People from across the capital’s Hindu community gathered to share their experiences and raise awareness of the issue, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

The event organised by Krupesh Hirani AM (centre) brought together members of the Hindu community, along with the Met Police, Crown Prosecution Service and Community — The event organised by Krupesh Hirani AM (centre) brought together members of the Hindu community, along with the Met Police and Community Security Trust (CST)

Concerns have been raised at City Hall over anti-Hindu hate crimes in London and the extent to which they are being under-reported.

At an event organised by Krupesh Hirani, the London Assembly member for Brent and Harrow, people from across the capital’s Hindu community gathered to share their experiences and raise awareness of the issue.

“No-one should feel unsafe because of their faith,” said Hirani. “Hinduphobia is a real issue, and yet it remains under-reported and often overlooked.”

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “One of the issues does lie in the reporting of incidences, but also misreporting or misclassification of data from the Met Police as well, so we want to get all parties interested, and people are coming together because they’re interested in the issue and want to tackle it genuinely.”

Monday’s event included contributions from London’s deputy mayor for policing and crime, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, as well as representatives from the Metropolitan Police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Community Security Trust (CST).

One of the attendees, Rajrajeshwar Guruji, said he was concerned that the police have failed in the past to act swiftly and decisively on faith-based hate crimes.

Guruji, a spiritual and community leader at the International Siddhashram Shakti Centre, said: “If they [police] don’t take action, it gives them [the perpetrators] the opportunity to do it again and again.”

Superintendent Owen Renowden insisted the Met Police was working hard to grip the issue, saying that the force is giving neighbourhood officers “more resource and more capability” to crack down on hate crime where it arises locally.

“We also have faith officers that work across every policing area in London, so they are experts in faith and they work really closely, day to day, with local faith communities to really get it right and really understand what’s happening,” he said.

The superintendent acknowledged that the under-reporting of hate crimes was an issue, but said this was “really not the fault of communities at all”.

He added: “I really think it’s incumbent on policing, along with our partners, to give communities the confidence, and empower communities to actually come forward and report hate crime to us.

“We are getting more reports of Hinduphobic hate crimes coming into us, so every year, it’s gone up, but I do think that there’s an under-reported element that we definitely need to see come into us.

“It is a concern for us, because it can be particularly impactive on people, and we know that hate crimes impact not only those who are directly targeted, but the ripple effect is huge across communities – and it makes people feel particularly unsafe.”

Varinder Hayre, district crown prosecutor at the CPS, said: “We are committed to prosecuting hate crimes committed against any faith or protected characteristic – and we are grateful to members of the Hindu community for sharing their experience with us.

“We know that hate crimes have a devastating impact on victims and our communities, and we are working with our police and criminal justice partners, as well as local community groups and faith leaders, to make sure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

“We continue to support victims and ask the court to impose more serious punishments in hate crime cases, often using Community Impact Statements to demonstrate the wider impact such crimes have on society.”

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