BAPS Hindu temple vandalised in Indiana in fourth US hate attack since 2023

Dubai: A Hindu temple belonging to the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) in Greenwood, Indiana, has been desecrated, allegedly by pro-Khalistan separatists, marking the fourth such attack on Hindu places of worship in the United States since September 2023.

According to the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the temple’s walls were defaced with anti-India and anti-Prime Minister Narendra Modi graffiti — a tactic the group says is routinely used by extremist separatist activists. HAF shared video footage of the vandalism on X (formerly Twitter), urging elected officials to “move beyond empty condemnations” and take decisive action.

“For the fourth time in less than a year, a Hindu Mandir has been desecrated; this time the @BAPS Mandir in Greenwood, IN,” HAF posted. “Vandalising temples with anti-India graffiti is a tactic often used by pro-Khalistan separatist activists and a stark reminder of how slurring American Hindus as ‘Hindutva’ fuels hate like this.”

The Consulate General of India in Chicago called the desecration of the temple’s main signboard “reprehensible” and said it has raised the matter with law enforcement for prompt action.

Consul General Somnath Ghosh also met devotees, community leaders, and the Mayor of Greenwood, calling for unity, solidarity, and vigilance against “miscreants.”

This latest incident adds to a troubling trend. In March 2024, an iconic temple in Southern California was defaced with anti-Hindu and anti-Indian government slogans, prompting India’s Ministry of External Affairs to call the act “despicable.”

In September 2023, the BAPS temple in Melville, New York, was targeted, followed just nine days later by another attack on a temple near Sacramento. In December, the BAPS temple in Newark, California, was also vandalised.

Hindu advocacy groups say the repeated targeting of temples is part of a coordinated hate campaign, not isolated vandalism, and have urged US authorities to treat them as serious hate crimes. They warn the ongoing attacks are eroding the sense of safety among Indian-American and Hindu communities across the country.