School also target of graffiti against Muslims.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: A Hindu temple and nearby middle school were both vandalized with messages of hate on the U.S. West Coast, catalyzing an investigation and sending reverberations throughout the town of Bothell, a municipality described by one of its residents as “a very intellectual place.”
Over the weekend an unknown culprit scrawled, “Get Out” and a swastika on the walls of the temple, which is one of the largest Hindu places of worship in the entire North West region. They also defaced Skyview Junior High a block away, tagging it with another swastika and the ultimatum, “Muslims Get Out.”
The Snohomish county sheriff’s department is investigating this case as malicious harassment, while the local Fox affiliate KCPQ got in touch with the Northshore School District, which said the same person could be responsible for staging both of the racially motivated crime scenes.
“This kind of thing should not happen in the US. Who are you telling to get out? This is a nation of immigrants,” the chairman of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center’s board of trustees, Nitya Niranjan, told the Press Trust of India.
The local community has rallied behind its Hindu and Muslim members, posting signs of support around the Seattle metropolitan suburb and writing cards penned with kinds words in hopes of erasing the bigoted ones, according to KCPQ.
“I don’t want hate in my neighborhood,” Eric Schroeder told Seattle’s Komo News.
In response to an escalating number of incidents involving Hindu temples being vandalized, as of January 1, the Department of Justice has mandated all crime reporting forms include the category “anti-Hindu” under the possible motives for hate crimes.
19 Comments
well what about the hindu people burning down churches in india
It’s definitely not right, however you are being selective, I have seen missionaries insulting Hindus and offering incentives like money/bikes/TV’s to poor people to convert and you expect the hardliners to just sit back…. That part never shows up in the news now does it.
In fact I even saw a program here where they showed missionaries in Andhra telling locals that “theirs gods abandon them and are evil”. That is the cause of such incidents.
The Vedas clearly state there maybe many avatars but there is only one supreme being with no shape or form or gender.
Ignorance is everywhere and not limited to people of any one religion.
um insulting hindus in a free country is allowed. if a person wants to convert to a religion because he got a bike, in a free country that is allowed. if someone wants to tell someone else that their religion is evil and should be abandoned, in a free country that is allowed.
defacing someone else’s property is NOT allowed in a free country. violence is NOT allowed. instead of pontificating about the vedas, maybe you should learn some ahimsa yourself. and if you don’t like it, feel free to convert and join the musulman countries that share your views.
I never advocated violence, but going to illiterate areas and spreading hate begets violence. This transcends any religion or culture. I was simply pointing that out. I agree people should be free to argue their view points etc, however when someone says only one religious community is violent and the other is always the victim, there is nothing wrong in refuting that.
As you said free speech, so apparently pointing out inconsistencies and causes for conflict is somehow against freedom of speech for you….
That’s pretty hypocritical.
you are very foolish. pointing out inconsistencies and causes of conflict is against free speech? where did i remotely even say that.
you claimed pravitha was being selective by pointing out the evils of hindus in india. sure his comment was random, but your response was nothing but pandering. its not different than islamic panderists that love to explain terrorism with their “bbbbuuttttt america and israel!”
and arguing against the legitimacy of another religion is not “hate” as you would like to think.
You are the one who lectured me on free speech and that I should go and preach in the Middle East because apparently I am against it…….. I simply pointed that out and you call me foolish.
Where did I legitimize anything? I even stated what is happening is wrong. I simply stated a fact that religious violence no mater what religion occurs when you go to illiterate areas and spread hate. It can happen with any religion, that does not make it right. Also I simply stated that news can sometimes be one sided.
You are the one “pandering” about freedom of speech which I was never against.
UNDERSTANDING and SUPPORTING are two DIFFERENT things so you can stop “pandering” about free speech to me.
You can go tell religious hardliners and nutcases about free speech yourself, why are you telling me?
I never advocated or even remotely supported violence.
I was simply pointing out “causes” of conflict and said it just gives fuel to “hardliners” when you go to illiterate/poor areas and spread hate.
Apparently according to you pointing out inconsistancies/causes of conflict is against freedom of speech. Hypocritical.
As for your last line, maybe you would fit perfectly in those countries with your double standards.
Hinduism is nothing but Casteism, a covert mask for Racism; Google “map shows most racist people on earth”;
The “castes” were simply like jobs classes not meant to be fixed. It was later abused.
Feudalism in Europe was nothing different than casteism, the Pope’s claimed that kings were ordained by God to rule…. Knights, Serfs, etc what is that if not for casteism. Almost all European monarchs were related to each other, like an elite caste. And let’s not forget slavery, where people used religion to justify that as well.
Just because people abused religion and used for their own gain does not make the religion itself bad.
Ignorance, is what is responsible for all this hate and violence.
Also there is a reason why eductional institutions say don’t use Google for everything. If the internet and Fox News is your only source for information I feel sorry for you.
As for racism, some places people just hide it iand in others it’s more out in the open. Yes there is racism in India and lot of that also has to do with poverty and ignorance that comes with it. Eastern Europe is also known for that…. and many other places.
I agree with you that just because people abuse religion for their own gain does not make religion itself bad. So why do you not apply that to the some of the Hindu activists who are targeting the whole of Christianity just because some Christians allegedly gave incentives to convert?
What about the government of India saying that you will lose your status to BCC (instead of SC) if you become Christian? Isn’t that an incentive to remain Hindu? What about “Ghar Wapsi” that is giving aadhar cards, ration cards and allegedly two lakhs per person to come back to Hinduism. Isn’t that giving incentive to convert? What about emotional blackmail and terrorist activities against Christians? Isn’t that incentive to convert to Hinduism? Don’t be too hasty to judge my friend.
India should be a secular country as our founding fathers wanted. We are all adults. We know how to think and decide for ourselves. No one can force us to change to any religion with incentives if we do not want to do so. Incentives are the reason for any religion to exist. If we did not want some incentive from God, we would not even think about a God. If we feel another religion treats us better as human beings, who are we to stop a person from going to the other religion. Sounds selfish.
And why are the Hindus so scared that everyone will change to other religions? Are they scared because their religion is not as good as the other and hence need force and terror to keep people in their religion? With the majority of the people of India being Hindus, what happened to the supposed majority of Christians that were converted during the British Raj and post independence. That is over 300 years totally. How many Christians were converted?
Did it ever occur to you that the people who were converted were those very people that were the victims of the “abuse of caste system” where a religion did not think of them to be human enough to come to the temple to worship. So why blame someone for changing when he has a God that is welcoming him to worship with all other castes. I think there should be a reformation within Hinduism before we decide to force everyone to come back to Hinduism. By the way, did you know historically, Hinduism is a foreign religion in India that was brought in by the invading and dominant Aryans from Europe. Every settler brought in a religion. Get used to living with everyone harmoniously. That would be the right thing, eh?
Before you think that I am defending one religion against another, let me state firmly that I am not Christian, Hindu or Muslim. I do not cater to a label put on me. I think there is a power up there that is “God.” If God made everyone and we have our own ways of worshipping him, why should anyone impose their ideology on others by force?
By the way, what happened to freedom of choice?
I never said that was right, because it isn’t. I agree to each his own. There will always be bigots in every religion. Some missionaries however just give fuel to hardliners with their own bigotry.
I myself am not very religion but in the media you only hear one point of view.
But the reason I pointed out things from the Hindu point of view is maybe you have not seen the hate preaching by missionaries where they say Hindus worship the devil etc and then they give bikes/TVs etc to convert the poor. Some even dress as Hindu priests and try to deceive the poor.
Nothing wrong with people converting on their own but deciet and insults are not a nice way of doing things.
Did you know that Santhana Dharma is actually older than the theories of by Max Muller from 1848, whose Aryan invasion you quote. The Saraswati river mentioned in present tense in the Vedas dried up by ~2,000 B.C. People keep touting Max Muller’s theory though there is no conclusive proof, as in there in no evidence of combat or destroyed towns. Even the BBC has said that theory has flaws.
Until there is conclusive evidence there is no reason to accept Muller’s theory as “truth”. There however evidence of population mixing though, as in small bands of settlers coming in over time.
I respect your opinion. You make valid points. I never disagreed on that, however the media is generally one sided though.
The hardliners are using a tit for tat tactic as in “we can do it just like them” with incentives etc in Ghar Wapsi. They feel attacked and are reacting.
As for Aryan invasion theory even BBC said it has flaws. You are quoting a theory by Max Muller from 1848. There is no evidence of destroyed towns or sudden shift in culture. Also the Sarasvati river mentioned in the Vedas even fried up by ~ 2,000 BC. There is however genetic evidence of two genetic groups mixing over time. As in more like bands of settlers coming in. And this would have occured much before ~1500 BC. Others came in as invaders over time such as Huns, Turko-Mongols (aka Mughals) etc much later.
As for reforming religion, you must reform people to accept each others views and opinions more than anything. That only comes with education. Until poverty in India is significantly reduced you will be seeing things like you have mentioned, bigotry etc. Religion in the hands of the un educated can be dangerous. Just because people are literate does not make them educated.
Here is hoping for a more inclusive future lol.
You are a learned person my friend. I, too, feel that education may be the key to departure from bigotry and poverty; and that in turn will give rise to a more “reformed concept of religion” which will in turn allow tolerance and that in turn will give us harmony and a platform where we can discus our different philosophies peacefully and positively. Like you say: Here’s hoping for a more inclusive future. God bless you my learned friend.
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Both Hindus and Muslims are different religions. They are in no way similar to each other. Religious intolerance is increasing in US day by day. Obama should take strict action against the culprits and stop advising others for religious tolerance.
Likewise, shouldn’t Modi take strict action against religious intolerance in India?
my friend
we have our own ministry for minority’s.
as far as hindus are concern we are the more tolerent than any other religion in the world
plz visit any hindu society and then reply
we respect all religion
religious intolerance is not increasing in the US day by day. as an american hindu, i can attest to that. feel free to talk when your country can go at least 10 years without a group rioting against another religion and massacring women and children.