Hindus in Brampton, Ont., say Peel Regional Police aren’t protecting them, with recent violence outside a Hindu temple bringing built-up distress to a boiling point.
The attack on the Hindu Sabha temple during Diwali weekend on Nov. 3 “really shocked the community,” says Pushpita Prasad, chief communications officer for the Coalition of Hindus in North America (CoHNA). “It has left us traumatized.”
Similar clashes occurred at another large Hindu temple in Surrey, B.C., where police also had to intervene.
Painting the ongoing tensions as a religious conflict is an “easy sell” for the Khalistani movement, says Prasad, however, she adds, the conflict in Canada is not about religion. “It’s about politics.”
Hindus that the National Post spoke with say Canadian politicians and police are not providing basic security for their community. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is happy to show he wears sacred Hindu threads of protection, especially during Diwali, Dr. Ragini Sharma, president of the Canadian Organization for Hindu Heritage Education, points out. “But he is not returning the same safety.”
On Nov. 3 in Brampton, Hindus were defending the temple, Prasad says, while protesters who advocate for a separate Khalistan state for Sikhs were using megaphones to “shout obscenities” and made “vile gestures.”
“Judge for yourself,” says the CoHNA in a posting on X on Nov. 14. “One video shows Khalistani protesters wielding huge 12-foot flagpoles and using them to beat Hindus, while entering (temple) property. They were not arrested and their flagpoles were not confiscated by @PeelPolice.”
The following day, 6,000 Hindus turned up at the temple to show support for their community and demand justice. They also protested at the Malton gurdwara, (Sikh place of worship) in Mississauga. They insist it was peaceful. But Peel police declared the entire event an unlawful assembly.
Spokespeople for the community have levelled accusations of “two-tier policing,” arguing police are not protecting them — and not cracking down on Khalistan protesters.
Anticipating possible trouble during Diwali, the president of the Hindu Federation wrote to Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah on Oct. 30, requesting “heightened security and vigilance” around Hindu temples and community centres.
In the letter, Pandit Roopnauth Sharma highlighted how Diwali is one of Hinduism’s most significant festivals. He requested “additional patrols” and “any preventative measures” to ensure a peaceful celebration.
Despite the request, Peel police only sent two cars, says Dr. Sharma. The officers “did not intervene when eight to 10 people approached the front of the temple gate.”
They were “allowed to block entry to the temple” and to enter the grounds and start “beating Hindus” with flag poles, she says.
One alleged Khalistani protester, caught on video, was identified as off-duty Peel police Sgt. Harinder Sohi. He was later suspended. “The officer remains under investigation by the Professional Standards Bureau in relation to his involvement in the incident,” wrote Peel police Const. Tyler Bell-Morena in an emailed statement to the National Post.
“How are you going to feel empowered to speak up after that?” says Rishabh Saraswat, president of Coalition of Hindus of North America.
In response to the clashes, Brampton city council passed a bylaw on Nov. 20 aimed at ensuring places of worship remain safe from protest-related disruptions.
However, under the Canadian Criminal Code, it is already illegal to disrupt people meeting at a place of worship “for religious worship or for a moral, social or benevolent purpose.” That includes disruptions “at or near” the meeting. The police have to enforce the law already in place, says Dr Sharma.
Peel police counters Hindu community’s view
Peel police have expressed a different view about their response to the clashes. In a Nov. 14 post on X, Const. Bell-Morena says in a video that police responded to a trespass complaint at the temple on Nov. 3 and observed that several protesters had armed themselves with “weapons” such as sticks, bats and flagpoles.
“To maintain peace and order and to prevent further escalation, officers began to seize several items that could be used as weapons.”
Bell-Morena says the investigation into the incidents at the temple is ongoing.
Events put on by the Indian consulates in Toronto and Vancouver have been lightning rods for Khalistani protests at Hindu temples. The events can be held at temples, as they serve a dual function for worship and as community centres, says Prasad.
The event that sparked the clashes on Nov. 3 was a “Life Certificate camp,” where elderly Indian immigrants present documentation proving their identities and that they are alive and well, so they can continue to receive their pensions from the Indian government. They must attend the camp in person.
After the early November clashes, Peel police advised Brampton temple officials not to hold a similar event on Nov. 17, warning of a heightened possibility of another attack. However, cancelling these events affects elderly Sikhs, too, says Prasad, as “all Indian pensioners” are invited by the consulate to attend.
Police caving to ‘extremists’
The Coalition of Hindus in North America interpreted the advice from Peel police as caving in to “extremists.”
“It is a sad day for Canada when its police and institutions seem to cave in to extremist threats of violence. It is deeply concerning that Peel Regional Police (PRP) now appears to be placing pressure on the Hindu community rather than addressing the actions of those who incited violence at the Hindu (temple) in Brampton on November 3, 2024,” says a statement from the coalition.
Temple officials decided to cancel the Nov. 17 event rather than pay the fee for protection that they say Peel police requested. They allege police proposed a fee of between $50,000 and $100,000, which is “a financial burden that is both shocking and unjust.”
Peel police say this assertion is untrue.
In his email to the National Post, Const. Bell-Morena said: “Peel Regional Police has never solicited or asked for ‘protection money’ from any community group or individual; such claims are entirely false. Our commitment is to serve the public and ensure the safety and security of all members of our community…Based on a risk assessment, we may recommend hiring paid duty officers to assist with crowd and traffic management, and other safety needs.”
Indeed, Jewish synagogues and institutions review three security options when they are planning a potentially contentious event, says Andria Spindel, executive director of the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation.
The options can include booking off-duty officers “when it is determined that a guy with a gun is needed.”
And while the attacks against Hindu temples in Brampton and Surrey have received the most media attention, smaller temples across the country have also been targeted, says Saraswat.
“They don’t want to report attacks. They don’t want to be in the limelight,” says Saraswat. “They are afraid of retribution.”
Khalistani protesters
Sharma says it would be a mistake to assume all Sikhs in Canada align with the movement for a separate Khalistan state for Sikhs in India.
In a Nov. 8 post on X, MP for Nepean, Chandra Arya, said: “Politicians are portraying Hindus and Sikhs as opposing sides regarding the attack on the temple by Khalistani extremists. This picture is simply not true. The two sides are actually Hindu-Canadians and the vast majority of Sikh-Canadians on one side, and Khalistanis on the other.”
A Nov. 3 statement from the Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council seems to support these comments. It reads that the council “strongly condemn(s) the incident of violence outside the Hindu Sabha … (it is a) distressing reminder of the need for understanding and mutual respect in our community.”
The council goes on to call on local authorities to “thoroughly investigate this incident.”
It’s wrong that “a handful of people can terrorize a whole community,” says Dr. Sharma.
Meanwhile, says Prasad, the Hindu community doesn’t want to make preventing Khalistani attacks “their life mission.” Instead, she adds, they just want to get on with their lives in Canada, “their work, their families.”
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