India’s top Sikh organisation has condemned vandalism and robbery at the Khalsa Gurmat Centre in Federal Way, in the state of Washington.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), said he was deeply hurt to read that the centre had been violated, adding that the Gurdwara leadership suspects the attack to be a racially motivated.
Dr Jasmit Singh, director of the centre, said management felt “shock and disbelief” when they discovered the damage.
“We had never even imagined something like this could happen in the community centre,” he added.
Between 200 and 250 families regularly attend the centre for prayers and educational programmes.
According to Singh, the parts of the centre which sustained the worst damage include the place where the holy scriptures - which weren't in the building at the time - are kept. Singh added that the attacker or attackers also destroyed the centre's musical instruments.
The police have launched an inquiry into the attack. They are still trying to determine whether the incident was a hate crime.
Commander Kurt Schwan of Federal Way Police Department said that CCTV showed a male suspect breaking in, and the department will investigate "whether or not any biases were involved by the suspect that perpetrated this crime".
The Sikh Coalition - a national advocacy group founded in the wake of hate crimes after 9/11 - condemned the act.
"Based on video surveillance, it is clear that the suspect willfully and maliciously vandalised this place of importance to the local Sikh community," said the group's legal director, Amrith Kaur Aakre.
The coalition estimates about 60,000 to 75,000 Sikhs live in the state of Washington and have been the targets of hate crimes here, including several attacks on Sikh cab drivers in western Washington.
According to a recent report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent rose by a whopping 70 percent last year compared with the number of such incidents in 2019.