PM Narendra Modi held talks with Anthony Albanese, his Australian counterpart where they discussed and deliberated upon temple vandalism in Australia. The high commission of India has expressed worry over the growing influence of pro-Khalistan forces in Australia which points to be the primary cause of the rampant temple vandalism in Australia leading to the unjust targeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a very busy and hectic time since the past few days. Along with meeting dignitaries across the world and heading the G7 Meet, PM Narendra Modi has been the highlight of international headlines.
PM Narendra Modi held talks with Anthony Albanese, his Australian counterpart where they discussed and deliberated upon topics of renewable energy, trade and defense. These talks are aimed upon enhancing good ties between the two countries and among these important areas, temple vandalism in Australia was also an integral topic spoken at length about, the PM confirmed.
The issue at hand regarding temple vandalism
Temple vandalism in Australia has been rampant and curbing it is integral for fostering peace and respecting the sentiment of a large Indian community living there.
This all started back in March. Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple, a well-known Hindu temple in Brisbane, was attacked by pro-Khalistan supporters in March. It is integral to note that in Australia, vandalism against Hindu temples has occurred four times in the last two months.
Similarly, Anti-Hindu graffiti was written on the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple on January 16 in Carrum Downs, Australia.
Furthermore, Anti-Indian and anti-Hindu graffiti was also daubed on the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Australia’s Mill Park on January 12. The Australia Today claimed that anti-Indian protesters wrote anti-Indian slogans on the walls of the temple in the Mill Park neighborhood.
This is a highly sensitive issue that needs to be addressed and more importantly curbed to ensure it doesn’t erupt into the unjust targeting of the sentiments of a large part of the Australian community and Indians across the world.
Major reason behind temple vandalism in Australia
While both the PMs are adamant on resolving the issue at hand to ensure that the ties between both countries remain not just cordial, but also respectful. The primary reason being cited is that this vandalism is an outcome of the ongoing protest and support about Khalistan in India.
Since the middle of the 1980s, armed separatist groups have been trying to establish Khalistan, a Sikh state, and this has resulted in violence especially in the north Indian state of Punjab.
This has led to Pro-Khalistan activists organizing non-binding polls among the diaspora populations in Australia and Canada. Seeing this the high commission of India expressed worry over the growing influence of pro-Khalistan forces in Australia back in January itself.
In a horrifying accident back in January, the words “Hindustan Murdabad” or “down with India” were spray-painted on the walls of a Melbourne Swaminarayan temple, an incident which the police have pledged to look into.
The need of the hour action plan to curb temple vandalism
Since no questions were asked during the media conference in Sydney on Wednesday, Modi and Albanese did not go into further detail regarding this sensitive issue.
However, Albanese stated that he was extremely disappointed by temple damage and that the police and security organizations were responding to such crimes. On the other hand, the Australian government has also made it clear that it supports people’s freedom to peacefully demonstrate.
“PM Anthony Albanese and I have already spoken about the subject of attacks on temples in Australia and separatist forces’ activity. We talked about it today as well,” PM Modi stated.
While the Australian prime minister has reassured PM Narendra Modi, it remains to be seen the possible strict and stringent action plan that would be taken to stop the rise of this escalating society where it is at war with itself, a community unjustly targeted and a propaganda benefitting a few. Whether this unjust targeting will stop or will it continue to rise in secrecy to hide from the curbing measures imposed, only time will tell the answer to all this.
