The Canadian city of Brampton is on the brink of fears of further violence after clashes broke out between worshipers and pro-Khalistani extremists outside the Hindu Sabha temple in the Ontario city earlier this week.

A quarter of Brampton’s population is Sikh, while one in five residents is Hindu. The two communities live side by side in this city of around 7.50 lakh inhabitants, Canadian site The Globe And Mail reported.

Men armed with swords, baseball bats and pieces of wood stand vigil outside a gurdwara near Toronto Pearson Airport. Prayers from the gurdwara are mixed with Punjabi music broadcast from a nearby van.

ALSO READ: PM Modi slams Justin Trudeau regime for Brampton temple attack

Sri Guru Singh Sabha Malton gurdwara in Mississauga, Ontario, told the website: “We have to be ready. »

Earlier, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it had evidence of the role of Indian government officials in “murders, extortion and other violent crimes.” India has rejected the allegations as “motivated and absurd”.

New Delhi not only withdrew its high commissioner, but also expelled six Canadian diplomats from the country.

Clashes outside the Brampton Temple have forced city leaders to consider new regulations banning protests in places of worship, according to a Globe and Mail article. In Surrey, three men were also arrested after violence broke out when hundreds of protesters turned up at a Hindu temple.

Arvind Mishra, a 35-year-old IT consultant, moved to Canada from India about four years ago. He told the website: “Hindus have had enough. They are frustrated. They are agitated and very, very angry. We feel marginalized.”

Mishra claimed he was inside the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton with his wife and nine-month-old daughter last Sunday when the clashes broke out. The technician blamed Justin Trudeau’s government, accusing Ottawa of giving free rein to pro-Khalistani sentiments.

Inderjeet Singh Ghosal, one of the organizers of Sunday’s violent protest outside the temple, said: “This is not a religious battle. This is not a battle between Sikhs and Hindus. This was not an attempt to attack a place of worship. The reason we were there to protest was strictly against Indian government officials.

On Sunday evening, 300 pro-Indian protesters, some masked and armed with bats, gathered at the nearby Malton gurdwara suspected of having close links to pro-Khalistani extremists.

ALSO READ: Brampton Hindu temple suspends priest for spreading ‘violent rhetoric’

The Canadian website says police tried to contain a larger crowd of protesters, some draped in Indian flags, who took to the street outside the Hindu Sabha temple and were seen kicking vehicles. Three men were arrested.

Diplomatic relations between India and Canada have deteriorated since Justin Trudeau alleged the role of Indian government agents in the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead in Surrey on June 18, 2023.

Opposition accuses Trudeau of “sowing division”

According to the report, Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Trudeau of “sowing divisions” that led to the violent clashes in Brampton.

Liberal MP Chandra Arya said the protests show how emboldened Khalistan separatism has become.