Saidabad riots began with a Hanuman Hindu Temple being desecrated with splashes of green color and cow meat (April 8th 2012)

Bhagyanagar, Hyderabad - An indefinite curfew was today imposed in the sensitive Madannapet and Saidabad areas of the walled city. A Hanuman temple at Kurmaguda, (in Saidabad) was found desecrated on the Sunday morning which was followed by incidents of stabbing and heavy stone-pelting, hence curfew has been imposed, police said.

A day after the Hanuman Jayanti, in the early hours of Sunday, 8th April 2012, the devotees of the Hanuman temple at Kurmaguda, in Saidabad, were in for a shock to find green colour had been splashed on the walls of the temple and pieces of cow meat were thrown inside the temple from the grills.

The naturally agitated Hindu youth protested against this sacrilegious act. The Muslims who are a majority in that area launched an offensive on the Hindus and both sides engaged in a duel of stone fight. Sensing trouble, the police indulged in lathi charge and also fired tear gas hurting many of the protesters. At the same time, the Muslims grouped themselves into a larger group and more or less occupied the main road of Saidabad armed with stones and swords, eye witnesses told NewsBharati.

The incidents were reported from the Madannapet and Saidabad areas of the Old City here. Additional forces have been deployed there, a senior police official told.

Curfew has been clamped till further orders in the areas under Madannapet and Saidabad police station limits, Hyderabad Police Commissioner A K Khan said, adding police have picked up two persons for questioning.

“Miscreants pelted stones at buses and set at least two vehicles on fire. Two incidents of stabbing have also been reported,” the police official said.

“The situation is now under control. We have posted pickets and preventive measures are in place,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner A K Khan added.

“We are keeping strict watch in the sensitive areas,” Khan told reporters, appealing to people to cooperate with police and not beMeanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy directed Director General of Police, Dinesh Reddy, and other senior officials to take stringent action against the miscreants responsible for Madannapet incidents.

Hindu groups are demanding security of the community and punishment to wrong doers. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy reviewed the situation by talking to the top officials, official sources said.

Here is a video showing some of the riot struck areas during enforcement of a curfew by authorities.

(from News Bharati with additional inputs from Press Trust of India)

A damanged idol of Bal Krishna during a Hindu temple attack

Dhaka, Bangladesh (CHAKRA) — Nine idols have been vandalized at a Kali Temple in Bangladesh by Islamists which has been standing for 200 years.

According to temple committee president, Harendranath Barman, four of the nine damaged idols were found beheaded in Sudrahabi village of Kaliganj sub-district. He is demanding the police to find the culprits and punish they as deserved for such a hate crime.

Prajit Kumar Roy, the sub-district officer in charge said that his team is out looking to arrest the culprits.

Similar incidents have taken place in the past. An ancient temple in a village near the Bangladesh capital was vandalized by Islamists a few months ago. Not only were six idols vandalized but in addition 35 people were attacked. The Sri Sri Rahshakali temple in the Ashrafdi village in Naranaganj was wrecked on February 7, during which four adjacent houses were damaged and five people were injured.

Bangladesh is a mostly muslim country with a minority hindu population.

The Sri Venkateswara Hindu Temple in Pennsylvania, USA

(CHAKRA) – According to police, four men stormed into a Hindu Temple and attacked the guard on duty during the robbery.

The incident occurred this Thursday at a temple located on South McCully Drive.

The guard was resting in his shack when the robbers snuck up behind him and attacked beating him up badly.

The robbers attacked while being armed with guns and wearing ski masks to hide their identities. They stole three safes, $15, 000 cash and jewelery. They also attempted to steal the temples sound system. Before they robbed the temple they gagged the guard and tied him up.

Howard Burton, Penn Hills Police Chief, said that the police service is in the process of getting a full description of the thieves by talking to the guard on duty. They hope to identify them culprits as soon as possible. Hindu leaders in the USA have said that many Hindu temples are constantly targeted and sometimes even get open threats.

Dr. Nagu Krishnappa said that the community is shaken up by this incident and hope that the temple can regain back what it has lost and more importantly hope that the culprits are caught and get what they deserve. The temple is currently in the process of getting a new high-tech security system.

Goa is known for its beautiful beaches

Panaji, Goa (CHAKRA) — Gomantak Mandir and Dharmik Sanstha is the new name of approximately 300 temple boards that have come together from all eleven talukas in the state of Goa, to deal with cases of thefts and desecrations in Hindu temples across the state.
The manner in which the Goa state goverment is dealing with the damage to the sacred shrines is being compared to the way in which the Portugese regime handled similar issues during colonial rule.  Representatives of the temple associations are not happy and have emerged together to try their best to make a difference.

Jayesh Thali, co-coordinator of the Mahasangh stated that in the past six years, over 250 temples have been ransacked in addition to 50 desecrations of Hindu idols.  He further stated that the government has displayed indifference to these constant incidents one after the other and have not come up with any solution or ideas to stop the abuse to the temples.

From a temple located in Porvorim, Rajkumar Dessai, bluntly stated that Portugese laws, as existent in the past are still present in the state of Goa, with only name changes to seemingly portray that laws were changed to revolutionize the state handlings of Hindu temples.  Nothing but the name of the act has been changed.  According to Dessai, the laws made for a cupboard being damaged are equivalent to the laws that exist for the damaging of idols in temples.  He strongly believes the laws are outdated and must be revolutionized to make a greater difference for the Hindu community in Goa.

A meeting was to be held by the Mahasangh to mobilize the faithful from across the state in order to unite and share similar viewpoints and ideas to create change.

Legal assistance, free of cost was to be given at the meeting relating to cases of thefts and desecrations.  The purpose of the meeting was to mobilize individuals so that they are better able to take control and report complaints about desecrations and damage to their temples.

In addition, the Mahasangh, is strongly against the demolitions of Hindu temples that already exist on government property or land. Ramesh Shinde, head of the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti for the regions of Goa , Gujarat and Maharashtra strongly condemned the inaction taken by the Goa government to put a stop to the damage and looting of sacred Hindu temples.  He thinks the Goa government should create a clear plan to stop the attacks on temples.  He has concluded that there is no fear of laws in the state of Goa, especially since there have been repeated cases to the same shrines over and over again.  The Sateri temple in Curchorem has been looted 5 times as stated by Shinde and just in the last year there have been 13 successful temple theft cases in Mapusa.  When the same damage happens to the same temple over a number of times resulting in laws being discounted continuously, a state of chaos is near if not in existence already.
By Linda Brock