In late September, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued an advisory saying that there has been a “sharp increase” in hate crimes against Indians and other “anti-India activities” in Canada, urging the Trudeau government to properly investigate the incidents.
While the exact reason behind the surge is not clear, the cases are getting more & more heartbreaking.
Here are just a few of the most recent cases of hate crimes against Indians living in the US and Canadians, which represent only a small fraction of the total.
Cold-Blooded Murders
A family of four was abducted and murdered in Merced County, California, in October this year. The deceased family was from Hoshiarpur, India. Eight-month-old Aruhi Deri, her mother Jaslyn Kaur, 27, her father Jasdeep Singh, 36, and her uncle Amandeep Singh, 39, were filmed being held at gunpoint by their abductors and led to a truck. Their relatives and friends turned to social media for help from the authorities. Police only managed to find their dead bodies.
20-year-old Indian student Varun Manish Chheda was killed at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on October 6. According to media reports, his Korean roommate was taken into custody.
A 25-year-old man, Sai Charan Nakka, was found shot dead in his car in Maryland. Sai Charan hails from Nalgonda in Telangana state and was working in the US. Charan was a recent graduate from the University of Cincinnati. He was a software engineer and had worked for a US company for two years. The criminal has not been found.
21-year-old Kartik Vasudev from Ghazibad in Uttar Pradesh was shot dead in Toronto's subway as he was heading to his part-time job on April 7. Police arrested Richard Jonathan Edwin, 39, who investigators believe to be a "complete stranger" to the Indian. Kartik's cousin Gaurav Vasdev launched a campaign to raise awareness and bring justice.
Kartik's cousin tweet
© Photo : Twitter/ @gauravvasdev1
Verbal Abuse
This month, 37-year-old Californian Lathan Johnson was charged with hate crimes. The American attacked and robbed 14 Hindu women in Santa Clara County, California. The District Attorney’s office stated that all the victims were wearing a saree, bindi, or other types of Indian ethnic attire.
In August, Mexican-American Esmeralda Upton was likewise arrested after racially taunting and attacking a group of Indian women at a parking lot in Dallas, Texas. The video of verbal abuse went viral, especially among Indians criticizing the racist comments.
“These f***ing Indians. They come to America because they want a better life… You come to our country and you want everything. Wherever I go, you Indians are f***ing everywhere,” Upton said in the video.
In February, Indo-Canadian media spokesman Deepak Punj was attacked in Toronto. While he was getting ready for work, people armed with axes and machetes started slashing the Indian. His mother, who noticed the assault, was able to frighten the attackers. As a result, Panj lost a toe, but survived.
Another disturbing case of verbal abuse happened this September, when a man from India was racially taunted on the road by a US tourist in Poland, who called him a "parasite" and an "invader", accusing him of "genocide". In a four-minute-long video shot outside the Atrium Reduta shopping center in Warsaw, the US tourist can be seen rushing toward the Indian and instigating him by delivering racially abusive comments.
Desecration of Shrines & Monuments
A sign for Sri Bhagavad Gita Park in Brampton, Canada, has been vandalized by unknown assailants. The Indian Mission in Canada condemned the vandalism of the most revered and sacred of all Hindu texts. Police did not find the perpetrators.
An Indian restaurant in Henrico County, Virginia. was vandalized with vulgar and racist graffiti. The restaurant has been operating since 1995 and provided free lunches for students when schools were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s sad, disappointing, and also heartbreaking. This is strange. I don't understand why anyone would do this. In 27 years, we never thought something like this would ever happen to us,” the owner said.
On August 19, India's Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi statue in NY was toppled and smashed by six men. It was one in a series of attacks on Gandhi statues in the US. In July, another monument of Gandhi was desacrated, but in Toronto, Canada. There were no consequences for the vandals either.
"When the Gandhi statue was vandalized, that really flew in the face of all of our beliefs and it's very disturbing for the community," Jennifer Rajkumar, the first Hindu elected to the New York State legislature, told CBS New York TV.