Canada Mandir Vandalism: Indo-Canadian Community Distressed By Temple Break-Ins

The continuing spate of burglaries targeting Hindu temples in the province of Ontario has been expressed with dismay by the Indo-Canadian community.

The latest such episode was observed earlier this week at the Vaishno Devi Mandir in the city of Oakville.

Canada Mandir Vandalism

Late in the night on February 10 or in the early hours of February 11, the temple was burgled by unidentified persons, and a substantial amount of cash was taken from the donation boxes placed before the idols. Additionally, offices were ransacked, and equipment used for recording video from the external and internal closed-circuit cameras installed for security purposes was stolen.

The burglary at the temple was met with shock by the community, as expressed by temple president Keshav Agnihotri, who remarked on the perplexity surrounding such an event at a religious site.

Following the discovery of the burglary, the temple was visited by officers from the Halton Regional Police, who initiated an investigation into the crime. Despite this response, rising concern within the community persists, with Agnihotri noting that "Our institutions are becoming a soft target."

This sentiment was echoed by the National Alliance of Indo-Canadians, which believed that the ongoing "targeted thefts and vandalism of Hindu places of worship" should be "condemned by all right-thinking Canadians." Community leader Ruchi Wali raised the issue on social media, questioning when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP would "address this ongoing issue, & not treat it as a singular incident?"

In December, 41-year-old Jagdish Pandher, a resident of Brampton, was arrested and charged by Durham Regional Police Service for his alleged involvement in multiple robberies at Hindu temples. Since September last year, at least six Hindu temples were broken into in the province, including the Devi Mandir in Pickering, Sankat Mochan Mandir in Ajax, and the Hindu Mandir Durham in Oshawa, along with three temples in the GTA: the Chintpurni Temple in Brampton, Rameshwar Mandir in Caledon, and the Hindu Heritage Centre in Mississauga.

These burglaries followed a series of similar incidents in the GTA in late 2021 and early 2022, totalling at least 18 break-ins. In March 2022, four individuals were arrested in connection with the burglaries that had caused concern within the Indo-Canadian community.

Peel Regional Police or PRP identified one of those arrested as Jagdish Pander, with the others being Gursharnjeet Dhindsa, Parminder Gill, and Gurdeep Pandher. While Hindu temples comprised the majority of the places of worship robbed and vandalized, Jain temples and Sikh gurdwaras were also targeted.