Minister for Homelessness, Social and Community Housing from Australia, Michael Sukkar, condemned the recent acts of vandalism and violence committed against the Hindu population in the country by Khalistan supporters.
There have already been four attacks on Hindu temples in a span of two months. Khalistanis stormed the Laxmi Narayan Temple in Brisbane last month and left hateful graffiti on the temple’s perimeter.
‘Hindustan Murdabad’ was written on the walls of the ISCKON temple in Melbourne’s Albert Park on January 23. The Shri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs, Victoria, was vandalised on January 16, while anti-Indian graffiti was painted on the Swaminarayan Temple in Melbourne on January 12.
“Well, I can completely understand the concern that many in India have. We have a zero-tolerance, particularly in the coalition opposition parties, zero-tolerance approach to those sorts of issues being brought to Australia. Quite frankly, our view for all migrants to Australia is that you don’t bring those all those animosities to Australia,” the Minister while responding on the issue.
“And in any event, acting in that way, in a violent way, we have no tolerance for. I understand that the five men have been charged in relation to those activities because we in no way, shape, or form support that kind of violent conduct,” he added.
“I myself am a migrant. My family migrated from Lebanon and we have always said ‘Don’t bring problems from home to Australia.’ You do not bring your domestic issues and differences when you come here. Violence and vandalism cannot be tolerated,” he remarked.
The Deakin MP also spoke about the shared values of both India and Australia. “India is a large and diverse country. It has been a successful democracy because people have been able to solve their differences and that’s one thing Australia and India share. We are not perfect, but there are always ways of solving differences and issues. But violence and vandalism are not acceptable. We have zero tolerance for it,” he noted.
He highlighted that around 10,000 members of the Indian-Australian community live in his constituency, which is home to a significant proportion of the Indian diaspora.
“Every single constituent of mine from the Australian-Indian community urged me to visit India, and now I’m here to understand the country better and forge stronger Indo-Australian ties,” he mentioned.
Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anticipated trip to Australia for the QUAD summit he commented, “Well, it’s quite exciting that your Prime Minister is planning on going to Australia for the quad summit. We believe it to be of utmost significance for our area. Four democracies coming together to form the QUAD, which has a lot more influence than many of us could have expected since the Asia Pacific region is so crucial to the future of wealth and peace in the globe, I think is a fantastic thing.”
“And we hope that we can welcome your Prime Minister to Australia in the same way that all Australians are made very welcome when we come to India, including me, on this most recent trip,” he affirmed.
“We think that in order to ensure peace in our region, the more that we’re able as a grouping of share of like-minded countries, the closer we’re able to work together, the better. I think we all have to accept that large nations, including India, who are large, who have influence, quite rightly, want that influence to be projected in their immediate area. And we think you can do it in a healthy way, just like the Indians do. And we hope that the quad can help support that,” he observed while stressing the importance of QUAD.
