‘Extremists should not be given space’ says Jaishankar after Hindu temple vandalism in US

S Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister, acknowledged the occurrence on Saturday amid the uproar around the vandalism of the Swami Narayan temple in Newark, New Jersey, and stated that such “extremists” should not be allowed any space. He emphasised that the US authorities have already been contacted by the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, and an inquiry is currently in progress.

“I have seen it. Extremists, separatists and such forces should not be given space. Our consulate there complained to the government and the police and an inquiry is underway,” the EAM told reporters.

Police in Newark, California claimed that suspicious pro-Khalistan activists vandalised the Swaminarayan temple. On Friday, the incident became public (local time). Graffiti critical of India was written on the Hindu temple’s outer wall. An inquiry into the vandalism has been initiated by the Newark Police Service. The event happened on Thursday night, according to the temple’s administration.

“One of the devotees, who lives close to the shrine, discovered anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti in black ink on an exterior wall of the building, and the local administration was immediately informed,” Bhargav Raval, the spokesperson for the temple administration, told ANI. The spokesperson added the temple authorities were ‘shocked’ to find the anti-Indian graffiti on its wall.

Jonathan Arguello, a police captain for the city of Newark, provided additional details about the incident by stating that an investigation was underway into the “targeted act.”

“Based on the graffiti, we believe it was a targeted act, and it’s going to be investigated with full thoroughness. I can also tell you that as a member of the Newark Police Department and the Newark community, we’re deeply saddened when these types of acts occur, and we think they’re senseless and they have no room. We won’t tolerate them here in Newark. So today, I wanted to make sure that you understand how seriously we take these situations and know that we will investigate as thoroughly as possible with utmost care and sensitivity. I can also tell you that officers are currently investigating this via evidence collection,” the captain told reporters during a press conference.

Amidst this, the External Affairs Minister said that Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national under the custody of Czech authorities, required access to consulates and that the embassy fulfilled that demand. “Our embassy gave him (Nikhil Gupta) the consular access he needed.” Jaishankar stated, “He has received three consular access requests.”

The US Justice Department has claimed that an Indian government employee (named CC-1), who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, recruited an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to carry out the assassination, which was foiled by US authorities, according to prosecutors.

Significantly, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Thursday that India has secured consular access to meet Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national who is being held by Czech authorities on charges of conspiracy and attempted murder involving India-designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, and is offering all necessary consular assistance.

MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi stated, “It is a legal issue…an Indian national is under the custody of the Czech Republic,” during a weekly news briefing. There, the US’s request for extradition is still pending. Three times now, we have had consular access. We are offering our consular assistance in this situation to the greatest extent possible.”