A Hindu temple in the Greater Seattle area of Washington State was vandalised on the eve of Mahashivaratri, with its walls spray-painted with a swastika sign and the words “Get Out” scrawled in large letters.
It triggered strong reactions in India. In Kanpur, activists of VHP protested against the temple vandalisation. The Congress on Tuesday took a dig at the US saying that the American Government had no right to speak about such incidents happening in other nations if it failed to protect other communities residing within its territories.
Temple functionaries in Seattle discovered the graffiti on the outer wall of the shrine as they assembled on Sunday morning for the usual weekend rush of devotees and preparations for Mahashivaratri.
No individual has been arrested or any group identified so far for the act of hatred, which is being investigated by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department as a case of “malicious harassment”.
“Somebody did that because they are upset, offended or maybe they don’t like this big temple,” said Nitya Niranjan, Chairman of the Hindu Temple Cultural Centre, Bothell, Washington State. “It’s amazing that someone would use our own (swastika) symbol in reverse and put something like that out like this is their country. I thought we were living in America.”