On September 25, a BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Mather near Sacramento was defaced with graffiti, according to reports. The graffiti labels Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar as terrorists, and another message reads, “Hindus go back”.
Another BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Melville, New York was similarly defaced sometime between the evening of September 15 and the morning of September 16.
Apart from the graffiti, water pipes near the temple were also found to be intentionally cut. Local authorities have started a hate crime investigation, according to reports.
According to a press statement by the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, the body that manages the temple, a prayer meeting was held, and local leaders including California State Assembly Member Stephanie Nguyen, Mayor of Elk Grove Bobbie Singh-Allen, Vice Mayor for City of Rancho Cordova Siri Pulipati, Public Information Officer for Sacramento County Sheriff’s office Amar Gandhi, among others attended the prayer meet.
The Hindu American Foundation also posted about the incident on social media platform X, as did Congressman Ro Khanna from California’s 17th District. “This type of hate against Hindu Americans and vandalism is appalling and morally wrong,” he wrote in the post. “The Department of Justice must investigate these hate crimes, and those responsible should be held fully accountable under the law.”
