Violent disruption outside consular camp in Brampton, Ontario, on November 3, 2024. Image credit: Twitter/@HCI_Ottawa
The Indian High Commission in Canada on Monday (November 4, 2024) said that a consular camp in Brampton, near Toronto, witnessed “violent disruptions” on Sunday. This comes after Hindu-Canadian devotees were attacked at a Hindu temple near Toronto.
The Indian High Commission in Ottawa in a statement blamed “anti-India elements” for the violence outside the consular camp co-organised with the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton.
“On account of the prevailing security situation in Canada, the Canadian authorities had been requested well in advance to provide strong security measures for these events, which constitute routine consular work. It is deeply disappointing to see such disruptions being allowed for routine consular work being organised by our Consulates with the fullest cooperation of local co-organizers,” the Indian High Commission said.
Most beneficiaries of the consular service organised by the Indian High Commission in Brampton were Sikh members of the Indian diaspora.
“We also remain very concerned for the safety of applicants, including Indian nationals, on whose demand such events are organised in the first place,” the Commission further said. The Indian diplomatic missions organise consular camps every year for the benefit and ease of local life certificate beneficiaries.
“Despite these efforts by anti-India elements, our Consulate was able to issue more than 1,000 life certificates to the Indian and Canadian applicants. There were also attempts to disrupt similar camps held in Vancouver and Surrey on November 2-3,” the Indian embassy noted.
‘Red Line Crossed’: Canadian MPs condemn violence at Hindu temple
Local police in the city of Brampton said they had deployed heavily outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir in order to maintain calm during a protest. A spokesman for the Peel Regional Police told AFP that no arrests had been made. Police have also declined to assign blame for the reported violence.
A federal lawmaker and member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party, Chandra Arya, blamed the incident on “Khalistanis,” a reference to supporters of the fringe separatist movement for an independent Sikh homeland in Punjab.
“A red line has been crossed by Canadian Khalistani extremists today,” Mr. Arya, who is Hindu, posted on X.
“The attack by Khalistanis on the Hindu-Canadian devotees inside the premises of the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton shows how deep and brazen has Khalistani violent extremism has become in Canada,” he said.
Video circulating on social media appears to show individuals carrying yellow Khalistan flags clashing with a rival group, including people holding Indian flags. There were also isolated fist fights, videos show.
Relations between Canada and India have nosedived after Ottawa accused the Indian government of orchestrating the 2023 killing in Vancouver of 45-year-old Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Khalistan activist. Beyond Nijjar’s killing, Canada has accused India of directing a broad campaign targeting Sikh activists on Canadian soil, which Ottawa says has included intimidation, threats and violence.
Delhi and Ottawa earlier this month each expelled the other’s ambassador and other senior diplomats.
(With inputs from AFP)
Published – November 04, 2024 11:22 am IST
