India on Friday “strongly” condemned the vandalism of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan temple in Sacramento in US’ California.
IMAGE: The priest of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan temple, Sacramento, leads the peace prayer in the wake of vandalism at the temple . Photograph: Courtesy BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha
The Consulate General of India in San Francisco said it has taken up the matter with local authorities to take immediate action against those responsible .
The consulate on X said “The Consulate General of India, San Francisco strongly deplores the act of vandalism which took place on September 24th night at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Sacramento, California. @cgisfo has taken up the matter with local authorities to take immediate action against those responsible.”
On September 25, unknown miscreants vandalised the BAPS Hindu temple in California’s Sacramento, desecrating it with expletive-laden graffiti saying “Hindus go back!”.
“Less than 10 days after the desecration of the @BAPS Mandir in New York, our Mandir in the Sacramento, CA area was desecrated last night with anti-Hindu hate: “Hindus go back!” We stand united against hate with prayers for peace,” the BAPS Public Affairs said in a post on X.
This was the second incident of desecration at a BAPS temple in less than a month in the US amidst the growing trend of temple vandalism as part of a systematic hate crime against the Hindu community in the country.
On September 17, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Melville, New York was vandalised by unknown miscreants.
The temple community in response to the incident gathered for a prayer ceremony and called for peace and unity, remembering His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj’s ideal of harmony and respect.
Headquartered in Gujarat, BAPS has more than 100 temples and centres in North America.
Last year, it opened the Akshardham temple in New Jersey, the largest Hindu temple outside India.
BAPS is a non-political organisation and has its support base across the political and ideological spectrum.
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