Blast in Mississauga

Mississauga, a city barely 30 km from Canada's business capital Toronto, was jolted on Friday with an improvised explosive device going off at a restaurant owned by an Indian-origin person that left 15 people injured. The police did not immediately suspect a terror or hate angle to the attack, believed to have been carried out by two young men. The news came as a shock for the peaceful neighbourhood, known for a wide racial mix, with a large number hailing from India and Pakistan. And that is what makes the incident - first of its kind in the Toronto area - disturbing for India, especially Punjab.

Indians with all kinds of motivations are migrating to Canada, with Punjabis making up significant numbers. The goal common to all, however, is a more prosperous life than they hope to achieve at home. And for most it is a huge family investment to make the migration possible. That renders it very crucial that their settlement and assimilation process in a foreign land is not disturbed, either for personal or social reasons. The slightest suspicion that any among their communities may be involved in an act inimical to the host country would send a shiver down their spine for the onus it brings upon all. Sadly, there is no getting away from an incident such as this; the innocence, indeed, will be lost, no matter who is found guilty in the investigation.

Canada has taken upon itself a daunting responsibility of building a multi-racial country that most settlers today find remarkably welcoming. However, it is also a reality that when any particular community immigrates in significant numbers, it brings along its history as much as its fault lines, many of which may play out. As the de facto arbiter of all those struggles, Canada has the responsibility of intervening with an absolute neutral and yet sensitive hand. The need in this incident will, of course, be to quickly identify, arrest and prosecute the guilty, so that there is no opportunity for random speculation.