Indian immigrants are demanding the creation of a “special envoy on Hinduphobia” after a temple in Melbourne was allegedly painted with an image of Adolf Hitler and the words “go home brown c*nts”.
Hindu Council of Australia (HCA) national vice-president Surinder Jain said it was unfair that the federal government had appointed envoys to combat anti-Semitism and Islamophobia while “there’s nothing for Hindus”, and claimed there had been a recent increase in racism against all minorities.
He said that although the racism was mainly directed at Indians in general, 80% were Hindus who were being targeted due to being more visible than ever due to the proliferation of temples, and used an alleged graffiti attack on the Shree Swaminarayan temple in Boronia last week as an example of Hindus suffering “the highest level of hate in 40 years”.
“The problem with Hindu hate is that there’s no mechanism for the government to take it up,” Mr Jain told The Australian.
“There is hate against Muslims and there’s hate against Jews, but the government has appointed envoys, so when there’s any problem, they can talk to the envoy, and envoys can suggest (strategies) to government, as the Jewish envoy has done. But there’s nothing for Hindus – and we face a large amount of hate.
“It’s good to have envoys for Jews and Muslims but Hindus are also facing hate. There’s no reason to deny the same access to them that’s been given to the other two faiths. The government has shown that having envoys for specific faiths is the way they want to go, so that’s the way it should be done.”
Mr Jain said the HCA had been lobbying for a Hinduphobia envoy for months, but had received no formal response, instead hearing comments along the lines of “Where will it stop? We’ll have a Hindu envoy, then the Sikhs will want an envoy”.
HCA president Sai Paravastu last week wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, urging him to appoint an envoy for Hindus due to “escalating incidents of vandalism, targeted attacks and community intimidation directed at Hindu temples, families and the broader diaspora across Australia”.
“We are also concerned that mainstream Australian media has remained largely silent on these repeated hate incidents. Selective coverage not only denies the Hindu community fair representation but also emboldens those spreading hate,” he said.
Mr Paravastu also released a statement on the alleged Boronia incident, which he described as “not only an attack on a sacred place of worship but a direct assault on the principles of mutual respect, cultural harmony, and religious freedom that Australians deeply value”.
Header image: Left, graffiti at a Hindu temple in Melbourne. Right, Mr Paravastu and Foreign Minister Penny Wong (Facebook).
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