Since July 5, several anti-Muslim graffitis have come up in various locations in the central Newton area of Surrey in Canada. The places where such graffitis with hateful messages against the Muslim community have been spotted in various places of the city. According to reports, when a similar graffiti was spotted on July 14 (Wednesday), near 72 Avenue and King George Boulevard, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launched an investigation into the same.
The Canadian police are of the belief that these incidents are linked and may be connected to the same person or group.
Anti-Muslim graffiti like ‘Islam is evil’ come up in Canada
According to reports, on July 14, the locals spotted anti-Muslim graffiti on a dustbin in a business house, as well as on a utility pole near a mosque in the area of 72 Avenue and King George Boulevard. “Islam is evil” could be seen spray-painted on the trash can.
“These are weird times we live in, and I honestly think the last thing we need is all this hatred and racism around the city,” said Jaspreet Jandu, a volunteer with the Surrey Crime Prevention Society”.
“When we get these calls we try to respond as fast as we can, especially in an area like this. There’s a grocery store here, a dentist, an animal hospital — this is a family area and the last thing we really want is for people of the community seeing this sort of stuff”, he added.
Meanwhile Surrey RCMP Const. Sarbjit Sangha said that there is no room for such hatred in the city. “Hate crimes and hate-motivated criminal activity have no place in Surrey and our officers are working diligently to identify those responsible for these incidents,” Sangha said, adding that such incidents have a significant impact on people of the Muslim community. It brings in a sense of insecurity amongst the Muslims.
Sangha said police were canvassing in the area and working to collect any CCTV footage that may have captured the suspect. In the meanwhile, volunteers have painted over the graffiti to hide them.