New Delhi: India on Thursday reacted "sharply" to the recent reports on the vandalisation of the Temple in Edmonton, Canada. The Ministry of External Affairs, during a weekly press briefing, said it has taken the matter with Canadian officials in Ottawa and New Delhi. "We have strongly taken up the matter with Canadian authorities, both in Delhi and Ottawa. We condemn the vandalization. We expect the local authorities to take strong and swift action against those responsible," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press conference in the national capital.
Attacks on temples in Canada are a regular occurrence: MEA
Further, it maintained that these attacks against temples have become a recurring occurrence and added these incidents were done with a purpose which is not difficult to fathom. "We have seen a number of such incidents in recent times in Canada. The lack of action against the perpetrators has further emboldened such criminal elements. Those advocating and responsible for extremism and violence need to be brought to justice or else the rule of law and respect for pluralism in Canada will continue to be severely undermined," he maintained.
Earlier on Monday, the BAPS Hindu Temple in Edmonton was vandalised and defaced with hateful and 'anti-India' graffiti threatening Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian-origin Canadian MP Chandra Arya. Notably, there have been a series of attacks on Hindu temples in Canada, previously attributed to pro-Khalistani groups, that threaten to further strain the frosty relations between India and Canada.
India asks Canada to take action against anti-India campaign in Canada
Meanwhile, responding to reports that Canada has charged two persons for threatening on social media to kill Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Jaiswal said such actions are missing against those threatening Indian leaders and diplomats.
He said New Delhi expects Canada to take action against anti-India elements operating from its soil. "We have seen these reports. When a democracy adopts different yardsticks to measure or implement the rule of law and freedom of expression, it only exposes its own double standard," Jaiswal said.
"We expect Canada to take action against anti-India elements who have repeatedly threatened Indian leaders, institutions, airlines and diplomats by violence," he said. "We would like to see strong action, same level of action on threats against us," he added.
(With inputs from agency)
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