India conveys concerns over threats to Indo-Canadians
TORONTO: India’s High Commission in Ottawa has raised the issue of safety of Indian citizens, including international students, with Canadian authorities after multiple reports of members of the Indo-Canadian community being threatened and intimidated for actions perceived to be pro-India or critical of the ongoing protests against the contentious farm laws passed by the Indian Parliament.
In an outreach message to the diaspora in Canada, India’s high commissioner to Ottawa Ajay Bisaria wrote: “We are also concerned at reports that Indian citizen and friends of India who have expressed their views in support of the farm reforms in
India have been targeted and subjected to intimidation, threats of violence and calls to boycott or disrupt their business.”
Reports of threats, including
violence and rape, against IndoCanadians were received from the Greater Toronto Area, Metro Vancouver, Calgary and Vancouver. This development, which has created a climate of fear within the larger community, was first reported by the Hindustan Times. Some 28 Indo-Canadian organisations raised the issue with Canada’s public safety and emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair in a letter, but have yet to receive a response from him or his office.
Bisaria told members of the community that “in the event that any Indian national is subjected to any such threats of violence or intimidation, they should report the matter, with details to police, and also bring it to our attention”. He asserted “a flood of misinformation, and distortions being circulated about recent developments” and the “increase in rhetoric promoting violence in India” is “aimed at defaming the image of India and Indians as well.