Toronto: Canadian ministers have decried the desecration of a Hindu temple within the Larger Toronto Space (GTA) on Tuesday, the fourth such incident in eight months.
The Shri Ram Mandir within the GTA city of Mississauga had been spray-painted within the early hours of Tuesday with anti-India, and pro-Khalistan graffiti was spray-painted on its rear partitions.
Canada’s defence minister Anita Anand tweeted on Wednesday, “Freedom of faith is a elementary tenet of our democracy.”
Anand, who was in Brussels for the Nato Defence Ministers’ assembly centered on the scenario in Ukraine, stated she had spoken to the president of the Shri Ram Mandir positioned within the GTA city of Mississauga, Pandit Roop Nauth Sharma. She “reiterated that vandalism of Hindu temples, and all locations of worship, is unacceptable.”
When appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to his Cupboard in 2019, Anand grew to become the primary Hindu to carry such a submit in Canadian historical past.
Earlier within the day, international minister Melanie Joly had additionally condemned the episode. “The repeated vandalism of Hindu temples in Canada should cease. Nobody, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity, ought to stay in concern or intimidation – particularly at a spot of worship. My ideas are with these at Ram Mandir temple in Mississauga and Hindu communities in every single place,” she tweeted.
In the meantime, native legislation enforcement, Peel Regional Police (PRP) is treating the incident as a “hate-motivated crime”.
In a launch issued on Wednesday, it stated it has opened an investigation into the incident.
“We need to guarantee Peel’s Hindu neighborhood, and residents of all backgrounds and faiths, that Peel Regional Police has no tolerance for hate and condemns this act within the strongest potential phrases,” the discharge stated.
It has additionally requested any particular person with details about the incident to contact investigators.
Considerations over this incident had been raised by India’s Excessive Fee in Ottawa with International Affairs Canada, the nation’s international 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’ve requested Canadian authorities to research the incident and take immediate motion on perpetrators.”
On January 30, the Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton was equally desecrated. Previous to that, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, positioned on the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, was defaced in July final yr. In September, an episode of such vandalism occurred on the entrance entrance to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto.
None of those incidents have thus far resulted in any arrests. Whereas they’ve been linked by some to the so-called Punjab Referendum being organised by the secessionist group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Canadian legislation enforcement has but to ascertain that alleged connection.