VHP seeks action over attack on Hindu temple in US

NEW DELHI, Oct 3 : The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday urged the US administration to take concrete steps to protect Hindu temples following an alleged brick attack on a temple in Ohio.

VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said repeated incidents of vandalism and attacks on Hindu temples in the US could no longer be ignored as ordinary vandalism.

On October 2, bricks were allegedly thrown at the Shri Swaminarayan Vadtal Dham temple in Richmond Heights, Ohio, when priests and devotees were present, resulting in broken windows, Bansal said.

"Repeated attacks and vandalism at Hindu temples in America cannot now be ignored by treating them as ordinary vandalism," Bansal said on X.

He urged the US administration to take the security of Hindu temples seriously and demanded an impartial investigation, the arrest of those responsible, and concrete security protocols to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

The Ohio incident was neither the first nor an isolated case, Bansal said, citing previous incidents involving Hindu temples and Indian cultural centres in the US.

A Mahatma Gandhi statue at the Shri Tulsi Mandir complex in Queens, New York, was damaged in August 2022, and objectionable slogans were written at the SMVS Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Newark, California, in December 2023, he said.

Bansal also referred to alleged vandalism at BAPS temples in New York and California in September 2024 and the defacement of a BAPS temple in Chino Hills, California, with hateful messages in March 2025.

He asked whether the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) would speak out on attacks against Hindu temples in the US.

"Will USCIRF, which is quick to peddle anti-India falsehoods at every opportunity, ever speak out on this reality?" he asked.

"Hindu society will not silently accept attacks on its religious, cultural and places of worship anywhere in the world," he added. (PTI)