After a video showing eggs hurled at a rath yatra procession taken out in Canada's Toronto surfaced online, the ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal called the incident “regrettable” and “against the spirit of festival”.
He added that India has “strongly” taken up the matter with Canadian authorities to hold the people responsible for the act accountable.
“We have seen reports regarding disruption created by mischievous elements during the Rath Yatra procession in Toronto. Such despicable acts are regrettable and are against the spirit of festival, which seeks to promote unity, inclusivity, and social harmony,” Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.
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“We have strongly taken up the matter with Canadian authorities to hold the perpetrators of the act accountable. We hope the Canadian Government will take necessary action to protect the religious rights of people,” he added.
The viral video
An Instagram user named Sangna Bajaj shared a video on Sunday showing that eggs were hurled at a rath yatra procession she was a part on in Canada's Toronto. In the video, Bajaj is seen singing and chanting devotional songs during the procession, however, as the procession moves into a less crowded area, several broken eggs can be seen scattered on the street.
{{/usCountry}}An Instagram user named Sangna Bajaj shared a video on Sunday showing that eggs were hurled at a rath yatra procession she was a part on in Canada's Toronto. In the video, Bajaj is seen singing and chanting devotional songs during the procession, however, as the procession moves into a less crowded area, several broken eggs can be seen scattered on the street.
{{/usCountry}}Bajaj claimed in the video that people from a nearby building threw the eggs on them. She added that if the intention was to stop the procession, it failed.
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“We were stunned. Hurt. But we didn’t stop. Because hate can never overpower faith,” she said.
Bajaj attributed the incident to racism in Canada and said that it left her feeling hurt but was unable to stop the procession.
“We didn’t stop. Because when Lord Jagannath is on the streets, no hate can shake us,” she wrote in the caption of her post.
The video has been seen around 1.7 lakh times so far.
Bajaj was part of ISKCON’s 53rd annual Rath Yatra when the egg-hurling incident left participants shaken but undeterred. By ISKCON’s own description, the Rath Yatra is a loud festival, where devotees gather on the streets to sing and chant bhajans.