Bhakta Das, Director of Communication at the ISKCON temple, told The Australia Today that they were "shocked" by the disrespect for the place of worship and that they had filed a complaint with Victoria Police.
Digital Desk: According to The Australia Today, a third Hindu temple in Melbourne's Albert Park was vandalized with anti-India graffiti on Monday, only days after the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs was vandalized.
The management of Melbourne's International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple, commonly known as the Hare Krishna Temple, discovered anti-India graffiti on the temple walls in the early hours of Monday morning.
Bhakta Das, Director of Communication at the ISKCON temple, told The Australia Today that they were "shocked" by the disrespect for the place of worship and that they had filed a complaint with Victoria Police.
"This brazen contempt for the place of worship has astonished and offended us," Das said.
According to the news report, Shivesh Pandey, an IT expert and devotee of the ISKCON temple, Victoria Police has failed to take any action against persons who are conducting a "hate-filled campaign" against the Hindu community.
"In the last two weeks, Victoria Police has failed to take any meaningful action against the persons who are running their hate-filled agenda against the peaceful Hindu community," Shivesh Pandey told Australia Today.
According to the news report, the attack on the ISKCON Temple occurred two days after Victorian multifaith leaders met with the Victorian Multicultural Commission in an emergency meeting. The Victorian Multicultural Commission condemned the demolition of Hindu temples in Mill Park and Carrum Downes.
Previously, the Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs, Australia, was vandalized with anti-Hindu graffiti. On January 16, temple worshippers arrived for 'darshan' during the three-day "Thai Pongal" holiday, which is being celebrated by Australia's Tamil Hindu population.
The BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Melbourne's Mill Park area was vandalized on January 12 by anti-India extremists, according to The Australia Today. Anti-India slogans were inscribed on the temple's walls.
Patel, a spectator who did not want to provide his first name, told The Australia Today that he saw the vandalized temple walls when he visited the site on Thursday.
"When I arrived at the temple this morning, all of the walls were covered in graffiti expressing Khalistani hatred for Hindus." Patel was quoted in Australia Today.
"I am upset, afraid, and saddened by Khalistan supporters' obvious exhibition of religious intolerance towards the peaceful Hindu community," he continued.
In a statement to The Australia Today, BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir stated that they are "deeply saddened and shocked by these acts of vandalism and hate." It said that they have remained committed to "peaceful coexistence and dialogue to all faiths."
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