Indian-origin Canadian MP Chandra Arya. (file photo)
Indian-origin Canadian MP Chandra Arya on Monday shared an alleged video of Khalistani supporters. It claimed that Khalistani supporters want to create trouble in the Hindu Lakshmi Narayan temple in Surrey. With the video shared on social media platform X, Canadian Member of Parliament Arya called on Canadian authorities to take action and take steps.
He wrote that last week, according to some reports, Khalistan supporters had misbehaved with a Sikh family outside a Gurudwara in Surrey. Now it appears that the same Khalistan group wants to create trouble at the Hindu Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Surrey.
Canadian MP Arya said that all this is being done in the name of freedom of speech and expression. He said that I am again asking the Canadian authorities to step in and take action. Emphasizing that Hindu temples have been targeted over the years, Arya said hate crimes are being committed against Hindu-Canadians.
He said it is not acceptable to allow these things to continue openly and publicly. In August this year, a Hindu temple was vandalized with posters of Khalistan referendum by extremist elements in Canada. The poster at the temple gate featured the photo of Khalistan Tiger Force chief and designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in June this year.
This is not the first attack on a Hindu temple in Canada. Many such incidents have been carried out by Khalistani extremists. Many incidents were also recorded this year. In April this year, the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple was vandalized with anti-India pictures in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Earlier in February, Ram Temple in Mississauga, Canada was vandalized with anti-India pictures. The Consulate General of India in Toronto condemned the vandalism of the temple and requested Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action against the culprits. In January, an attack on a Hindu temple in Brampton sparked outrage among the Indian community.
The Consulate General of India in Toronto condemned the vandalism at the Gauri Shankar Temple, saying that this act has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Indian community in Canada.
Meanwhile, relations between India and Canada have soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the claim during a debate in the Canadian Parliament. He had claimed that his country’s national security officials have reasons to believe that agents of the Indian government carried out the murder of Canadian citizen Nijjar. Who also served as the President of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Surrey.
However, India had rejected the claims outright and termed them as absurd and motivated. Notably, Canada has not yet provided any public evidence to support the claim that Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered. Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India, was shot outside a gurudwara in a parking area in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada on June 18.
Amid the diplomatic standoff with Canada, India had halted its visa services in September until further notice. However, last month, India decided to resume visa services for four categories in Canada after reviewing the security situation, which takes into account some recent Canadian measures in this regard. Entry visa, business visa, medical visa and conference visa are the four categories in which India has decided to restart from October 26.
