NORTH CAROLINA: Members of the Indian community across USA and Hindus in particular are greatly upset over reports that the sign of planned “Winston Salem Hindu Temple” in Clemmons (North Carolina) was hit with over 60 shotgun blasts earlier this month.
This comes on the heels of reports of vandalizing of North Texas Hindu Mandir in Dallas around April 13 and vandalizing of two Hindu temples in Seattle metropolitan area of Washington State in February last, where words like “Get Out” and “fear” were scrawled on the temple walls. In addition, a Hindu grandfather was roughed-up by police in Madison (Alabama) in February, resulting in his partial paralysis.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident that happened sometime between noon and 1 pm July 4, according to a sheriff’s office report. A deputy found empty shell casings near the sign that were consistent with bird shots being fired two to three times from a shotgun, said Chief Deputy Brad Stanley of the sheriff’s office. Investigators have no leads or suspects, Stanley said.
The sheriff’s office doesn’t have any information that the organization was targeted because of its faith, Stanley said.” It appears just to be vandalism, Deputies have increased their patrols in the area,” he added
The Ground Breaking Ceremony (Bhoomi Puja) for “Winston Salem Hindu Temple” was held just last month with Om Hindu Organization of North Carolina and Sri Mata Shaktipeetham planning to build a Hindu temple on 7.6 acres land bought last spring.
The Construction of this 3,600-square-foot Temple, after consultations with temple architects in India, is proposed to start later this year. This will be the first Hindu temple of Forsyth County where about 500 Hindu families reside.
In the absence of a temple, the area Hindus have been traveling to Charlotte and Cary, besides worshipping at home shrines.
The Om Hindu Organization looked at several properties in the county, eager for a formal place where it could celebrate the many religious holidays on the Hindu calendar, give thanks to deities during momentous times and come together as a community.
“It definitely will become a main hub of Indian families once it is built,” said Manjunath Shamanna, a member of the organization’s board of directors. About 500 Indian families live in Forsyth County, with several in the Clemmons, Lewisville and Pfafftown area, making the location of the temple convenient for many Hindus, he said.
Once those plans are set, Aher Builders, based in Lewisville, will build the temple. Until then, Hindus are meeting at the site regularly, participating in various ceremonies to purify the land.
Last month, for example, Mayor Allen Joines of Winston-Salem visited the site to participate in a tree-planting ceremony. Dr. Sudhakar Pandit, Swami Rajendran and Krishna Surabhi are Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary respectively.
Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism in Nevada, said that it was shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful US Hindu community – numbering about three million; who had made lot of contributions to the nation and society – to receive such signals of hatred and anger.
He pitched for swift action on the part of concerned authorities in the area as well as the state government. He urged North Carolina Governor Patrick L. McCrory, Forsyth County Board of Commissioners Chairman David R. Plyler and Clemmons Mayor Nicolas Nelson to meet with area Hindus to ensure law and order as well as to restore the community’s faith in justice.
Zed pointed out that reasons for the success of the US Hindu community in the areas of education, wealth and long-lasting harmonious marriages were because of their continuing with the traditional values of hard work, higher morals, stress on education, sanctity of marriage, etc., amidst so many distractions.
India Post News Service
