“Step in, take action:” Canadian MP Chandra Arya on Khalistani supporters threat to Hindu temple in Surrey

Ottawa [Canada]: India-origin Canadian member of Parliament Chandra Arya on Monday shared a purported video of Pro Khalistani supporters in Surrey claiming they want to create trouble at the Hindu Laxmi Narayan Mandir there.

Along with the video that he shared on social media platform X, the Canadian member of parliament, Arya, further called on the Canadian authorities to take action and step in.

He wrote, “Last week, Khalistan supporters verbally abused a Sikh family outside a Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, BC, according to some reports. Now it appears the same Khalistan group wants to create trouble at the Hindu Laxmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey.”

“All these are being done in the name of freedom of speech and expression. Like a broken record, I am again asking Canadian authorities to step in and take action,” he added.

Underscoring that Hindu temples have remained targets for attacks over the past years, Arya noted by saying, “Hindu temples have been attacked many times during the last couple of years. Hate crimes are being committed against Hindu-Canadians.”

“Allowing these things to continue to be done openly and publicly is not acceptable,” he said.

A Hindu temple was vandalised in Canada by extremist elements with Khalistan referendum posters in August this year.

The poster on the temple gate referred to and also had the picture of Khalistan Tiger Force chief and designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in June this year.

This is not the first such attack on a Hindu temple in Canada; multiple such incidents have been carried out by Khalistani extremists. Several incidents were also recorded this year itself.

In April this year, BAPS Swaminarayan temple was vandalised with anti-India graffiti in Windsor, in Canada’s Ontario.

Earlier in February, the Ram Mandir in Canada’s Mississauga was vandalised with anti-India graffiti. The Consulate General of India in Toronto condemned the defacing of the mandir and requested Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action against the perpetrators.

In January, a Hindu temple in Brampton was defaced with anti-India graffiti, triggering outrage among the Indian community.

The Consulate General of India in Toronto condemned the vandalism at the Gauri Shankar Mandir, stating that the act has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Indian community in Canada.

Meanwhile, the ties between India and Canada have soured after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during a debate in the Canadian Parliament, claimed his country’s national security officials had reasons to believe that “agents of the Indian government” carried out the killing of Canadian citizen Nijjar, who also served as the president of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.

India, however, had outrightly rejected the claims, terming them “‘absurd” and “motivated”. Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada’s Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18.

Notably, amid a diplomatic standoff with Canada, India had halted its visa services till “further notice” in September. However, last month, India decided to resume visa services in Canada for four categories after a considered review of the security situation, which “takes into account some recent Canadian measures in this regard”.

Entry visa, Business visa, Medical visa and Conference visa are four categories in which India decided to resume visa services in Canada with effect from October 26.