Police Investigating Violent Plots Aimed at Sikh Places of Worship and Law Enforcement in Surrey and Brampton

Peel Police are investigating violent plots targeting Sikh places of worship and local law enforcement after tensions at Indian consular camps over the weekend extended into the week.

Fallout from protests last weekend in Surrey and Brampton have led to reports of disturbing threats and plans of violence both against Sikh Canadians and members of local law enforcement, as actors supportive of Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s government have escalated and spiralled out of control.

On Monday, a large mob of pro-Indian government protesters took to the streets of Brampton, brandishing weapons and clashing with police, with protesters yelling calls to “storm Sikh temples.”

Disturbing scenes are emerging from Brampton where pro-India mobs are yelling at Peel police, who are trying to stop them from marching towards Sikh gurdwara. pic.twitter.com/ok3FVYpWLo

— Sarbraj Singh Kahlon (@sarbrajskahlon) November 5, 2024

Online communications suggest the scenes of violence were not as spontaneous as they may seem at first glance.

Following the clashes, messages from pro-India Whatsapp chats began surfacing online showing communications inciting and plotting acts of violence, with a number of chat group users encouraging others to seek out weapons and target Sikhs as well as police officers.

One leaked message from a group called “Bharat Canada Group” calls for the creation of an “RSS in Canada” to “eliminate Sikhs and Muslims like they have in India.”

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or the RSS is a right-wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary group “that believes India should be run by and for its Hindu majority first and foremost.”

Other messages encourage members of the group to make “petrol bombs” that could be thrown at Sikhs or Peel Police.

Translation from Hindu-language Whatsapp messages (Source: Charhdi Kala Punjabi Newspaper)

Peel Police announced three arrests on Thursday, including against Ron Bannerjee, a member of Canada’s far-right who has previously called for genocide against Muslims and Sikhs, facing charges. Bannerjee, who was seen on video calling for individuals to “storm Sikh temples,” is being charged with “public incitement of hatred.”

Two other individuals involved with the Whatsapp group were charged with “conspiracy to commit assault with a weapon” and “conspiracy to commit mischief.”

Brampton City Councillor Gurpratap Singh Toor confirmed that Peel Police are aware of and investigating leaked Whatsapp chats threatening violence against Sikhs.

“The chatter that you’re seeing in WhatsApp groups that were created almost on the go at the time or existing WhatsApp groups and and many people started joining them on mass—Peel Police has information about some of those groups, and I could say they were part of some of those groups to monitor the activity,” Toor told PressProgress.

Additional Arrests and Charges Following November 4 Demonstrations in Brampton.

Read More: https://t.co/ed7gKmPcW2#PRPVNR pic.twitter.com/aetXvGyBXS

— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) November 8, 2024

The conflict began after protests took place over the weekend outside several places of worship including Gurdwaras and Mandirs in Surrey and Brampton where Indian officials were conducting consular camps for Canadian citizens. These particular “consular camps” give seniors of Indian descent a chance to meet with consular officials to complete administrative tasks, mostly related to their pensions, without having to attend the consulate.”

However, recent claims made by the RCMP regarding “violent criminal activity occurring in Canada with connections to agents of the Government of India” has put Sikh Canadians on high alert, with many members of the Sikh diaspora community protesting the presence of Indian officials at places of worship over the weekend.

Sikh groups protested the Indian consulate outside of the property of the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, but when a group of pro-India counterprotesters showed up, clashes ensued.

In Surrey, similar protests also led to clashes between both groups of protesters, leading to three arrests.

“Storm Sikh Temples!”
These threats of violence and hate speech are completely unacceptable and we strongly condemn them.
They don’t belong in Canada.
We are better than this. pic.twitter.com/72p3TwovtW

— Tim S. Uppal (@TimUppal) November 6, 2024

However, Toor emphasizes it is important to be clear that these protests cannot simply be boiled down to “a Hindu versus a Sikh issue.”

“I’ve been fielding a lot of calls and text messages over the last few days,” Toor said. “Most people have called me and told me that this is not a Hindu versus a Sikh issue.”

“For the most part, people are just worried that this (violence) is happening here in Canada irrespective of whether those residents come from a Sikh community background or a Hindu background, everyone seems to be on the same page that this needs to be condemned, that this has no room here in our communities and our societies.”

According to Toor, police also plan to engage with the federal government to better prepare for upcoming consular camps and to perhaps choose “neutral venues” to avoid this kind of violence in the future.

“It gets painted as a Hindu versus a Sikh Community issue. But in reality, this is more the government of India and foreign interference versus Canadian society as an issue. I think that’s what needs to be looked at.”

Toor says he has been speaking with police regularly regarding the unrest given the city has never experienced protests or violence of this nature. Toor says police were tasked with maintaining the peace and controlling the crowds, which escalated on November 4th when the pro-India mob took to the streets and began confronting police.

“There was a big mob that shut down the street forcefully and started slogans against the police force and were getting up in their faces,” Toor said. “It came to a point where they started pelting stones , they were armed with sticks, with knives, with swords with hatchets and started getting up in front of the police.”

Toor said this prompted police to deploy “riot police” and call in Toronto Police for back up and Ontario Provincial Police were also notified to be on standby in case of any escalation.

“It’s similar to what Ottawa Police had to do when the trucker Convoy had taken over all of Ottawa. The only steps further from that would be to declare an emergency and have provincial governments or federal government intervene.”

According to Toor, police are currently seeking more information regarding online chats from the public.

“As a result of that, a lot of these people that are involved in this activities are either getting calls by police or house visits by the police where police are trying to verify iif it is them and whether it’s group chats, voice notes and videos, any of that information that the police has, police will be taking action on that,” Toor added.

“In the last couple of days, there’s been numerous house visits, there’s been numerous calls made out to those people and police will be making many more arrests coming up.”

Toor notes that the clashes have also coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Sikh genocide.

“On the attempt to paint this as a Sikh versus a Hindu narrative, we’ve seen that happen when the genocide happened in 1984. We’ve seen that narrative being passed on for decades.”

Toor says intervention is needed before the situation escalates, as he fears it has the potential to spread outside of Brampton.

“They don’t represent Canadian values. This is only adding to the anti-immigrant narrative in Canada.”

“My only fear is that this may not be the only incident that we see. Public Safety Canada needs to look at this as a nationwide problem, this is not just a Brampton problem. This is going to be happening at places across the country. How do we tackle this? I think we need to be better resourced and equipped.”

A spokesperson for Peel Police confirms that investigations continue to be ongoing.

“Peel Regional Police continues to investigate all unlawful acts that occurred at the protests over the past few days. PRP will continue to update the public as developments such as arrests occur,” a spokesperson said in a statement to PressProgress.

“We are committed to ensuring that our community members feel safe and secure, especially in and around places of worship. While we respect the individual right to protest as per the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, our duty and responsibility remain to maintain public order and ensure the safety of everyone. We continue to communicate and work with our community and stakeholders, while upholding the rules of law and enforce the criminal code.”