Canada: Second Hindu Temple Vandalised in British Columbia in Less Than a Month

A Hindu temple in Canada’s British Columbia province became the target of vandalism with an anti-India message spray painted in black, marking the latest attack on Hindu places of worship in the country. This incident at the Shree Mata Bhameshwari Durga Devi Society in Surrey has again sparked concerns over the growing frequency of such incidents that seek to instill fear within communities.

Images of the graffiti spread on social media showed messages like “Punjab is not India". Sameer Kaushal, the News Director at Radio AM600 in Richmond, BC, took to social media platform X and said, “SurreyBC A Hindu temple Shree Mata Bhameshwari Durga Devi Society has been vandalized with black spray paint. These kinds of cowardly attacks are on the rise to create terror amongst the community. @SurreyRCMP has been notified."

According to Kaushal, the Surrey Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have been alerted to the incident and have launched an investigation.

The incident in Surrey comes less than a month after another prominent temple in British Columbia province was vandalised by Khalistani members. On August 12, two unidentified people defaced a temple in Surrey with “anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti."

Notably, such incidents have spiked in is recent past as similar acts of vandalism have previously been reported in Canada. Earlier in April, the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Ontario province was also vandalised with “anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti," which law enforcement categorised as a “hate-motivated incident."

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in the past has condemned these acts of vandalism against Hindu temples in Canada. The Indian government has called for action against the perpetrators and has expressed concern about the rise in hate crimes against Indians and anti-India activities by Khalistan supporters in the country.