A ‘sentimental’ message from canaDa HinDus to truDeau

Hindus are “rising” everywhere, in India and abroad, thanks to their dynamic and inspiring beacon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On 1 July, a large number of Hindus living in Canada, for the first time, will participate in an important sentimental people’s parade to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation near Toronto. They wish to make it an annual event. The idea is “to convey a Markham, which is in the message” to the political Greater Toronto Area (GTA). leaders that in that country Although the capital of there are 700,000 peaceCanada is Ottawa, a majority loving Hindus, who keep of Indians, including Hindus, a low profile. The parade live and work in the GTA. will take place in the City of When contacted by The Man Mohan can be contacted at rovingeditor@gmail.com Sunday Guardian, Yash Kapur, the parade’s coordinator, said that “this is just a baby step and Hindus from various temples and organisations in Canada have been invited to join. Since Canada is our adopted homeland, we refrain from using the word Indian, although we are proud to be more Indian than many Indians in India.” One was intrigued by this distinction. The mystery was solved after a few telephone calls to Toronto and Vancouver. In October 2015, the Punjabi community in Canada made history when four Canadian Indians, including two turbaned and one cleanshaved Sikhs, were made Cabinet ministers by the second youngest 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. They included the Lt Colonel Harjit Sajjan (42), who was appointed as Defence Minister. Sajjan recently visited India, but Punjab’s newly elected Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh refused to meet him, describing him as a “Khalistan movement sympathiser”. As many as 18 Punjabis had been elected as Members of the House of Commons (Parliament) of Canada. The number exceeds the figure of those elected from Punjab for the Lok Sabha (13). The 17 Indo-Canadians belong to Trudeau’s Liberal Party. So, the meeting is a subtle message of the “United Hindus of Canada” to Trudeau that he should not ignore them. A brochure says that a Hindu is a Hindu regardless of his country, caste and profession. It lists 21famous Hindus worldwide. They include Swami Vivekananda, Sri Chinmoy, Sri Chaitanya, Sachin Tendulkar, Christopher Isherwood, Sri Ramakrishna, John McLaughlin, Parmahansa Yogananda, Satyajit Ray, Mahatma Gandhi, Ravi Shankar, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Amitabh Bachhan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Asha Bhosle, A.C. Bhaktivedanta, Lata Mangeshkar, Swami Prabhupada, and Narendrabhai Modi, who figures in the end, but one before the last—Indira Gandhi.