Members of Victoria’s Hindu community have raised concerns about possible racist targeting after promotional signs for a Diwali festival in South Morang were vandalised in the lead-up to one of the community’s biggest annual celebrations.
The damaged boards were promoting Northern Diwali 2026, a free family festival scheduled for 31 October at the City of Whittlesea Civic Centre lawns in South Morang. The event, now in its ninth year, is organised by Mission Smile Inc and supported by the City of Whittlesea through its Community Grants Program. It will feature cultural performances, Bollywood dance workshops, food stalls, henna, music and fireworks.
The vandalism prompted a strong response from Melbourne community member Vijeth Shetty, who described the incident as an attack on a Hindu festival and questioned what he sees as an increasingly hostile environment towards Hindu Australians.
In a public statement, Shetty said the damaged signs had become symbolic of a wider concern about anti-Hindu sentiment and online hostility directed towards Indian and Hindu communities.
“You can vandalise a Diwali board, but you cannot vandalise our spirit,” he wrote.
“You can damage a sign, but you cannot erase thousands of years of civilisation, philosophy, knowledge and cultural heritage.”
Shetty also urged people unfamiliar with Hindu traditions to attend a Diwali celebration rather than view the community through political or social-media narratives.
“Come to a Diwali festival,” he wrote.
“Enjoy the music, the food, the dancing, the colours and the celebrations. Hindu culture is filled with joy, happiness, spirituality, music, dance and vibrant traditions.”
The Australia Today has not independently established who damaged the signs or whether police have determined a motive.
Community members have told The Australia Today the timing and the apparent targeting of Diwali promotional material have caused concern that the damage may have been directed at the festival because of its Hindu and Indian identity.
The incident comes in an area with a large and diverse migrant population.
According to the 2021 Census, more than 14,300 people in the City of Whittlesea identified as Hindu, representing 6.2 per cent of the municipality’s population — almost twice the Victorian average of 3.3 per cent. More than 10 per cent of residents reported that their mother was born in India, while Punjabi was among the most commonly spoken languages other than English.
Northern Diwali has become an established part of Whittlesea’s multicultural calendar.
The council has previously described the festival as a celebration of “light, love and unity” that welcomes people from all backgrounds. In 2025, it said the annual event had become a “much-loved” local celebration and noted that it was supported through the council’s community grants program.
This year’s festival is scheduled to run from midday until 9 pm on 31 October, with fireworks planned for the evening. Organisers are again promoting the event as a free celebration open to the wider community.
Shetty said the vandalism should not be used to portray the broader Australian community as hostile.
He stressed that his criticism was directed at acts of hatred and divisive narratives rather than Australians generally, saying he had personally experienced kindness, fairness and friendship in the country.
He also rejected the idea that individual migrants should be blamed for broader concerns about population growth, housing shortages or infrastructure pressure.
“If Australia’s immigration policies have allowed more migrants than the country’s infrastructure, housing supply and public services can reasonably accommodate, that is a matter of government policy,” he wrote.
“It is not the fault of individual migrants who have entered this country legally, worked hard, followed the rules and contributed to society.”
The remarks reflect a wider concern among some Indian and Hindu Australians that arguments about migration can sometimes spill over into hostility towards individual communities.
Shetty said Hindu migrants had made substantial contributions across healthcare, education, business, science, technology and volunteering, while their Australian-born or Australian-raised children increasingly regarded themselves simply as Australians.
Describing Hindu Australians who carry both their cultural heritage and their local identity, he wrote
“Our next generation? They are Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.”
His broader message was one of resilience rather than retaliation.
Diwali, known as the Festival of Lights, is celebrated by Hindus and several other South Asian faith communities and symbolises, among other traditions, the victory of light over darkness and good over evil.
That symbolism has taken on added meaning for community members following the vandalism.
The City of Whittlesea has previously said Northern Diwali is intended to bring people from different backgrounds together and that “all are welcome” at the event.
Shetty echoed that invitation.
“Happy Diwali, folks,” he wrote.
“May light always triumph over darkness.”
Victoria Police advises that non-urgent property damage and vandalism can be reported through the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or through its online reporting system.
The Australia Today has sought clarification from Premier Ben Carroll, Minister for Multicultural Affairs Paul Edbrooke and Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs Evan Mullholland about this allegedly racial or religiously motivated vandalism.
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