Thousands of Indo-Canadians on Monday protested against the attack on a Hindu temple in the Greater Toronto Area before dispersing as police declared their assembly “unlawful” and deployed armed personnel in riot gear to clear the protesters.
Pro-Khalistan radicals barged into the Hindu temple and assaulted congregants. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led India’s condemnation of the violence and demanded that the perpetrators must be prosecuted. He called the attack deliberate and said it was part of cowardly attempts to intimidate Indian diplomats.
India-Canada relations have been at an all-time low over accusations of the Indian government’s links to the targeting of pro-Khalistan activists in the North American country. India and Canada last month removed six diplomats each.
On Monday, around 5,000 Indo-Canadians, mainly Hindus, protested outside the temple amid a heavy police presence and closure of the nearby thoroughfare. Peel Regional Police (PRP) declared the protest an “unlawful assembly” as “weapons” had been “observed” within the demonstration. “All parties must leave the area now or face arrest,” the PRP said.
PRP earlier confirmed it suspended an officer for participating in the pro-Khalistan protest. “We are aware of a video circulating on social media which shows an off-duty Peel Police officer involved in a demonstration. This officer has since been suspended in accordance with the Community Safety and Policing Act. We are investigating the circumstances in totality depicted in the video and are unable to provide further information until such time that this investigation is complete,” a PRP spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}PRP earlier confirmed it suspended an officer for participating in the pro-Khalistan protest. “We are aware of a video circulating on social media which shows an off-duty Peel Police officer involved in a demonstration. This officer has since been suspended in accordance with the Community Safety and Policing Act. We are investigating the circumstances in totality depicted in the video and are unable to provide further information until such time that this investigation is complete,” a PRP spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}PRP announced the arrest of four people in connection with three incidents on Sunday including the violence at the Hindu Sabha Mandir. They were identified as Dilpreet Singh Bouns, 43, from Mississauga, who was charged with causing disturbance and assaulting an officer. Vikas, 23, from Brampton, was arrested on charges of assault with a weapon. Amritpal Singh, 31, from Mississauga, was charged with mischief. A fourth individual was arrested on an outstanding unrelated warrant and subsequently released.
The management of Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in British Columbia’s Surrey was consulting lawyers over potentially suing local police for using “excessive force” against devotees staging a counter-protest against a pro-Khalistan group gathered across the street.
The Khalistani elements displayed images of the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in October 1984 and were seen trampling on an Indian tricolour. Sikh bodyguards assassinated Indira Gandhi in retaliation to the storming of Amritsar’s Golden Temple to flush over Khalistani terrorists holed up there.
Parshotam Goel, a spokesperson for the temple, said police arrested three persons from within the premises of the temples who were raising slogans against the pro-Khalistani extremists. “They were doing no harm. Police had no right to block the entrance or use force to arrest them. One of them was a 16-year-old kid,” he said.
The temple management protested outside the local police headquarters in Surrey until all three were released with conditions.
“We are not going to leave things unattended or halfway,” said Goel. He added the temple got medical examinations of the three done and was getting the legal evaluation towards prosecuting the officers who entered the premises “unlawfully.” Goel said that nearly 40 organisations including gurdwaras in British Columbia were in discussions to take a joint stand against intimidation by pro-Khalistan separatists.