by religious fanatics.
London: NRI leader Lord Navnit Dholakia, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords,
has expressed concern over the desecratiion of sacramental objects
by religious fanatics, citing the example of Christian fanatics vandalising a Hindu temple.
"Christian fanatics have vandalised a Hindu temple in Ealing, desecrating sacred images, and deeply offending the
Hindu community. There are instances where synagogues have been painted with swastikas and the headstones have been covered with anti-Semitic graffiti," he said, while participating in a debate on the Religious and Racial Hatred Bill in the House of Lords on Thursday.
"The Hindu community said that they had lost confidence in the ability of the Crown Prosecuting Service to
prosecute in such cases. The community also has a list of regular incidents from 1993 where temples and festivals have been vandalised. Only a few incidents have resulted in prosecutions," he said.
Lord Dholakia said there were powers to deal with religiously aggravated criminal damage but this failed to take
into account the wider insecurity of communities who felt that their hurt was never clearly understood or dealt with.
"The US military confirmed that it had identified five incidents in which the Holy Koran was mishandled by American
personnel at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. This report caused extreme hurt to our Muslim community and sparked
protests across the Muslim world," he added.
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