Indian consulate in Canada’s Toronto cancels consular camps due to security concerns

The Consulate General of India in Canada‘s Toronto has decided to cancel some of the scheduled consular camps in view of the security agencies conveying their inability to provide minimum security protection to the community camp organizers.

This comes days after Khalistani extremists attacked Hindu-Canadian devotees within the Hindu Sabha temple premises in Brampton, Canada.

The Indian High Commission in Canada had condemned the “violent disruption” by ‘anti-India’ elements outside a consular camp.

“We have seen violent disruption today (Nov 3) orchestrated by anti-India elements outside the consular camp co-organised with the Hindu Sabha Mandir, Brampton, near Toronto,” read the statement by the High Commission.

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The incident sparked widespread criticism in and outside Canada.

Canadian President Justin Trudeau also condemned the attack stating that those who were responsible for the act were inciting division and unrest.Speaking at the House of Commons in the Canadian Parliament on Wednesday, Trudeau stated that the communities who instigated the violence were neither the Sikh community nor the Hindu community in Canada, failing to underscore the involvement of Khalistseparatists in the attacks.The attack was part of a long campaign by Khalistanis to browbeat the Hindu community in Canada.

It adds to a series of such incidents in recent years. Earlier, a Hindu temple in Windsor suffered defacement with anti-India graffiti. Earlier incidents in Mississauga and Brampton saw temples similarly targeted, drawing strong reactions from the Indian community in Canada. Last year in December, gunshots were fired at the residence of the son of Satish Kumar, the president of Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey.

Meanwhile, Indian diplomats in Canada have been in the cross hairs of Khalistanis for long, especially after the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year in Vancouver for which Trudeau has blamed Indian agents without providing any proof so far.