Bigotry Behind the Hanuman Statue Debate is Concerning
On Wednesday the 13th, X (Twitter) exploded with posts from multiple accounts targeting their hate towards the Hindu community. One of the posts from the account, ironically called @NormalGuy223, Joe Blo (obviously a fake name) from Saskatchewan (?), posted, “A 55-foot Hindu statue is going up in Brampton, Ontario…which is another reminder that we need an IMMEDIATE HALT ON ALL IMMIGRATION INTO CANADA.” This post got >4,000 likes and 747 Reposts. Another post that got major traction was Harrison Faulkner’s (from True North Center). The post said, “Canada in 2023. Toronto: John A. Macdonald statue at Queen’s Park in a wooden box for over 2 years. Brampton: A brand new 55-foot-tall statue of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey commander of the monkey army”.
There is a term in English called “sleight of hand.” Look it up. Now, an excuse for such a shallow post stripped of some very, very key information would be a lack of character space on X, which can be overcome by creating a thread. However, Harrison’s and Joe Blo’s are blue tick accounts, which means that there was no character limitation in the post. They could have, if they wished to, provided full information.
Unfortunately, the post ended up projecting that the Hanuman statue is being state-funded, built on public property and maintained with taxpayer’s money — just like John A. Macdonald, or for that matter, many other statues around the country. But, of course, none of that was true. The statue is on private property, with all the required permits, and funded by donations of money from the worshippers. Comparing the two statues does not make any sense whatsoever.
What followed was a barrage of anti-Hindu, anti-immigration hate rhetoric devoid of even a single intelligent argument on how a statue on private property, made from private money for a specific community who are free to visit or not visit it, is DANGEROUS FOR CANADA.
Property Rights
On December 18th, Carson Jerema, comment editor at the National Post, wrote a long article on the Private Property Rights point, trying to suggest that the Hanuman statue is a learning for those miffed at John A Macdonald statue being covered at public places. While it’s a right point, the article completely ignored the bigotry of those attacking the Hanuman statue. The article cites a post that has received 1,900+ “likes” so far from Greg Wycliffe, an account with 21K followers and said: “The Libertarian ideas that are used to defend this eye sore of a statue are exactly what needs to die in the Canadian Right wing. If you’re not fighting to defend Canadian culture & Canadian people, then you’re honestly not helping”.
Carson, unfortunately, is very charitable/naïve to think that this, and one more, post is “only objecting to its appearance, and not its symbolism” (it being the statue). The comment on the appearance is only a symptom. It’s important to understand where that comment originates from. What is the underlying thought process? What is the intolerance that leads to such comments? Without understanding and acknowledging that, the diagnosis will be inaccurate, at best, and deception, at worst. Readers, especially the Hindu readers, shouldn’t be assumed to be naïve. Secondly, the primary objective of having the deity is to worship her/his qualities and not aesthetics or decoration that it has to appeal to every section of Canadian society.
What is the complaint when an average Canadian is not required to visit, worship or even acknowledge the deity? As some of the tweets allege, how is this an “imposition of culture”? You are not even required to see it while driving past — you are supposed to look at the road.
Statue of Jesus or Moses
It was difficult to decide whether to laugh or do a facepalm when there were posts like “Should Jews be building 50-foot tall statues of Moses on all of their properties?” and similar posts on the Jesus statue.
My question to them would be — “Were you born yesterday?” I would be intrigued if these people thought that the answer to that question would be “No” from Hindus. Anybody who has elementary knowledge of the Hindu faith would know the answer or wouldn’t even need to ask that question. Be my guest. Build as many statues as you want on your private property. Why would it be bad to have a statue of a deity that you take inspiration from? It will only increase our knowledge about other religions. It will only increase “acceptance” (not tolerance) of other faiths. It will only create a better society where we are not a frog in a well.
Hindu faith has never shied away from religious expression of any kind, as long as it doesn’t harm people. That’s not how a Hindu mind works. This is the reason why Zoroastrianism survived and thrived, especially economically, in India. That’s why the oldest mosque in the Indian subcontinent was built in Kerala, India, in the 7th century and is still functioning. That’s why Asia’s largest church is in India. That’s why even a bigger statue — 66-feet — of Jesus is in India. That’s why India is the birthplace of four major world religions. That’s why one of the few places in the world where Jews never faced persecution is India (except for pockets which were under Muslim or Christian administration).
If India’s Is So Good, Why Don’t You Go Back?
I know one of the knee-jerk responses to this would be, “Oh if India is so good, why don’t you just go back?”. Well, let’s be clear. Hindus never asked for anybody’s advice on whether/when to stay or leave India, and the same applies to Canada. There are many who go back after staying here for a couple of years for various reasons. Normal and ambitious people move around the world for various reasons — work, family, health, you name it! Moving to any country doesn’t mean it’s all jolly great in that country, and moving out doesn’t mean rejection of that country altogether. How many Canadians are working in the United States? Are they considered traitors?
And, as tax-paying citizens, every Canadian Hindu has the right to criticize if something is wrong with Canada, just as they won’t ask for anybody’s permission before praising Canada. And certainly, people should get rid of this notion that Hindus don’t like Canada. It was never true and will never be true. Canadian Hindus want a strong Canada as much as any Canadian does. There is no pleasure in seeing our Prime Minister making a mockery of himself and the country on the world stage, even if it is in front of India. But also don’t expect Canadian Hindus of Indian origin to abandon India altogether — just like you won’t expect an Italian-origin or a Greek-origin Canadian to abandon ties with Italy or Greece. That won’t happen. Many of our family members are there, our pilgrimage places are there, our childhood memories (in the case of first-generation immigrants) are there, and many of our spiritual, cultural and social connections are there.
One of the sane voices in this whole episode was Rupa Subramanya, who gave a solid push-back on many bigoted statements, including the “invited guests” jibe.
What I would add to that, especially in the context of first-generation immigrants and those who are economic immigrants, is to make one thing very clear. Immigration has been a two-way street. Yes, countries invite immigrants but let’s get off this high-horse that this is some kind of favour or charity. If it were, all applications would get approved. Ask IRCC, and they’ll tell you how many visitor visa applications get rejected, let alone immigration applications. Countries pick and choose applicants based on their education, work experience, language proficiency etc. after determining what kind of work profiles are required by that country. If plenty of chefs are already in a country, there is a high chance that an application of an immigrant who is a chef will get rejected. However, if there is a shortage of nurses, profile of a nurse is more likely to get the invitation. And immigrants are “allowed” to enter because they bring something to the table. They start paying taxes right away, instead of locals who enjoy free or subsidized education, free healthcare, and many other perks for the first 20–22 years of their lives without having to pay a single penny in tax and then start the payback when they start earning.
For those who are going to say, “Oh, but the last part holds true for second-generation immigrants too,” — I would say yes. That’s precisely the point.
Multiculturalism Isn’t the Problem, Law & Order and Vote Bank Politics Is
A lot of idiots have thrown “church attacks in Canada,” “multiculturalism,” and “immigration” as excuses for not having the Hanuman statue in Canada. Unfortunately, these are all signs of bigotry, failure to analyse things critically, and just picking easy targets to satisfy your need that you’re “speaking out.”
Multiculturalism is never a problem. Church attacks are not a multiculturalism problem. Demolition of John A Macdonald statues is not a multiculturalism problem. Attacks these days on people going out to do Christmas shopping at Eaton Center in Toronto is not a multiculturalism problem. Immigrants bringing their culture is never a problem as long as the cultures do not violate basic human rights and harm principles.
But when they violate, ensuring that harm is not done or those who do harm are brought to justice is the job of lawmakers and law enforcement. People involved in the Church attacks should be arrested and put behind bars. People involved in the demolition of public property, such as the John A Macdonald statue, should also be arrested and tried in court. People threatening police officers should also be taken off the streets and thrown to where they belong. The question is, what and who is preventing RCMP, provincial and regional police forces from doing that?
Why was the police given a free hand on truckers protesting, but suddenly, their hands were tied when dealing with certain communities? Why do people who threaten to blow up airplanes find a safe haven in Canada? Why do people who threatened to kill 50,000 Hindus live peacefully in British Columbia? Why was a terrorist with an Interpol Red Corner notice, who entered Canada on a fake passport, given Canadian citizenship? Why are Surrey and Brampton becoming a hub of drugs, human trafficking, illegal weapons trade and other crimes? Why did the justice system, which is supposed to protect children (the most vulnerable), fail a child from abusive parents just because they belonged to a certain community?
And it’s really telling of the Canadian right that while Hamas supporters in the country are planning to SHUT-DOWN Christmas, they are worked up on a statue in the suburb of GTA. Misplaced priorities?
Enjoy this while you think!
