Now Reading: Indo-Canadians push back on NDP bid to bar Mohan Bhagwat
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Indo-Canadians push back on NDP bid to bar Mohan Bhagwat
Two NDP MPs, Heather McPherson and Jenny Kwan, have written to Prime Minister Mark Carney demanding that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat be denied entry to Canada for events on August 31 and…
The Story in Brief
Two NDP MPs, Heather McPherson and Jenny Kwan, have written to Prime Minister Mark Carney demanding that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat be denied entry to Canada for events on August 31 and September 1. They described the RSS as an 'extremist group' and a 'fascist paramilitary organisation', and renewed a previous call to ban the RSS entirely. Bhagwat's visit would be the first by an RSS chief in over 20 years, with events in Toronto and a subsequent tour of the US.
Indo-Canadian community groups have launched a counter-petition opposing the ban. Their letter says labelling the RSS, which they call 'the world's largest Hindu voluntary organisation', as fascist risks casting suspicion on the roughly 828,000 Hindus in Canada (2021 Census). The petition asks for a 'properly tested evidentiary record' to substantiate the MPs' allegations, arguing the language used promotes division. The visit is being planned with extra security due to possible pro-Khalistan protests.
The Indian Opinion
The petition channels a weary response. Canada's NDP MPs have called the RSS chief a 'fascist' and the RSS an 'extremist group', language the Hindu community's counter-letter calls 'prejudice dressed up as advocacy'. The MPs offer no publicly tested evidence for the blanket ban they demand. This flips the script: citizens urging their own government to stick to due process. The real test will come if Canada's public safety minister decides to apply immigration law based on a political letter versus an actual threat assessment.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
