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Hindu community shaken after temples receive ‘disturbing’ letters
Aotearoa’s Hindu community has been shaken after at least five temples in Christchurch and Auckland received threatening letters denouncing their religious practises.
The letters came to light about a fortnight ago.
Hindu Council spokesperson Selva Ramasami said the letter referred to Quranic verses, but it was unclear who had written them or their motivations.
“The letter is … intimidating in nature because it has denounced the Hindu worship practises of what we call the murtis, or the statues. It is what we worship, like the elephant god of Ganesh is in the form of a statue,” Ramasami said.
“The letter had a couple of Quranic verses denouncing this as not an acceptable practise. The letter also quoted that you can’t worship a saint or Jesus and that sort of thing.
“It’s very vague in nature but it’s quite disturbing for our community.”
The letters were deeply disrespectful considering New Zealand was a multi-faith and multicultural country, he said.
Ramasami wanted to be clear neither he nor the Hindu community were jumping to conclusions about who was responsible.
“We have got no idea who sent this letter. It could have been the work of anyone and Google can help them to get anything. So we have left it to the police to investigate,” he said.
Members of the Muslim community had reached out to express their support for the Hindu community and to condemn the letters, he said.
“The support they’ve provided us has been quite amazing so we do not point fingers at any community or religious group. It could be the work of anyone and we understand the imported international tensions which can play up here, so we don’t know what triggered this.”
The information had been passed on to police.
National partnerships manager of ethnic partnerships Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo said police had received reports of letters involving intimidating content.
“We understand the concern of the community and its institutions and want to reassure them that these letters are definitely not welcome,” Naidoo said.
“Police are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding these letters, including working to identify those responsible. We urge anyone who receives letters of this nature to contact police immediately.
“Police work closely with the communities in regions where reports have been made to police, this support includes reassurance meetings, and advice.”
Surinder Tandon Photo: Supplied
The Hindu Council’s Christchurch chapter chairperson Surinder Tandon had been coordinating the response to the three temples targeted in Christchurch.
“This is an attempt to alienate the Hindus, their practices, and devotees. This is not the socially cohesive Aotearoa that we all have been creating,” Tandon said.
“We are reaching out to all the religious communities and their leaders to lookout for any suspicious characters who are out to disturb the peaceful coexistence of the diverse religious communities in the greater Christchurch region.”
VIA RNZ
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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