In Edmonton, Alberta's capital, a Hindu temple was defaced with some graffiti. This is part of a concerning trend of attacks on Hindu entities in Canada.
Deeply troubled by the act of defacement of BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir, MP Chandra Arya took to social media to express shock. He highlighted a disturbing trend whereby Hindu temples in different parts of Canada, in particular in the Greater Toronto Area and British Columbia, are being targeted with hateful graffiti.
Arya, the champion of multicultural causes, pointed to the role of extremist elements in all this. Indeed, as he noted, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of Sikhs for Justice explicitly went on social media to call for Hindus to leave India and go back to their country. He spoke of how openly the Khalistan supporters celebrated the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, brandishing images of weapons.
"Khalistani extremists continue to propagate messages of hate and violence with impunity," Arya asserted, citing legitimate concerns from Hindu-Canadians. With his post accompanied by a picture of the defaced temple wall, he urged Canadian law enforcement to take such threats seriously before they turn into assaults against people.
The temple wall graffiti read, "PM Modi MP Arya Hindu Terrorists are Anti-Canada", thus leaving no doubt about the inflammatory intentions of the vandalism.
The Canada-India Foundation had last November called on political leaders to act against the radical elements before things deteriorated further. It expressed its disappointment at the kind of silence from Canadian politicians and media, saying there needs to be consistency in the approach while dealing with terrorism and threats.
The most recent incidents have included vandalization of Hindu temples in Canada, such as the Ram Mandir in Mississauga, Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Toronto, and Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey. These are seen as direct attacks on religious freedom and reflect a more dangerous trend that even ordinary Hindus have been threatened to leave Canada with intimidation.
An open letter from the advocacy body noted that concrete deeds were immediately required to ensure the safety and rights of all citizens of Canada, irrespective of their religion.
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