LONDON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Hindus in Britain complain they are being targeted for hate crimes for the July 7 London terror attacks, although they had nothing to do with them.
The Hindu Forum of Britain, which represents 260 Hindu groups, says a telephone hotline to report attacks is being set up to help the 700,000 Hindus in Britain, reports The Independent newspaper.
Ramesh Kallidai, the group's general secretary, says the "hate crime" incidents have ranged from verbal and physical attacks on worshippers to graffiti and vandalism at Hindu temples.
He said in a recent attack, paving stones with swastikas scratched on them were thrown through the windows at a hall in Basingstoke during a religious meeting.
Kallidai said there was evidence Hindus and their temples had been targeted after the July 7 incident even though the people believed to have carried out the attacks were Muslim, the report said.
"After 7/7 there was an increase in attacks on Hindus because of mistaken identity. For almost 90 percent of the South Asian community you cannot tell which religion a particular person belongs to," he said.
