On 3rd October 2022, the whole of India and Canada woke up to a piece of news which stated that a park named Shri Bhagavad Gita Park’s signboard was vandalized. The incident took place in Brampton and the whole of India condemned the ‘hate crime’ that happened. The Indian High Commission in Ottawa appealed to the police authorities to investigate the whole matter.
We condemn the hate crime at the Shri Bhagvad Gita Park in Brampton. We urge Canadian authorities & @PeelPolice to investigate and take prompt action on the perpetrators @MEAIndia @cgivancouver @IndiainToronto pic.twitter.com/mIn4LAZA55
— India in Canada (@HCI_Ottawa) October 2, 2022
Just one day after the news came to light, the Canadian authorities and Peel Regional Police after carrying out a thorough investigation stated that no evidence of such an incident has been found. The Canadian authorities further revealed that a blank sign board was put up in the park as the permanent one had gone for lettering. The pictures of the signboard that have been going viral in the temporary one which was just used for the naming ceremony of the park.
The locals who reside near the park also revealed that the news that has been going viral must be baseless as the pictures are of two different signboards. One is the back side of the temporary one which did not have any lettering and the other is of the permanent one which came after Monday morning.
Patrick Brown, the Mayor of Brampton took his Twitter handle and shared that the news surging up of hate crime is baseless and after carrying out the investigation they have got to know, it was the builder who put up the signboard without any lettering till the permanent one arrives.
Also, MP Chandra Aryan condemned the same on her Twitter account after which she received a serious backlash from the netizens. As a result of this, the Tweet was deleted by the MP.
All the evidence, claims and Tweets of officials and authorities point out only one thing news of ‘hate crime’ and vandalism at Shri Bhagavad Gita Park was fake. It was a clear case of misunderstanding as both the images that went viral were of totally different signboards. The Canadian authorities have further claimed that no such incident took place in the city and still it is a safe place to live in.
Update on Shri Bhagavad Gita Park from the @CityBrampton Parks Department. pic.twitter.com/8DqxDSfO0b
— Patrick Brown (@patrickbrownont) October 2, 2022