A few days ago, the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton, Canada was attacked by Khalistanis. Now their investigation and action continue. The Khalistani attack on a Hindu religious site is not the first time. This has happened many times before. What is surprising is that the Canadian administration does not seem to be making much effort to stop the attacker. Even behind the scenes, the police and the establishment appear to be supporting the Khalistanis.
If the Sikh population has settled and there is a vote bank for them, the Hindu population is even more so. So what is the reason why Hindus don’t have that much influence in Canada?
How many Hindus and Sikhs are there?
According to the 2021 census, the population of Canada is approximately 4.45 crore. Among them, the Sikh population will be around eight and a quarter lakh, while the Hindu population will be around eight and a half lakh. In recent years, Indians of both religions have increased rapidly in Canada. However, the Sikhs continually maintain their leadership.
Punjabi is the third largest language in Parliament.
Punjabi is the fourth most popular language in Canada after English, French and Mandarin. In the subsequent five years from 2016, there was a 49 per cent increase in the number of Punjabi speakers. This is much more than Mandarin, whose speakers increased by only 15 percent. This is a matter of common people, but the strength of Punjabi can be gauged by the fact that Punjabi is the third language in Parliament after English and French.
Many people speak Hindi but have not been able to make any progress in terms of language. There are many Hindi speakers in some large cities in Canada, such as Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. These are the areas where immigrants live, but they are limited to them. On the other hand, there are many institutes to teach Punjabi language and writing.
How is the situation in Parliament?
There are currently approximately 15 Sikh MPs in the Canadian Parliament, making up 4.3% of MPs despite making up 1.9% of Canada’s population. There is currently only one Hindu MP, Chandra Arya, in the House of Commons.
Now, if we talk about the Sikhs settled there, they have a lot of political ground. The Sikh community that came to Canada started this in the 1970s. Then the Azad Punjab Party was formed. Its purpose was to speak about the rights of Sikhs and other Indian immigrants. However, this party soon dissolved. Currently, a small Punjab has settled in Canada, whose problems are also raised by many parties. These include the Liberal Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party. Apart from this, there are also some small parties working on these issues.
A Sikh leader leads the entire party
The first Sikh to go to Parliament was Gurbaksh Singh Malhi. In the nineties he won with the Liberal Party. Soon the threat from the Sikhs increased in Parliament. In 2021, 18 Sikh MPs were elected to the Canadian Parliament.
Jagmeet Singh is the first Sikh leader to lead the Canadian political party – the New Democratic Party (NDP). Due to the presence of so many deputies together in Parliament, no political party wants to mess with them. This is the reason why current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fell out with India over the Khalistan issue.
What is the difference between religious places?
The Hindu population of about 1.5 lakh has its own limitations. It is becoming stronger politically or economically, but not as united. There are some Hindu organizations and temples, but they are not as organized or active as the Sikh community. Regular meetings are held in Gurudwaras. This does not occur only for religious-social purposes, but political unity is also a great objective. This community in Canada knows what it wants and how much power it has. This is the difference.
All these reasons together have worsened the condition of Hindu Canadians. In the year 2023, the Khalistani extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu had threatened the Hindus settled there to leave Canada and return to India. After this, hate crimes against him also increased rapidly.
How much have hate crimes increased?
According to Statistics Canada, between 2014 and 2023 there were attacks against Hindus, and even against Pakistanis settled in Canada, under the suspicion that they were Indian Hindus. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is also active in this country. Their official website talked in detail about the atrocities committed against Hindus and talked about many of these incidents. VHP also claims that since 2022 there have been more than 20 cases of attacks on Hindu temples.
