As per reports, on September 11, a 44-year-old Hindu man and his family were performing a small religious ceremony in the Streetsville park in Mississauga city, Canada at around 5:30 PM when two male teens approached them and started abusing them. They also assaulted the man and threw rocks at him.

The man was able to flee from the park with his family in the car. The accused kept throwing rocks at them while they were leaving the park resulting in damaging the car. The victim went to the hospital, where he was treated for the injuries. As per the doctors, his injuries were not life-threatening. The wife and two children escaped physically unharmed.

Nishan Duraiappah, Peel Police Chief, issued a statement that the Police department would not tolerate such hate crimes in Peel which is known for its diversity and culture. He said, “The abundance of rich culture and diversity that we have here in Peel Region is one of our many strengths.  Being able to practice and celebrate one’s faith in peace and safety is a fundamental right here in Canada. Hateful, deliberate acts such as this will not be tolerated, and I can assure you that the appropriate resources are being allocated to identify those responsible.”

Police said that the attackers had been described as 16 and 18 years old. They both had dark hair. One of the attackers is believed to be white, while the second one was an Asian. In the official statement released on Peel Police’s website, the Police has requested the witnesses to come forward and provide whatever evidence they might have of the incident, including dashcam videos if any.

As per the Police, the members from the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bureau have initiated the Reassurance Protocol to ensure social support and relevant services to the family, if needed.

Crimes against Hindus

This is not the first time Hindus faced hate crimes in Canada. In recent times, the global Hindu diaspora came together to fight against a well-planned attempt of the Hinduphobic gang that organized an anti-Hindu conference named Dismantling Global Hindutva.

Since farmer protests broke down in India, several cases of hate crimes against Hindus have been reported, especially in Canada. during Holi celebrations in April this year, a group of around 100 protesters barged into the area where around 400 Hindus were celebrating Holi. They started shouting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government. They also blocked the route on which the Tiranga Yatra was supposed to take place. The event was delayed for around three hours. reportedly, Khalistani flags were raised by the protestors.

In March 2021, Jodhveer Singh Dhaliwal, a Khalistani sympathiser, Pro-Khalistani Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh’s relative, came under investigation after videos of him attacking Hindus in Tiranga rally went viral.

Another incident at Toronto

Just few days back on 8th of September,  a 23-year-old Indian was found murdered at an apartment in Truro town of Canada's Nova Scotia province, with community members suspecting it a racially- motivated hate crime, according to media reports.

David MacNeil of the Truro Police Service said a 911 call from 494 Robie St at 2 am on Sunday brought officers to the apartment building, where they found a man with life-threatening injuries, CBC Canada reported.

MacNeil confirmed the victim was Prabhjot Singh Katri who later died of his injuries. Singh worked for Layton's taxi as well as one or two restaurants in Truro.

Police are treating the death as a homicide, the report said. A man was arrested in connection with the murder but was later released.

"We executed several search warrants on the weekend and we did have a person of interest that was arrested shortly after. However, they have since been released from our custody without charges related to this homicide at this time," MacNeil said.

"That man remains a person of interest," he said.

MacNeil said he met with the victim's family, friends, and members of the local Indian-Canadian community Sunday night to express his condolences.

Singh came to Canada from India in 2017 to study.

"Singh was a hard-working young man with a bright future and this is an absolutely senseless loss of life," MacNeil said. "The community is outraged by this."

A GoFundMe has been set up in an effort to send Singh's body to India, CTV News reported.

Singh's friends are worried that the attack was a racially motivated hate crime, the report said.

Jatinder Kumardeep said Singh was "an innocent guy coming back from his job. He drives a taxi."

Kumardeep said he has not slept since his friend died. Kumardeep said there are few international students in Truro, so most get to know each other. They both come from Punjab, India, and so bonded in Nova Scotia.

"We feel very unsafe," he said.

"We are also people. Brown people also matter. We are giving our everything to this country," he said. "Why is this happening to us?"

Agampal Singh said his friend was a good person.

"Nothing was robbed. Even his phone was in his pocket," Singh said. "We don't have any idea why this happened."

His friend had no enemies, he said.

"He was a very innocent guy. Never had bad company, never smoked, never drank, he didn't touch drugs. He had only a few friends here," Agampal said.

"He didn't talk with people he didn't know. I think it might be a hate crime."

"We are coming to this country for a good future," he said. "We are not safe. I can't even sleep."

MacNeil, however, said, "Contrary to social media, we have no information on the motive that we're releasing at this point in time,"

"We don't believe there is any ongoing threat to the public," he added, without offering the reasons behind that assessment.

He did not say if the police think the attack was random, or that the attacker targeted Singh. MacNeil said the investigation was ongoing. The crime scene at the apartment building has been released.

Police did not release the victim's name, nor provide information on any suspects.