Damage to the India Palace restaurant is estimated at $ 100,000. (Representative)
Washington:
An Indian restaurant in the city of Sante Fe, New Mexico, owned by a Sikh, was burglarized and vandalized with hate messages scrawled on its walls, a media report reported on Tuesday.
Damage to the India Palace restaurant is estimated at $ 100,000, the local Santa Fe reporter said, adding that the vandalism was under investigation by local police and the FBI.
The Sikh American Fund for Legal Defense and Education (SALDEF) condemned the incident.
“This type of hatred and violence is unacceptable and prompt action must be taken to ensure the safety and security of all Americans,” said Kiran Kaur Gill SALDEF executive director.
According to the local daily, tables were overturned, glassware was smashed into a heap on the floor, wine racks were emptied, a statue of a goddess was beheaded and computers were stolen.
The vandals also turned around and destroyed food warmers while the reception was devastated, the plates broken and the kitchen made completely unusable, he said.
“I went into the kitchen, I saw everything and I said to myself, wait what? What’s going on here?” owner Baljit Singh told Santa Fe Reporter. “White energy”, “Trump 2020”, “go home” and much worse have been spray painted on walls, doors, counters and any other surface available.
“Certain sentences contained threats of violence and derogatory racist insults,” the daily said.
“Santa Fe is a peaceful city, and the Sikh community has lived there, beautifully integrated, since the 1960s,” said Simran Singh, member of the SALDEF board of directors, who lives minutes from the restaurant.
“Tensions have recently exploded with the revival of the Black Lives Matter movement and the removal of statues associated with the Spanish colonizers of this region, who committed a number of atrocities,” he said.
“Nevertheless, we are witnessing an outpouring of love and support in the city and from my experience, our neighbors love and appreciate us, as we love and appreciate them,” he added.
SALDEF said it has seen an unprecedented increase in hate crimes, including the April 29 incident where an American Sikh Lakhwant Singh was brutally attacked by a man identified as Eric Breeman in Lakewood, Colorado.
Lakhwant Singh was ordered to “return to your country” while under attack. No formal hate crime charges were laid against the perpetrator.
