India has condemned the attack on a temple in Brampton, Canada, by a pro-Khalistani mob.
“We have seen violent disruption today orchestrated by anti-India elements outside the consular camp co-organized with the Hindu Sabha Mandir, Brampton, near Toronto,” the Indian consulate said in a statement.
“On account of the prevailing security situation in Canada, the Canadian authorities had been requested well in advance to provide strong security measures for these events, which constitute routine consular work,” it added.
Videos of the incident, now widely circulated on social media, show a group of men wielding sticks and attacking devotees outside the temple. The mob was seen carrying flags associated with pro-Khalistani groups. The Hindu Canadian Foundation, a community non-profit, reported on social media that women and children were among those targeted in the attack.
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Chandra Arya, a federal lawmaker from Prime Minister Trudeau’s Liberal Party, attributed the incident to “Khalistanis,” supporters of the separatist movement seeking an independent Sikh homeland in Punjab, India. Arya stated that Khalistani extremists had “crossed a red line,” pointing to a troubling rise in violent extremism in Canada.
This attack is part of a growing pattern of similar incidents in recent years, highlighting an unsettling trend of religious intolerance.
In July, Arya expressed deep concern about violence against Hindu-Canadian communities, addressing the issue in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). He wrote, “The Hindu temple BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Edmonton is vandalised again. During the last few years, Hindu temples in the Greater Toronto Area, British Columbia, and other places in Canada are being vandalised with hateful graffiti.”
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