HINDU organisations in Swindon have joined forces with others in the UK to send a powerful letter to Prime Minister Liz Truss about hate crimes. 

More than 180 Hindu groups across the UK have signed an open letter, calling for her to do something to stop targeted hate crimes against the Hindu community. 

The letter says that "hatred towards the Hindu community is at an all-time high, to the point where there has been open violence, intimidation and abuse levelled at Hindus through physical assaults, harassment on social media and most recently through soft targeting in schools and workplace."

It added: "We feel like a community that is under siege, as a last resort we write to you to draw your attention to our plight, and the long-term consequences of what is unfolding."

It refers to the violent scenes that were reported in Leicester, of clashes between Muslims and Hindus, but says that things were more one-sided than they appeared. It also referenced protests and harassment in Birmingham, Nottingham and London. 

It then lays out a list of appeals that includes, assuring that police will investigate crimes against Hindus, that financial support is provided to victims, that an investigation into anti-Hindu hatred and its causes is carried out and that the Government recognises that some areas of the UK are prone to extremist radicalisation. 

Swindians, Swindon Ayappa Pooja Group, Swindon Hindu Centre, Swindon Hindu Temple, Swindon Puja Committee and Swindon Tamil Association are all organisations from the town that have supported this cause.  

Although not related to the events that have led to the above open letter, in Swindon, the Hindu Temple was the target of several break-ins that committee leader Pradeep Bhardwaj eventually described as a hate crime. 

Damage caused by the fifth break-in within a year caused Swindon Borough Council to end the lease on the Darby Cose building, forcing the Hindu community to find a new home as their place of worship. 

They now have two locations, one in Wroughton in the building that was formally a Co-op and one Regent House in the town centre. 

The latest hate crime statistics from the Home Office were published earlier this month and showed that Wiltshire and Swindon has seen a 26 per cent increase in hate crime reports compared to the previous year. 

In the year ending March 31, 2022, a total of 902 hate crimes were reported to Wiltshire Police, up from 753 in the previous year. Of those only 22 were specifically about religion while 615 were about race.