Canadian park ‘vandalised’ in hate crime, alleges India

New Delhi, October 3

Amidst the ongoing diplomatic spat between India and Canada, the Indian High Commission in Toronto has raised an alarm over an alleged hate crime in Brampton on Gandhi Jayanti. But the local authorities suggested that it was a misunderstanding.

“We condemn the hate crime at the Shri Bhagavad Gita Park in Brampton. We urge Canadian authorities and Peel Police to investigate and take prompt action on the perpetrators,” tweeted the Indian mission, raising alarm following previous charges of separatist and racist activity in Canada.

The Peel Police said the permanent sign is still waiting for the lettering to be applied and “there was no evidence of vandalism to the permanent sign or any park structure.”

The local authorities did admit something had happened but maintained that some of the perceived vandalism was in fact incomplete work by the contractor. “Following yesterday’s action of vandalism to the Shri Bhagavad Gita Park, we took swift action to investigate further. We learnt that the reported blank sign was installed by the builder as a placeholder until the permanent sign can be installed tomorrow. We are pleased to learn of this outcome and we thank the community for bringing it to our notice,” the Brampton City posted on social media.

“We learnt that the sign was damaged during the original installation and a city staff member brought it back for unplanned maintenance and to reprint. The blank sign was left up during repairs. This is not a usual process as we never remove a sign unless damaged or its name changes,” supplemented Brampton City Mayor Patrick Brown in another social media post while terming the incident as “confusion over resident complaints about Gita Park sign”.