Asian Voice front page article covering the vandalism incidents on the Shree Ram Mandir in Walsall, reaffirms the need for increased security across religious places of worship across the country. The incidents saw, sacred statues outside the temple destroyed. This follows a number of incidents involving Temples in London such as Swaminarayan temples in Brent, Harrow and a Sri Lankan temple in Harrow. I am deeply concerned with the safety of religious spaces across London and the country, particularly in these tumultuous and divisive political times.
The latest data from the Metropolitan Police’s hate crime dashboard shows that in the twelve months to May 2019, there were 1,033 recorded religious or racially motivated hate crime incidents in my constituency of Harrow and Brent. In this climate of a worrying tide of hate crime incidents and the horrific terror attacks in Christchurch and Sri Lanka it is important for communities to feel safe in their places of worship.
We quite rightly expect and demand protection from Government, Local Councils and Police but in the age of austerity funding is scarce. In my view community organisations and faith groups need to join hands to see what they can collectively do to protect themselves through better security of their premises.
I am committed to working with the Mayor of London, local councils, police and stakeholders to support our community organisations and faith groups who contribute so much to the wellbeing of Londoners and promotion of culture and spiritual values.
In November last year, I raised concerns with the Met Police and Harrow Council after the London Ayyppan Temple in Harrow was attacked and vandalised on two separate occasions. Following joint support from myself, Met Police and Harrow Council, the Temple was able to access Home Office funding to boost security. I have also worked closely with Willesden and SKSS Temples in the aftermath of the burglaries to see how best they can secure the temple and reassure the community that it is safe to visit our temples.
As a proactive approach to promote safety, this month, I co-hosted a Community & Faith Engagement Roundtable with Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement, Debbie-Weekes Bernard, alongside London’s community and faith group leaders from the Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities. Nearly 30 representatives from across London participated in discussions and the issue of security at places of worship was high up on the agenda. Security experts from the Community Security Trust (a Jewish Charity), Thrive London and Met Police made vital contributions to the discussions giving advise on security. It was noted that in March, the Government doubled its places of worship fund to £1.6 million which has been set up to provide financial support for faith groups to introduce physical protective security measures such as fencing, lighting and CCTV. I continue to work with the leaders of our faith groups and would be happy to guide groups that may be concerned about security of their places of worship. You can contact me on [email protected]
