To celebrate India-Canada ties, members of the Indian diaspora residing in Canada had organised a tiranga (tricolour) and Mapple Car rally in Brampton but it didn't go down well with pro-Khalistani supporters.
Fighting pandemic with utmost sincerity and displaying fruitful ties between two nations, Canada will be receiving millions of doses from Made in India vaccines after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked PM Modi, sharing his countries need for the vaccines earlier.
Therefore, in order to celebrate strong ties between India and Canada, people of Indian origin organised a Tiranga and Mapple car rally on the streets of Brampton that saw the participation of over 100 cars stretched on a long route with flags of India and Canada on their vehicles.
However, the gesture didn't go down well with pro-Khalistani supporters who not only abused people of Indian origin but tried to bully them.
A couple of videos has surfaced on Twitter showing how a member of the Indian diaspora was bullied and pushed down on the road while another Khalistani supporter disrespected the Indian flag after he plugged of tricolour from a car and crushed it on the street.
The videos have been shared by Race, Ethnicity and Culture — REACH (USA & Canada) chapter on its Twitter account.
In one of the videos, a pro-Khalistani supporter can be heard abusing members of the Indian community who were participating in the rally saying, "Go and drink urine. Are you happy now (after he got hit) go and drink urine. Drinking urine will not make you strong you b*st*rd."
Another video shared by REACH, shows a member of the Hindu community living in NDP's leader Jagmeet Singh constituency sharing her ordeal of how they are facing abuses, threats, by pro-Khalistani elements and their business is being boycotted in Canada.
The woman has requested NDP’s leader Jagmeet Singh's to understand their problem as protecting people from every community in his constituency was his responsibility.
The woman further appealed said, "Please stop supporting Khalistan for once and put a stop on abuses Hindus are facing. It is wrong. And if you do not want to support Hindu businesses, at least start keeping a beard and wearing turbans so that we can also distinguish between Hindus and Sikhs like you.”
India takes up the matter with Canadian authorities
Amid reports of threats to some members of the Indian community in Canada over their support to Centre's new farm laws, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said it has taken up the issue with Canadian authorities both in Ottawa and New Delhi, and has requested them to take steps to ensure the safety of Indians.
Asked about the reports that some members of the Indian diaspora in Canada have received threats from Khalistani groups after they took out "tiranga" rallies in support of the farm laws, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "We have come across these reports of threat and intimidation to some members of the Indian community in Canada. These threats have come from some fringe elements in Canada."
"We have taken this up with Canadian authorities both in Ottawa and in Delhi. We have requested them to take steps to ensure the safety of Indian citizens in Canada," he added.
Srivastava said the Indian nationals are advised to report any such incident to the local Canadian police and also bring it to the immediate attention of the Indian High Commission in Ottawa as well as Indian consulates.
"I would also say, we have taken up with the Canadian authorities the issues concerning the safety and security of our missions and consulates and our diplomatic personnel in Canada," he said.
(With inputs from IANS)
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