Labour MP Virendra Sharma has urged British police to consider whether two recent robberies in London Hindu temples should be considered hate crimes.
It follows a break in at the Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple in Kenton, Harrow on Tuesday and another at the Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Willesden last week during which three Hare Krishna idols were stolen.
Mr. Sharma told The Hindu that as the investigation by police proceeded, he wanted them to keep open the possibility that this was a hate crime and not a simple burglary. “I would urge them, once they find out who is behind it, they do not ignore that side as a possibility,” he said on Wednesday.
Targeting one faith
On Tuesday, in the House of Commons, Mr. Sharma asked Justice Minister David Gauke whether the cases would be treated as hate crimes and not just ignored by police as they “targeted people of one faith”.
“Given the way society is developing, given the way some sections of society are going around and spreading hatred and intolerance in society, I strongly feel that people should keep open that possibility,” Mr. Sharma told The Hindu . He pointed to a new First World War monument of a Sikh soldier that was vandalised last week, an incident that is being treated by police as “racially aggravated criminal damage”.
“Those specific cases will be a matter for the police and for the Crown Prosecution Service, but if activity of this sort is targeted on the basis of religious belief, that is completely unacceptable and I am sure that the whole House is united in condemning it,” Mr. Gauke told MPs regarding the incidents at the temples.
The Hindu Council U.K. expressed its concern at the incidents and urged all Hindu Temples to be vigilant and ensure that security systems were in place and in a working condition.
