Hindu temple vandalised in US in hate crime

Agencies
January 31, 2019

Washington, Jan 31: In a hate crime, a Hindu temple has been vandalised in the US state of Kentucky by miscreants who sprayed black paint on the deity and wrote repugnant messages on the walls.

The incident happened between Sunday night and Tuesday morning at the Swaminarayan Temple in the Louisville city, authorities said.

There are no suspects but an investigation is ongoing, police said.

Temple officials said no video of the incident is available.

According to local media reports, vandalism resulted in deity image sprayed with black paint, broken windows, walls spray-painted with inappropriate messages and graffiti. A knife was stabbed in the chair and cabinets were emptied.

The incident has sent shock waves through the Indian-American community in Louisville Kentucky.

Authorities are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Condemning the incident of vandalism, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer called upon the city residents to stand up against this hatred.

"Anytime we see hatred or bigotry we will stand against it. The cowards who did this have only given our community more fuel and determination to embrace compassion, understanding, and each other," Fischer said as he visited the vandalised temple Wednesday.

"Sometime between the end of services at the Swaminarayan Temple on Bardstown Road on Sunday and the time a repairman arrived on Tuesday morning, vandals broke into a window and vandalised spots throughout the building," he said.

The vandalism of this temple, Fischer said is another example of the work "we still have to do as a city and a nation to make sure we live to our ideals of equality, of a country where everyone is treated with the respect we all deserve."

Fischer said that the vandals wrote "repugnant messages of hate."

"Regardless of what religion you are, this should not happen," Raj Patel from the Swaminarayan temple said.

"We come here to worship. We should not have to turn our backs to see who is behind us, but we should be happy to come here and worship in peace," he added.

Describing the desecration as "heartbreaking", Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad told reporters that the police will provide additional security to the temple.

"What I’m here to do today is to assure everyone that attends this temple that we will do our best to find and hold accountable the person or persons who committed this vandalism and this hate crime," Conrad said.

Conrad said "too many incidents like this" have happened in Louisville, referencing a past vandalism incident at the Louisville Islamic Center and heightened safety concerns at a local Sikh temple following a deadly temple shooting in Wisconsin in 2012.

Kentucky State Representative Nima Kulkarni, the first Indian-American elected to the Kentucky General Assembly, said the vandalism was an "act of intimidation designed to weaken our faith and community".

There has been a number of such incidents across the US in previous years.

In April 2015, a Hindu temple in north Texas had been vandalised with nasty images spray-painted on its walls.

In February 2015, Hindu temples in Kent and the Seattle Metropolitan area were also vandalised.

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Agencies
July 8,2020

Washington D.C, Jul 8:  US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Tuesday (local time) announced visa restrictions on some Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, 2018.

"Today I am announcing visa restrictions on PRC government and Chinese Communist Party officials determined to be "substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas," pursuant to the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018," Pompeo said.

"Access to Tibetan areas is increasingly vital to regional stability, given the PRC's human rights abuses there, as well as Beijing's failure to prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asia's major rivers," he said.

The US Secretary of State pointed out that Beijing has continued "systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas" by U.S. diplomats and other officials, journalists, and tourists, while PRC officials and other citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States.

"The United States will continue to work to advance the sustainable economic development, environmental conservation, and humanitarian conditions of Tibetan communities within the People's Republic of China and abroad," he said.

Pompeo said US also remains "committed to supporting meaningful autonomy for Tibetans, respect for their fundamental and unalienable human rights, and the preservation of their unique religious, cultural, and linguistic identity".

"In the spirit of true reciprocity, we will work closely with the U.S. Congress to ensure U.S. citizens have full access to all areas of the People's Republic of China, including the TAR and other Tibetan areas," he said.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

Kuala Lumpur, Feb 25: The government party led by Interim Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has rejected his resignation, urging him to continue leading it and the country, now shrouded in political uncertainty.

During an extraordinary meeting held on Monday night, the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu) unanimously rejected the 94-year-old Prime Minister's decision, reports Efe news.

Mahathir, the world's oldest head of government, presented his resignation on Monday, later accepted by King Abdullah Pahang, on condition that he continue as Interim Prime Minister until a new government is formed.

That decision caused a domino effect that broke the Patakan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) alliance, formed in 2018 by four political parties that prevailed in that year's general elections.

Bersatu and 11 Popular Justice Party deputies announced their departure from the coalition, although they reaffirmed their confidence in Mahathir as Malaysia's political leader.

"We remain intact and prepared to build a party to face the difficulties," Marzuki Yahya, Bersatu Secretary-General, said after the meeting.

Confusion reigns in the country, with some local media claiming Bersatu and the 11 deputies Justice Party deputies intended to form a new government with opposition parties, including the historic Barisan Nasional coalition, under Mahathir's leadership.

Lim Guan Eng, Finance Minister and coalition member, said in a statement that the chief executive himself had informed him he had no intention of forming a coalition with Barisan, which suffered a historic defeat in the last elections.

A future government will need at least 112 of 222 parliament votes.

Mahathir returned to politics in 2018 heading the Patakan Harapan coalition to defeat his predecessor Najib Razak, marred by the corruption suspicions offenses.

To that end, Mahathir joined Anwar Ibrahim, a former political ally who fell out of favour in 1999 and was imprisoned five years on charges of corruption and sodomy, whom he promised to be his successor in power.

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News Network
February 22,2020

Washington, Feb 22: US President Donald Trump will raise the issue of religious freedom with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India next week, the White House said on Friday, noting that the US has great respect for India's democratic traditions and institutions.

"President Trump will talk about our shared tradition of democracy and religious freedom both in his public remarks and then certainly in private. He will raise these issues, particularly the religious freedom issue, which is extremely important to this administration," a senior official told reporters in a conference call.

The official was responding to a question on whether the president was planning to speak to Modi on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or the National Register of Citizens.

"We do have this shared commitment to upholding our universal values, the rule of law. We have great respect for India's democratic traditions and institutions, and we will continue to encourage India to uphold those traditions," the official said, requesting anonymity.

"And we are concerned with some of the issues that you have raised," the senior administration official said, in response to the question on CAA and NRC.

"I think the President will talk about these issues in his meetings with Prime Minister Modi and note that the world is looking to India to continue to uphold its democratic traditions, respect for religious minorities," the official said.

"Of course, it's in the Indian constitution -- religious freedom, respect for religious minorities, and equal treatment of all religions. So this is something that is important to the president and I'm sure it will come up," said the official.

Pointing out that India has a strong democratic foundation, the official said India is a country rich in religious, linguistic, and cultural diversity.

"In fact, it's the birthplace of four major world religions," the official noted.

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