Hindu groups in Canada have taken it upon themselves to counter misinformation against the Swastika amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. A rise in anti-semitism has been symbolised by the growing display of the Nazi symbol, the Hakenkreuz, meaning the tilted cross, which the West conveniently calls as Swastika, thereby demonising the Hindu symbol and safeguarding the original hateful Hakenkreuz.
On 5th November, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called out a display of the Nazi Hakenkreuz during a pro-Palestinian rally in Ottawa, however, he called the symbol a Swastika, which is originally a Hindu symbol.
Hindu netizens slammed Trudeau and now, Canadian Hindus have launched a campaign to reclaim the Swastika. Under the ‘Reclaim Swastika’ campaign, Canadian Hindus are explaining the difference between the Nazi Hakenkreuz and the Hindu Swastika.
The Canadian Organisation for Hindu Heritage Education (COHHE) took to X, formerly Twitter, to announce the campaign. “Our #ReclaimSacredSwastika campaign needs your support to get the message to all police forces and politicians across Canada to decriminalize our Sacred Swastika.”
The group has also reached out to Buddhists, Jains and all allies to post images of the Swastika inside and outside their homes, temples, stores and elsewhere for awareness.
“We are looking for 1008 photos. Will you please help? Let’s all work together to educate everyone about the sacred Swastika and have it delinked from the Nazi Hate Symbol,” COHHE stated on X.
On 15th November, COHHE wrote a letter to the Toronto Police and Mayor Olivia Chow requesting them to call the Nazi hate symbol Hakenkreuz or Hooked cross and not Swastika, a Hindu symbol described by a Hindu word.
“Call For Action! Reclaim Swastika. @TorontoPolice website declares the swastika as a hate symbol and its public display a hate-motivated crime. https://tps.ca/hate-motivated-crime/ COHHE has written a letter to them and the @MayorOliviaChow requesting them to call the Nazi hate symbol Hakenkruez or Hooked Cross and not as a swastika which is a sacred symbol and word for Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, among others. We invite individuals and organizations to co-sign this letter so @TorontoPolice, police services across Canada, and all politicians can be educated to delink the Swastika from the Nazi hate symbol,” the group wrote.