TORONTO: In an alleged racially motivated attack, a 29 year old Indo-Canadian Sikh was verbally abused and beaten up by four men in Canada. Still recovering, Supninder Singh Khehra was out with friends in Quebec City after dark and was trying to get a cab when a car full of men approached him and started shouting at him in French.
“I was punched in the eye and fell to the ground, where I was kicked repeatedly. It was all because of my race, my colour and the headgear I was wearing. I'm really worried about the safety and well-being of young kids of my community who wear turbans,” Khehra said. He also said his turban “went flying off”. Following the incident, two men were arrested. One was let go without charge, while the other faces charges of assault and threatening a police officer. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while he was speaking to reporters in Washington, where he was attending the Nuclear Security Summit, was quoted as saying that such “hateful acts” had “no place in Canada”. “We stand clearly against the kind of discrimination and intolerance that (this incident) represents.”
The entire incident was caught in video which was shared on the Sikh Network’s Facebook page and has been viewed more than 90,000 times. Jaskaran Sandhu, a director of the World Sikh Organisation Canada, said he believes the men should be charged. He added he is “positive that the Canadian society ...will come together and say that this is completely against the fabric of this country.”