Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has spoken out over a shocking Islamophobic hate attack on a Muslim man in northern Toronto.
PM Mark Carney and various Ontario officials have denounced the violent hate crime against the Muslim man, which left the victim with “gruesome and life-altering” injuries.
“The attack on a Muslim man in Markham late last month is appalling,” Carney said via a post on X.
Carney stressed that such “acts of violence and Islamophobia have no place in Canada,” and that the “authorities have my full support as they work to bring the perpetrator to justice.”
On September 28, around 3 am, a 54-year-old hotel night worker was going about his shift when a guest initiated a verbal altercation with him, asking about his religion and ethnicity.
According to York Regional Police, the guest was trying to pay for his room when his card was declined. A verbal altercation followed, and when the suspect learned the victim was Muslim, his whole demeanour changed.
The suspect allegedly attacked the man after becoming visibly upset and told the victim he was going to kill him, as he chased him to a room where he was “violently assaulted”.
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Police arrived on the scene shortly after the attack ensued, arresting 31-year-old Geethansan Sriranjan, who has now been charged with assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) has been very vocal about the entire ordeal since it was reported that the victim was targeted for being a Muslim.
Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, said in a social media post on Monday that the assault was “absolutely horrifying and vicious” and that the Muslim man was “beaten so severely, he may never fully recover” from his injuries.
“Canadian Muslims, like all Canadians, deserve safety – Islamophobia remains an ongoing threat to our country and must be taken seriously,” Elghawaby said in the post.
NCCM and its fight against Islamophobia
The NCCM also said that it is in touch with the family of the worker.
“This utterly disgusting attack is one of many incidents that have been happening more and more across Canada. We don’t need more words. We need change,” the NCCM said.
NCCM argues that the “Islamophobic rhetoric, dog-whistles and innuendoes” about whether Muslims belong in Canada have helped foster a climate of dangerous Islamophobia.
Heather McPherson, a Canadian MP, said: “My heart is broken for his family, but the words of politicians are not enough.”
She went on to describe how the Muslim man from Markham had “his skull broken and eye sockets smashed because of hate.”
Canada has been experiencing a fervent rise in Islamophobic hate crimes, especially after October 7, 2023.
Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian hate crimes have spiked by as much as 1,800% in some regions of Canada.
A report titled “Documenting the Palestine Exception” by Nadia Hasan of York University’s Islamophobia Research Hub outlines a “sharp and dangerous” rise in Islamophobia and crimes against Arabs, West Asians, and South Asians.
