JOIN USVandalism of temples has no place in Australia: PM Anthony Albanese
Canberra sought to allay New Delhi’s concerns over vandalism of Hindu temples in Melbourne and Brisbane, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promising on Saturday that the culprits would have to face the full force of the country’s law.
“We're a tolerant multicultural nation, and there is no place in Australia for this activity,” Albanese said in New Delhi a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to him India’s concerns over recent vandalism of several Hindu temples Down Under – allegedly by the pro-Khalistani Sikh activists.
The Australian Prime Minister was on a four-day visit to India from Wednesday to Saturday. He was speaking to journalists before flying to San Diego in the United States for a meeting of the leaders of the AUKUS – a bloc comprising Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“This (vandalism of temples) has no place in Australia. And we will take every action through our police and also our security agencies to make sure that anyone responsible for this faces the full force of the law,” said Albanese.
Modi and Albanese had formal talks in New Delhi on Friday.
“It is a matter of regret that attacks on temples have been regularly reported in Australia over the past few weeks. It is natural that such news worries the people in India, and disturbs our mind,” Modi had told journalists as he and Albanese had addressed media persons after the meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. He also said that he had shared the concerns of the Government of India with Albanese. He had quoted the Australian Prime Minister saying that the safety of the Indian community Down Under had been “a special priority for him”.
When a journalist asked Albanese on Saturday how he had responded to the concerns expressed by Modi, the Australian Prime Minister said that he had assured his counterpart in New Delhi that the faiths of all people were respected Down Under.
“I gave him (Modi) the assurance that Australia is a country that respects people's faith. That we don't tolerate the sort of extreme actions and attacks that we've seen on religious buildings, be they Hindu temples, mosques, synagogues, or churches,” said Albanese.
The Shree Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane had been the latest target of the vandals, who had defaced the walls of the shrine with slogans against Modi and India. Earlier, the Swami Narayan Temple and the ISKCON Temple in Melbourne and the Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs had been vandalised between January 12 and 23, with anti-India and pro-Khalistani graffiti being painted on the walls of the shrines.
The High Commission of India in Canberra has been conveying to the Government of Australia the concerns of New Delhi over the activities of the pro-Khalistan Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) Down Under.
The SFJ had held a referendum in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia on January 30 last in order to drum up support for the secession of Khalistan from India. It had conducted similar referendums in Canada and the United Kingdom in the past.