Gurudwara fire 'deliberate act': Oz police

The Australian police on Thursday said the blaze in a gurdwara here was a "deliberate" act and the possibility of arsonists using Molotov cocktails was being probed, even as an outraged Sikh community called the incident "race-related" and "an attack on Indians".

The partially built Nanksar Thath Gurdwara in Lynbrook area in Melbourne was damaged due to the fire that broke out at 12.30 am local time o Wednesday (7 pm IST on Tuesday).

Reacting to the incident, Gurdwara elder Satnam Singh said the wilful destruction of a "God house" was an attack on Indians.

"This is an attack on religion," he was quoted as saying by The Australian. "This is a God house, everybody who comes here prays to God."

When asked whether he believed the attack to be race-related, Singh said, "Yes, (it is an) attack on Indians."

Detective Senior Constable Paul Stow, in charge of the investigation, said police believed the arson to be a "deliberately lit fire".

However, detectives were yet to find out whether the incident had any race angle to it.

"At this stage there is nothing to suggest it is (race-related) other than the fact that it happened to a temple," Detective Constable Stow was quoted as saying.

"It is believed to have been set on fire with the use of Molotov cocktails early yesterday (Wednesday)," the report said.

Commenting on the gurdwara fire, Darshan Singh, President of the Sri Guru Nanak Satsang temple in Blackburn, said it was the second incident at a Sikh shrine in recent weeks and the community was "very concerned and very worried".

"The situation is not improving," he said, without giving details of the first incident.

"These are race-related. I do not believe the recent murders (of two Indians) are. That can happen to anyone but this was definitely an effort that is race related," Darshan Singh was quoted by The Age as saying

He said that following yesterday's fire he had contacted the Nunawading police and requested security measures to protect the Blackburn shrine.

Another Sikh community member and editor of an ethnic newspaper, Tony Singh, said that "such an incident was shocking and upsetting but the community would not lose its patience".

"What happened is not right but we are not going to jump to a conclusion. We will wait till all the facts are revealed," he said, urging the community to maintain calm.

Sikh community here is being very patient, said Jag Shergill, another prominent Sikh, who also has been appointed as Victorian multicultural commissioner. "We will wait for all facts to come out."

"Indians back home and specially Indian media need to learn to take a step back and analyse the situation with their cool minds. Don't get outraged and wait for the facts to be out," Shergill said.

Indian Deputy High Commissioner, V K Sharma, was quoted as saying "we have no comment to make" on the issue.