TORONTO: Saying that Hindu-Canadians are ‘soft targets’, Indian-origin MP Chandra Arya on Thursday urged the community to stay calm, vigilant and report incidents of Hinduphobia in the face of a recent video by a Khalistani leader threatening and asking them to leave the country.
Emboldened by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s accusations, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a designated Khalistani terrorist in India and leader of outlawed Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), asked Indo-Canadian Hindus to leave the country, leaving the community shocked and terrified.
“I have heard from many Hindu-Canadians who are fearful after this targeted attack. I urge Hindu-Canadians to stay calm but vigilant. Please report any incident of Hinduphobia to your local law-enforcement agencies,” MP Arya wrote in a long post on X on Thursday.
The Hindu MP said Pannun is trying to provoke the Hindu-Canadians to react and divide the Hindu and Sikh communities in Canada that are connected through family relationships and shared social and cultural ties.
“Let me be clear. Vast majority of our Canadian Sikh brothers and sisters do not support the Khalistan movement. Most Sikh Canadians may not publicly condemn the Khalistan movement for several reasons but they are deeply connected to the Hindu-Canadian community,” Arya, who hails from Karnataka, said.
According to him, the “direct attack” on Hindu-Canadians by Pannun is a further escalation of the recent attacks on Hindu temples and public celebration of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by terrorists.
“Canada has high moral values and we fully uphold the rule of law. I can’t understand how glorification of terrorism or a hate crime targeting a religious group is allowed in the name of freedom of speech and expression,” Arya said.
He further pointed out that there would be an outrage in Canada if a white supremist attacked any group of racialised Canadians asking them to get out of the country. “But apparently this Khalistani leader can get away with this hate crime,” he said.
Arya said that it is because Hindu-Canadians keep a “low profile, they are considered a soft target”, adding that the community’s success cannot be digested by the anti-Hindu elements.
Citing his own case, Arya said he had been repeatedly attacked for raising a flag with Hindu religious sacred symbol Om on Canadian Parliament hill.