By R. Paul Dhillon With News Files
SURREY – The Hindu and Sikh communities are worried about recent attacks on their premises, with Hindu Laxmi Narayan temple getting their windows broken this weekend by two miscreants, and some members think that it may be more than mischief and planned communal tactics by divisive forces to create a rift between these two religious communities that have long existed harmoniously in Surrey despite the rare incendiary comments on Air India or other hot button issues originating from India.
“First some crazy guy pretending to be Hindu tried to insult Guru Granth Granth Sahib ji at Guru Nanak Sikh temple Surrey a few weeks ago and now during the attack at the Surrey Hindu temple, two guys who don’t appear to be Sikhs at all purposely leave their bat behind with Sikh Khanda drawn on it,” shared Punjabi journalist Lucky Sahota on his facebook post.
“It sure makes me think, are there bigger forces trying to divide Hindus and Sikhs in Vancouver metropolitan area? They have done this kind of stuff in India to divide people on religious grounds,” the post concluded.
Mo Bual in his response to Sahota’s facebook post wrote: “the attack at Guru Nanak Sikh Temple happened at the June 1984 program and this attack corresponds with the Air India tragedy, which it should be noted was an attack on Canadians and people from all backgrounds, religions, ethnic groups were made targets. It would be naive to think of this as coincidence.”
This attack comes on the heels of a similar attack earlier this month at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Surrey BC, in which the perpetrator attempted to attack the Guru Granth Sahib (Holy Scripture of the Sikh Nation) and claimed to be a member of a Hindu organization.
This was done on the day that large numbers of the Sikh community had come to pay their respects to the thousands of innocent lives that were lost in the June 1984 genocide of Sikhs in India.
“The hope of our community remains that it was an isolated incident and definitely not something that represents anything more than the action or thought process of one or a few individuals. We urge anyone who has any information in regards to these 2 incidents to contact the Police and help ensure that acts like this are not committed again,” said a press release from the Canadian Sikh Coalition (CSC).
There is definitely something afoot but whoever is behind it seem like a bunch of amateurs at best. They didn’t even know that there is a video camera there to catch them! They thought who’s gonna have a camera at a religious place. The two men seen in the video should be easily caught as they are quite distinctive looking and appear to be white!
But it’s quite scary as we don’t need the communal garbage they have in India here. Police need to take quick action and get to the bottom of this. They need to do a thorough investigation that takes into account both attacks.
According to those who were there at the attack at Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, the individual committed the act in the middle of a program and then made reference to a specific Hindu group he was a part of an in the case of the attack at the Mandir the attackers decided to leave a baseball bat with a khanda imprinted in it behind.
“Amateur wouldn’t be my thinking, its deliberate in both cases to raise the emotions of the communities involved,” Bual wrote
The Hindu community of Surrey is also wary of elements trying to create wedge between Hindus and Sikhs living in Canada especially after the unexpected attack on the Temple on June 23 which coincides with the 28th anniversary of Air India bombing.
“We can suspect anything, it was a deliberate attack for sure , there are elements who have different political aspirations” President of Surrey’s Laxmi Narayan Temple Parshottam Goel told TOI over phone on Tuesday.
Sikh Groups were also quick to condemn the attack. The Canadian Sikh Coalition (CSC) strongly condemned the attack.
“The attack on a religious site is outrageous and tragic and we extend our support and solidarity to the Hindu community of Surrey,” stated CSC Director/Spokesperson Moninder Singh. “Our expectation is that the Police and authorities will take concrete and meaningful action to ensure that the perpetrators of this crime are brought to justice as quickly as possible as these acts have no place in society anywhere in the world and should not be tolerated. The Sikh and Hindu communities do not have tension in the lower mainland and statements such as these are a fabrication of over-sensationalized media. Both communities are closely linked and have spent over a century together on Canadian soil and have played vital roles in supporting one another. We ask that the communities come together at this time to show solidarity and let the police investigation take its course as it is being treated as a case of mischief.”
Already, members of the Sikh community and leadership have engaged in conversation with members of the Vedic Hindu Cultural Society (VHCS). The CSC and the numerous Sikh Gurdwaras and organizations it supports, will also be making attempts to meet with members of the VHCS and use this unfortunate act as a catalyst to strengthen our ties and allow for open and regular communication.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada also condemned the vandalism of the mandir. WSO President Prem Singh Vinning visited the temple and met with its president Parshottam Goel to express his concern.
Vinning said, “any attack on a place of worship must be strongly condemned. The perpetrators must be brought to justice as soon as possible. While we truly hope that this was not an attempt to create friction between the Sikh and Hindu community, the responsible thing to do is to let the RCMP complete its investigation before drawing any conclusions.”
Immigration Multiculturalism and Citizenship Critic Jinny Sims (Newton North-Delta) and her Surrey-North MP colleague Jasbir Sandhu and the entire New Democratic caucus also strongly condemned the vandalism.
“My colleague Jasbir (Surrey North) and I unequivocally condemn such heinous acts of violence on a place of worship,” Sims said. “Surrey is a shining example of Canada’s diversity, where faith based organizations and temples are institutions of peace that celebrate Canadian multiculturalism. Attacks on such institutions should not be taken lightly.”
Security cameras rolled as two men, each with bats in hand, walked toward the Lakshmi Narayan Temple on 140th Street sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Shortly after, a cloud of dust – presumably from a smashed window below – floats into the air before the men are seen disappearing into the night.
Mounties are now investigating the attack and asking for help identifying the two men seen in the video.
“A place of worship is one more place that people hold sacred. It’s a very personal attack,” said Surrey RCMP spokesman Sgt. Dale Carr.
Vinay Sharma, secretary for the Vedic Hindu Cultural Society, told CTV news he hopes that anybody has any issues with the temple talks to them instead of resorting to vandalism.
“This place, it is not just for Hindus or Sikhs, this place is for everybody,” he said.
Surrey RCMP are asking those with information about the attack to contact them at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-8477.
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