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Canada: Ministers condemn desecration of Hindu temple in Toronto
The Shri Ram Mandir in the GTA town of Mississauga was spray-painted in the early hours of Tuesday with anti-India, and pro-Khalistan graffiti was spray-painted on its rear walls
Toronto: Canadian ministers have decried the desecration of a Hindu temple in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) on Tuesday, the fourth such incident in eight months.
The Shri Ram Mandir in the GTA town of Mississauga had been spray-painted in the early hours of Tuesday with anti-India, and pro-Khalistan graffiti was spray-painted on its rear walls.
Canada’s defence minister Anita Anand tweeted on Wednesday, “Freedom of religion is a fundamental tenet of our democracy.”
Anand, who was in Brussels for the Nato Defence Ministers’ meeting focused on the situation in Ukraine, said she had spoken to the president of the Shri Ram Mandir located in the GTA town of Mississauga, Pandit Roop Nauth Sharma. She “reiterated that vandalism of Hindu temples, and all places of worship, is unacceptable.”
When appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to his Cabinet in 2019, Anand became the first Hindu to hold such a post in Canadian history.
Earlier in the day, foreign minister Melanie Joly had also condemned the episode. “The repeated vandalism of Hindu temples in Canada must stop. No one, no matter their faith or ethnicity, should live in fear or intimidation - especially at a place of worship. My thoughts are with those at Ram Mandir temple in Mississauga and Hindu communities everywhere,” she tweeted.
Meanwhile, local law enforcement, Peel Regional Police (PRP) is treating the incident as a “hate-motivated crime”.
In a release issued on Wednesday, it said it has opened an investigation into the incident.
“We want to assure Peel’s Hindu community, and residents of all backgrounds and faiths, that Peel Regional Police has no tolerance for hate and condemns this act in the strongest possible terms,” the release said.
It has also asked any person with information about the incident to contact investigators.
Concerns over this incident were raised by India’s High Commission in Ottawa with Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry, on Tuesday.
India’s consulate in Toronto had tweeted, “We strongly condemn the defacing of Ram Mandir in Mississauga with anti-India graffiti. We have requested Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action on perpetrators.”
On January 30, the Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton was similarly desecrated. Prior to that, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, located at the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, was defaced in July last year. In September, an episode of such vandalism occurred at the front entrance to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto.
None of these incidents have so far resulted in any arrests. While they have been linked by some to the so-called Punjab Referendum being organised by the secessionist group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Canadian law enforcement has yet to establish that alleged connection.
