Toronto Canada’s foreign minister has condemned the desecration of a Hindu temple in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) on Monday.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Melanie Joly said, “Everyone should be able to practice their faith in peace, free from violence and intimidation.”
“I stand with Hindu communities in denouncing the vandalism at Gauri Shankar Mandir in Brampton,” she said, adding, “We have a collective responsibility to denounce hateful acts”, which have no place in Canada.
Joly led other Canadian politicians in criticising the desecration of temple located in the town of Brampton.
Sonia Sidhu, MP of the ruling Liberal Party, said she was “concerned about an act of vandalism and hate” at the temple. She said she had spoken to the temple as well Peel Regional Police and continued to “unequivocally state that all Canadians deserve to feel safe in their place of worship.”
Sidhu represents the riding (as constituencies are called in Canada) of Brampton South, which includes the temple.
Similar condemnation had come forth on Monday as it came to light that pro-Khalistan and anti-India slogans had been spray-painted on the rear wall of the temple. Among those who was most vocal was another Liberal Party MP Chandra Arya.
Arya tweeted that this was the “latest in attacks on Hindu temples in Canada by anti-Hindu and anti-India groups”.
“From hatred on social media, now physical attacks on Hindu temples, what next? I call on govt at levels in Canada to start taking this seriously,” he added.
Brampton mayor Patrick Brown had also condemned what he described as an “hateful act of vandalism” and a “hate crime.”
Meanwhile, Dhirendra Tripathi, president of the temple, informed the Hindustan Times that there was no progress reported by the police in their investigation into the perpetrators of the hate crime. The matter was also raised by India’s High Commission in Ottawa with Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry, on Monday.
This was the third such incident since July last year, when a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, located at the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, was similarly defaced. The 20-foot tall bronze statue was situated in the temple’s Peace Park. Weeks later, in September, an episode of such vandalisation occurred at the front entrance to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto. Both those crimes also remain unresolved amid growing concern within the community over rising Hinduphobia.
