Transcript
VIRENDRA LAL: This started off during Christmas in Votualevu, Nadi. The temple was broken into and the welded iron donation box was removed, sound system and water blaster was stolen and paint was poured on the idols and swear words were written on the walls of the temple, inciting racial hatred. So far there has been no arrests made but very strong statements have come from the police department itself. The police commissioner has very clearly given stern warnings to the perpetrators and then also a release has been issued by the opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa and she wrote also a very strongly worded statement that those who have done this were out of their minds, because Fiji is a secular state and everyone has the right to pray the way they want to and no one has the right to stop anyone or do things like this.
SALLY ROUND: Does it look like these break-ins are the work of the same people?
VL: I really don't know because if it happened in different places, it may be, it may not be but the look of it .. similar ways has been broken into. There may be one group working on this, it could be like that, I'm not saying that it is like that. We have branches all throughout Fiji and these branches, they run the temples in their areas so we have visited these branches, we have told them, 'look, we have to be vigilant' and I'm very pleased to tell you that when I visited Votualevu, the temple which was broken into, security cameras are there, they have hired one security officer as well to look after the place and we're also telling people not to keep big amounts of money in the temple because that's what attracts these thieves.
SR: So what other security measures are the temples taking?
VL: Actually people are employing fulltime security guards, we have to install security cameras in some places and where there was no burglar bars, we have asked them to put the burglar bars. Also we are pleading to the police department to take action and try to apprehend the culprits as soon as possible and dish out harsher penalties.
SR: In the past have there been any similar desecration, in generations gone by?
VL: It has and this is not in isolation. This has happened but you know every now and then it pops out from nowhere. I don't know if it's something to do with the upcoming elections in Fiji. I don't really know but for the last two to three years everything has been very quiet. I mean there has been one or two maybe cases in isolation but the trend this year from December to now, four temples within a month, it is a matter of concern and all the relevant stakeholders are doing their part to stop this thing.
