani goons running a mock activity in Melbourne’s Federation Square in which five individuals were injured, and one was sent to the hospital, as per the tweet of Australia Today.
After which, the video went viral, and the leader of the Bharatiya Janta Party, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, condemned the ‘anti-India activities’ conducted by pro-khalistani groups in Australia. On his part, Sirsa tweeted, “I strongly criticize the anti-India activities by pro-khalistani”.
In his tweet, Sirsa further wrote, “Anti-Social elements which are disrupting the peace and harmony of the nation with such activities must be considered a serious issue and dealt with strong actions, and the culprits must be brought to books”.
Before the attack on Sunday, in Melbourne, BAPS Swaminarayan temple had also suffered an attack by Anti-India elements and people with Anti-India slogans written on the temple walls in the suburb of Mill Park, said Australia Today.
The incident was witnessed by an onlooker named Patel when he was present on the site on Thursday, “When I reached the temple in the morning, every wall of the temple was painted with graffiti of hatred by Khalistani’s towards Hindus”, Patel stated.
Patel further expressed his emotions after such incidents and added, “I am angry and scared at the same time by the blatant display of the hatred among the religious beliefs towards the peaceful Hindu community by the supporters of Khalistan”.
BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir has stated to The Australia Today, “deeply saddened and shocked by these horrible acts of vandalism and hatred.” It said they have been committed to the “peaceful coexistence of the communities and dialogue to all faiths of people.”
BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir authorities further added that they had conveyed the case to the rules regarding the incident of attack, as per The Australia Today report. Various Hindu temples in Australia have been attacked previously.