Kumar Bahukhandi
Toronto: The Consulate General of India in Canada has decided to cancel some of the camps scheduled in Toronto after security agencies expressed their inability to provide minimum security. This incident comes days after Khalistani extremists attacked devotees at the Hindu Sabha Mandir complex in Brampton, Canada.
The Indian High Commission in Canada had condemned the “violent disruption” by ‘anti-India’ elements outside the consulate camp. “We have witnessed violent disruption by anti-India elements outside the consulate camp organised in collaboration with the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, near Toronto, on November 3, 2024 ,” the statement issued by the high commission said.
The incident drew widespread criticism in Canada and beyond. Canadian President Justin Trudeau also condemned the attack, saying those responsible for the act were seeking to incite division and unrest.
Speaking in the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament on Wednesday November 6 , 2024 , Trudeau said the communities inciting violence were neither the Sikh community nor the Hindu community in Canada, failing to underline the involvement of Khalistani separatists in the attacks. While the attack was part of a long-running campaign by Khalistanis to intimidate the Hindu community in Canada, it is among a series of such incidents in recent years. Earlier, a Hindu temple in Windsor was damaged with anti-India pictures. Similar temples were targeted in earlier incidents in Mississauga and Brampton, drawing strong reactions from the Indian community in Canada. In December last year, shots were fired at the house of Satish Kumar, the president of the Lakshmi Narayana temple in Surrey.
Temple expels priest
On the other hand, the Hindu Sabha, the governing committee of the Hindu temple in Brampton, has suspended priest Rajender Prasad over allegations of involvement in spreading “violent rhetoric” during clashes at the temple on November 3, 2024 . The clash, in which protesters waved Khalistani flags, turned into violent scenes outside the Hindu Sabha temple during a consulate event held in the presence of Indian officials.
