HUNDREDS of people gathered at Brampton’s Hindu Sabha Mandir on Monday evening for a counterdemonstration and then moved south on The Gore Road.
The Toronto Star reports that when the demonstrators arrived at the intersection of The Gore and Ebenezer roads, some of them surrounded a truck and started pounding on it. Some appeared to be striking the truck with wooden sticks.
Peel Regional Police intervened. They then moved the crowd towards the north, back toward the Hindu temple.
Later, they came out again with some carrying shovels and sticks when counter-protesters arrived.
Shortly before 10 p.m. police tweeted: “Peel Regional Police Public Order is being deployed at a demonstration on The Gore Road near Tyler Avenue. This is in response to weapons seen within the crowd of demonstrators. We are asking the public to avoid the area as officers respond. This is now an unlawful assembly and we will be clearing the area. All individuals are to disperse immediately or face arrest.”
Photo: X
When Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown saw a video of a man brazenly inciting the Hindu temple crowd to commit violence, he retweeted the video and commented: “This video is alarming. No place of worship should have to fear from being attacked. Full stop. This vile man is trying to incite hate and violence. We don’t need this hideousness in Canada. Agitators on both sides need to be arrested and charged for the violence they are trying to incite. We must be better than this in Canada. This is exactly why I am advocating for a prohibition on protests at places of worship.”
ON Tuesday, the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) in a statement strongly condemned “the violence perpetrated by pro-India mobs in Brampton” on Monday night. “We extend our gratitude to the Peel Regional Police for their swift actions, which prevented the mobs from reaching and attacking local gurdwaras, the WSO added.
The WSO said: “[Monday] night, several hundred pro-India protesters gathered on the grounds of the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton. Individuals within the crowd were recorded giving hateful speeches, inciting Indians to attack Sikh religious sites. The demonstrators later moved onto the streets, obstructing traffic and attempting to march toward nearby gurdwaras. Peel Regional Police effectively intervened, blocking the march to prevent an escalation. Following these instigations, protesters vandalized Sikh-
“In response, members of the Sikh community convened at local gurdwaras, with support from the police, to protect their congregations and buildings. Later that evening, Peel Police declared the protest an unlawful assembly and ordered the pro-India crowd to disperse or face arrests after weapons were spotted amongst the demonstrators.”
UPDATE | Videos have emerged of organizers calling on Pro-India protestors to "storm the Sikh temples." The violent Anti-Sikh calls were met with loud and wide cheers by the mob as they flooded into the streets. Police quickly arrived on scene to protect Canadians from violence. https://t.co/NzqKASjVeY pic.twitter.com/4A0CnkdTKS
— Baaz (@BaazNewsOrg) November 5, 2024
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