Sunday, January 17, 2010

Indian envoy's bid to appease Sikhs

THE Indian high commissioner has urged Melbourne's Sikh community to let the law take its course in response to the burning of a temple.

Sujatha Singh warned against allowing "a few bad elements" to spoil the warm relationship between the two nations.

In her first public address since the murder of 21-year-old accounting graduate Nitin Garg and last week's arson attack on the temple, Ms Singh assured a Melbourne congregation that the Indian government was "very closely monitoring" the wellbeing of Indians in Australia.

Ms Singh said she had been in daily -- "even sometimes hourly" -- contact with the relevant Australian authorities to address community safety concerns.

Speaking to hundreds of worshippers at Blackburn's gurdwara, or Sikh temple, the largest of its kind in Victoria, Ms Singh said: "The incidents that have taken place in recent times have troubled us all, Indians and Australians alike.

"They have been condemned in the strongest possible terms by all right-thinking people."

Ms Singh drew particular attention to the arson attack at the gurdwara in Lynbrook, on Melbourne's southeastern fringe, late last week.

The partially constructed Sikh temple is suspected to have been torched with Molotov cocktails in the early hours of Thursday.

The high commissioner visited the burnt-out Lynbrook temple yesterday morning.

"The incident of arson is receiving the full attention of the concerned authorities," she told the Blackburn worshippers.

"I would like to assure you that both governments are united in their desire to see progress in bringing the perpetrators of these incidents to justice, and in bringing these incidents to a complete stop, ensuring that they do not happen again."

Ms Singh spoke of a tradition of strong ties between India and Australia, and implored the Indian community not to allow "a few bad elements" to spoil "the warmth and good feeling" which continued to exist between the two nations.

After giving her warmly received address, Ms Singh met privately with the president of the Blackburn temple, Dashran Singh, and the vice-president of the Victorian Sikh Association, Jag Bal.

Mr Singh said yesterday's visit marked the first time a high commissioner had attended a service at the Blackburn gurdwara. "Some of the unfortunate incidents of recent months affecting the Indian community are of great concern to all of us," he said.

Mr Bal said he hoped that the high commissioner would be able to give him a firm indication of what assurances the Australian government had given her during their lengthy discussions over the past fortnight. "I want to discuss what support or counselling is being given to the victims of race crimes in Melbourne," Mr Bal said.

Detective Sergeant Gary Kear said that contrary to initial police reports, detectives did not believe the Lynbrook arsonists were young kids mucking about.

"Witnesses have told us that voices that were heard inside the temple were more mature," Sergeant Kear said.

Last week the Blackburn temple wrote to Victoria Police requesting additional security, particularly at night. Two uniformed police officers were present at yesterday's service.

with thanks : source : http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/indian-envoys-bid-to-appease-sikhs/story-e6frg6nf-1225820598424

SikhsIndia
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