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Community groups express concern over intimidation of Hindu Canadians by pro-Khalistan elements
Local law enforcement didn’t allow protesters to come within 100m of the premises of the Triveni Mandir Brampton in GTA and the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey, British Columbia
Toronto: The Indo-Canadian community has expressed alarm over the “deliberate” attempt at harassment and intimidation of Hindu Canadians even as two protests by pro-Khalistan elements outside two major temples in Canada passed off without incident on Sunday,
Local law enforcement didn’t allow protesters to come within 100 metres of the premises of the Triveni Mandir Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey, British Columbia.
The so-called Khalistan Zindabad rallies were called by the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). The demonstrations featured anti-India slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India’s high commissioner and consul generals in Canada.
In a statement, the Board of Directors of the GTA temple said, “We are deeply disappointed that a group is permitted to harass a place of worship without meaningful consequence.”
They added that the protesters used noise as harassment, stating the “persistent use of high-powered speakers and megaphones is a form of intimidation that physical distance alone does not resolve”.
The protest in Brampton also featured a tableau with violent imagery of the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in October 1984 by her bodyguards.
While ostensibly anti-India protests, the separatists chose the Brampton mandir, which was built by the Caribbean Hindu community. In a statement, the Canadian chapter of the Coalition of Hindus of North America or CoHNA described that choice as “particularly disturbing”.
CoHNA Canada noted, “The buffer zones may contain movement, but it does not erase targeting,” adding, “No community should have to navigate hate, just to pray.”
In Brampton, the buffer zone was created through a municipal bylaw passed soon after the violent invasion of the Hindu Sabha Mandir there on November 3, 2024. A similar law does not exist in Surrey, but the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir management obtained an injunction from a British Columbia court prohibiting protests within 100 metres of the temple’s boundaries.
Earlier, in a joint letter sent to, among others, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, over 30 Hindu temples and civic organisations said, “These protests represent a deliberate attempt to intimidate and harass Hindu Canadians at their sacred places of worship.” They called upon Carney and the federal government to “ensure the safety and security of all Hindu temples and devotees”.
The letter was also marked to the premiers of the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, where the temples are located, the Mayors of Brampton and Surrey, local police chiefs, the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Mike Duheme and the leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre.
