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DNA Special: How Canada, home to 1.3 million Indians, is turning into Khalistani terrorists' hub?

Notably, Canada, which calls itself a secular country, is home to nearly 1.3 million Indians who account for 4 per cent of their population.

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As the so-called Khalistan referendum by the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on September 18 nears, Toronto’s most prominent BAPS Swaminarayan Temple was vandalised with pro-Khalistan graffiti on Wednesday. The graffiti by the miscreants read ‘Khalistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad’.

Notably, Canada, which calls itself a secular country, is home to nearly 1.3 million Indians who account for 4 per cent of their population. Punjabi is included in their 10 most spoken languages. Hence, the attack on a temple and anti-India slogans being written there is a matter of concern. 

Today at DNA, we will analyse the anti-India conspiracy of Khalistan in Canada and how the country is turning into a stronghold of conspiracy and propaganda against India. 

Indians living in Canada have strongly criticised the vandalisation of the temple and have urged the authorities to take immediate action against the culprits. 

The Indian High Commission in Canada has also swung into action in this matter, demanding strict action against the accused. 

"We strongly condemn the defacing of BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto with anti-India graffiti. We have requested Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action against the perpetrators," the Indian High Commission in Ottawa wrote in a tweet. 

Patrick Brown, the Mayor of Toronto's Brampton City, has also expressed displeasure over the incident. “Very disappointed to hear about the vandalism of Swaminarayan Temple in Toronto. Such hatred has no place in Canada. Hope the culprits responsible for this are brought to justice soon,” he tweeted. 

Expressing her outrage, Brampton South MP Sonia Sidhu tweeted, "I am distraught by the act of vandalism that has taken place at the #BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Toronto.

"We live in a multicultural and multi-faith community where everyone deserves to feel safe. Those responsible should be located to face the consequences of their actions."

Chandra Arya, a prominent Hindu MP in the House of Commons, also tweeted to express his shock at the act of vandalism.

"Vandalism of Toronto BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir by Canadian Khalistani extremists should be condemned by all. This is not just an isolated event. Canadian Hindu temples have been targeted in the recent past by these kinds of hate crimes. Hindu Canadians are legitimately concerned," Arya tweeted.

Chandra Arya is such a Canadian MP who addressed the Canadian Parliament in Kannada language in May this year. Chandra Arya made it clear from his tweet that the attack on Swami Narayan temple is not the first incident, so it cannot be ignored.

Over the past few years, Canada has become a country that Khalistani terrorists use as their headquarters. Terrorists backed by Khalistan have been running anti-India agenda from there.

In July this year, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Vishnu temple of Richmond Hill in Toronto, Canada was vandalised. Khalistani terrorists had written the word ‘Khalistan’ there too.

Earlier in January, there were incidents of vandalism in Hindu temples at different places in Canada.

On January 15, a temple was vandalised in Brampton, Canada. On January 25, miscreants ransacked the Gauri Shankar temple and Jagannath temple.

On January 30, two men ransacked the donation box and the main office at the Hindu Heritage Center in Mississauga. Hindu Sabha Temple and Jagannath Temple in Brampton were vandalised in November last year.

The series of incidents make it clear that Khalistani terrorists are strategically targetting Hindu temples in Canada and the country’s government has been unable to take any concrete action in the matter. 

Anti-India slogans have often been raised by Khalistani terrorists in Canada. In 2018, not only slogans in support of Khalistan were raised in the annual Sikh parade, but a large number of pro-Khalistan flags were also hoisted.  

Last year, an NIA team went to Canada to understand the activities of Khalistani organisations, and collect information about their funding.

The NIA found many such evidences in its probe, which proved that pro-Khalistan terrorist organisations in Canada were behind the spreading of communal tension in India. 

The NIA shared its inputs with the Canadian Police, related to terror funding of Khalistani terrorist organisations like Sikh for Justice. Not only this, the NIA had also gathered information about pro-Khalistan terrorist organisations from the Canadian Police.

The NIA had also shared information about the terrorist activities of Sikh for Justice, and the pro-Khalistan group Poetic Justice Foundation in Canada and its pro-Khalistan MO Dhaliwal.

Terrorist organisations like Sikh for Justice, Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Tiger Force and Khalistan Zindabad Force have been making desperate attempts to incite communal tension in India. 

All these organisations have two things in common -- first is that they use Canada as their base and the second is their purpose to incite communal violence in India.

In 2020, Sikhs for Justice was declared a terrorist organisation under the UAPA Act. The head of this organisation, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who lives in America, hatches anti-India conspiracies with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.

Pannu was declared a terrorist by the Indian government in July 2020. He announced to celebrate 'Khalistan Day' on 29 April, which did not find support in India.

The pro-Khalistan terrorist organisations try to mislead the youth of Punjab by luring them with money. By brain-washing the Sikh youth, they persuade them to do illegal work.

Canada is considered one of the safest countries in the world. It was ranked 6 in the Global Peace Index for the year 2021. Canada was given this position because of less conflict, crime and political stability in the country. But the recent incidents of targeted attacks on Indian temples seem to putting a blot on its image. 

Canada has more than 6 lakh foreign students, of which more than 2 lakh are Indian students. In 2021, about 1 lakh Indians were made permanent citizens of Canada.

According to a report, the number of permanent Indians living in Canada was 39,340 in 2016 which increased to 80,685 in 2019.

In the 2015 election, 21 Canadian MPs were of Indian origin. In the 2019 elections, this number had increased to 23. In 2021 there were 17 MPs of Indian origin. Harjit Singh Sajjan of Indian origin became the Defense Minister of Canada.

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