An Indian-origin couple in Canada’s Hamilton city were subjected to racist abuse by a man on Saturday, in the parking lot of the Walmart Super center in the city. Dale Robertson, 47, told the couple to go back to their country and threatened to kill their children
A video of the incident shows Robertson trying to ram into a woman with a car. He then attempts to leave, but a man asks him, “What kind of example are you setting for your children?”
In reply, Robertson yells, “Get out of the way! Get out of the way! If you put your hands on me, I will break your leg.”
He continues: “You’re the one trying to harass me, I am driving away!”. Asked if he wanted the Indian-origin man to go back to his country, Robertson yells, “Yes!”. He adds that he does not believe the man is a Canadian citizen, and says, “I don’t like you, I don’t like her...I am racist, would kill your children first.”
An 18-year-old Brampton woman On Sunday, July 29 at the corner of Hurontario Street and Paisley Boulevard bus stop approached by a woman who started yelling racial slurs and began flicking a lighter toward her, also attacked and “an attempt was made to remove her hijab,” a head covering worn by Muslim women.
A third victim, a 56-year-old Mississauga woman, also had racial slurs made toward her and was also assaulted.
A 1st victim, On July 15 when a 39-year-old Abu Marzouk was beaten senseless in front of his wife and two young daughters while leaving the parking lot after a picnic outdoors at Mississauga Valley Community Centre.
They left him with "multiple fractures" to his face and a “huge brain hemorrhage” that forced him to undergo surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto,
After 9/11 hate crimes levels increased, even many turbaned Sikhs were attacked because the average North Americans do not know the difference between a Sikhs and a Muslims. Some Americans also associate a turban and a beard with ISIS, the Taliban, or Bin Laden.
Where is the police?
Posted by Mir Tabassum Javed on Monday, 23 July 2018
These attacks seem to be hate-motivated because these accidents took a place after Danforth “shooting that left a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman dead and 13 others injured. By 29-year-old Faisal Hussain Muslim man.
As we know all the five fingers are not equal, so the Muslims and the Sikhs, not every Muslim or the Sikhs are bad criminals or terrorist. Both Sikhs and Muslims work hard to do as much good as possible, but it seems that no matter how much good they do, in a blink of an eye one person with a Muslim/Sikh name commits a crime, he becomes the face of terrorist or Khalistan. As a result, all of us are cast in a bad light; hate and anger increase, and more attacks take place against Muslims, Sikhs, and immigrants perceived as such.
As a journalist, I go through lots of news articles every day, if any white shooters, nominally Christian or of other faith, are called lone wolves, and their killing sprees are attributed to their disturbed mental health. the case is closed, and the white or Christians are not collectively held responsible, they are free to move on.
Why are Muslims and Sikhs are not treated the same? When will they be no longer be afraid to live, work, volunteer and participate? When will they be accepted as true members of the communities as a Canadians?
To a certain extent, Muslims and Sikhs are experiencing in Canada today is nothing new for minorities — we are being subjected to discrimination, although the scale of it cannot be compared to the suffering of Indigenous people, blacks, Jews, Irish, Italians francophones, and Japanese, to name a few.
Because of just a few bad apples, all the Sikhs/Muslims leveled terrorist and Khalistanies.
But, “I think 99 percent of the Sikhs and Muslims are peace-loving, maybe more. A very few people may not be peace loving. The majority of the Sikhs and Muslims are. But all the Sikhs/Muslims image as far as I know. What is the stigma? The stigma is only on terrorists, whether they are Sikhs or Hindus or Muslims or Christians.”
But, it’s getting very stressful for Sikhs and Muslims, they stand in solidarity against racism faced by both religions.
"In the present climate of violence against Muslims across Canada and around the world, hate crimes must be recognized for what they are, and they must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law "The climate of anti-Muslim Danforth shooting that has exploded in recent weeks is leaving tragedy, pain and division in its wake."
This growing trend of hate crimes is not something we should be proud of and is not something we should try to put on the back burner. It is an issue that needs to be addressed now before more of our citizens feel that they are being intimidated or harassed on Canadian streets
Brampton-based Surjit Singh Flora is a veteran journalist and freelance writer
