Surrey, Canada (June 24, 2013): The World Sikh Organization of Canada condemns the vandalism of a Surrey Hindu temple early Sunday. Video recordings show two men walking up to the Laxmi Narayan Temple on Surrey’s 140th St. and shattering the windows with a bat. The RCMP is investigating the crime.
Some members of the Vedic Hindu Cultural Society have speculated that the vandalism may be a hate crime however Surrey RCMP says it is treating the incident as mischief. According to reports, a bat with a “Sikh last name” and a khanda was recovered from the scene.
Last night WSO President Prem Singh Vinning visited the temple and met with its president Parshottam Goel to express his concern.
Mr. Vinning said, “any attack on a place of worship must be strongly condemned. The perpetrators must be brought to justice as soon as possible. While we truly hope that this was not an attempt to create friction between the Sikh and Hindu community, the responsible thing to do is to let the RCMP complete its investigation before drawing any conclusions.”