Pictures shared by the Hindu American Foundation, shows slogans scribbled on the walls of the Swaminarayan Mandir Vasana Sanstha. Images also showed hateful slogans against India and PM Modi on the wall of the temple.

California: A Hindu temple has been vandalised with anti-India graffiti on its exterior walls in Newark, California. The pictures were shared on X by the Hindu American Foundation, showing slogans scribbled on the walls of the Swaminarayan Mandir Vasana Sanstha. Images also showed hateful slogans against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the wall of the temple.  The organisation said that the hateful messages may have been written to traumatise people visiting the temple and also create a “fear of violence”.

A case has been filed with the Newark Police Department and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

#Breaking: Swaminarayan Mandir Vasana Sanstha in Newark, California was defaced with pro-#Khalistan slogans.@NewarkCA_Police and @CivilRights have been informed and full investigation will follow.

We are insisting that this should be investigated as a hate crime. pic.twitter.com/QHeEVWrkDj

— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) December 22, 2023

According to the temple administration, the incident took place on Thursday night.”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.

Shedding more light into the incident, Jonathan Arguello, a police captain for the city of Newark, said the ‘targeted act’ was being investigated. “Based on the graffiti, we believe it was a targeted act, and it’s going to be investigated with full thoroughness. I can also tell you that as a member of the Newark Police Department and the Newark community, we’re deeply saddened when these types of acts occur, and we think they’re senseless and they have no room. We won’t tolerate them here in Newark. So today, I wanted to make sure that you understand how seriously we take these situations and know that we will investigate as thoroughly as possible with utmost care and sensitivity. I can also tell you that officers are currently investigating this via evidence collection,” the captain told reporters during a press conference.

The police official said to piece together the chain of events leading to the act of defacement, the footage from surveillance cameras in the neighbouring residences were being looked into.

This is not the first time a Hindu temple has been targeted, as similar incidents have occurred in the past, both in the US and its neighboring Canada. India has earlier expressed concern over escalating activities by Khalistan supporters and clamped down on organisations and individuals trying to stoke separatist sentiment in different countries.

In August, a temple in Canada’s Surrey was vandalised allegedly by Khalistani supporters. Pro-Khalistan posters were put up on the walls and the gate of the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, in Surrey – one of the oldest temples in British Columbia.

The posters called for Canada to investigate India’s “role” in the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18.