Months after being ousted from the Liberal Party, former member of Parliament Chandra Arya has created an organization to mobilize Hindu Canadians.
“[The Hindu community] is grossly underrepresented at the federal level, provincial level and in the municipal levels,” Arya said in an interview with Canadian Affairs in late May. Arya represented the federal Ottawa riding of Nepean from 2015 to 2025.
That lack of representation prompted him to launch the Hindu Public Affairs Council of Canada. The advocacy organization, which is not a registered charity, will be funded through individual donations, Arya says.
In the 2021 census, just over two per cent of Canadians — about 850,000 people — identified as Hindu.
Arya and other Hindu organizations say more needs to be done to represent this group, which they say faces increasing attacks.
“Nobody else actively addresses the concerns of the Hindu community at the national level,” the former politician said.
‘Get involved’
Arya’s main goal with his new organization is to increase the participation of Hindu Canadians in all levels of politics.
“Doesn’t matter what political party, what political ideology they believe in,” the former Liberal MP said. “All I want is them to get involved.”
It is not realistic to expect 25 to 30 Hindus to be elected as MPs, says Arya. But if even one more MP spoke about Hindu concerns in the House of Commons, it could increase awareness about the concerns Hindu Canadians have.
In his experience, Jewish, Muslim or Black MPs who spoke about their communities’ concerns in the House were supported by MPs of different religions or cultures.
“It is the responsibility of our community to educate the MPs on our issues so that they have knowledge [about Hindu concerns],” he said. “So in the future, when the Hindu MP — or any MP, for example, a Christian MP — stands up and addresses the issues facing the Hindu community, there must be 100, 150 other MPs standing in solidarity.”
Hindus’ diversity can “make it hard” to create a national organization to represent Hindus politically, says Arya.
Hindus have many gods, religious texts and holidays. They speak many different languages and come from many countries, even if most are Indian. While his organization is not religious, he says the private and diverse nature of Hinduism contributes to the lack of a public unified voice.
‘Experiencing the same pain’
During his time in Parliament, Arya often spoke about his Hindu faith and concerns faced by Hindu Canadians, such as vandalism of Hindu temples in Canada.
“As with Islamophobia and antisemitism, resulting in hate crimes against our mosques and synagogues and causing pain to our Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters, Hindu Canadians are experiencing the same pain due to rising Hinduphobia,” he told the House of Commons in February 2023 after a Hindu temple in Brampton, Ont., was vandalized.
In 2022, he brought forward a motion to declare November Hindu Heritage month. That motion passed unanimously.
In January, Arya tried to run for leadership of the Liberal Party. The party rejected his bid, without clearly saying why.
His time as an MP then ended abruptly when the Liberal Party dropped him as the candidate for Nepean. Mark Carney later ran and won in that riding.
Arya told Canadian Affairs he does not intend to run for political office again.
Self-censor
Arya and some Hindu organizations say governments and law enforcement often ignore the concerns of Hindu Canadians.
“We are repeatedly seeing our concerns just papered over,” said Pushpita Prasad, chief communications officer of the Coalition of Hindus of North America, a Hindu advocacy organization. Hindus feel “helpless” when attacks on their temples are ignored, she said.
The coalition tracks the vandalism of Hindu temples in Canada. There have been 21 attacks since 2022, including two so far in 2025, the coalition’s website says.
According to Statistics Canada, there were two recorded hate crimes against Hindus in 2023 and one against Sikhs. That same year, 900 were directed at Jews and 211 at Muslims.
Rishabh Sarswat, president of the Coalition of Hindus of North America Canada, says Hindus need to do more to raise their concerns politically.
Often, Hindus do not report hate crimes or hate speech, he says. “Because we self-censor, it doesn’t get recorded.”
Arya says politicians do not publicly denounce attacks on Hindus. He points to politicians’ lack of response to vandalism of Hindu temples and a parade float in Brampton in 2023 that appeared to depict the assassination of former Hindu prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
In late May at a charity event in Brampton, Ont., former prime minister Stephen Harper said Canada’s political parties should cut ties with Khalistan supporters, who want Sikhs in India to create their own country.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada decried the comments, saying Harper was trying to ”vilify” Sikh Canadians.
In early June, Carney invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 meetings later this month in Alberta. The Sikh organization also denounced this move.
“For Sikhs in Canada, this is a betrayal, not just of our community, but of core Canadian values. Prime Minister Carney’s decision to invite Narendra Modi, while India continues to deny any role in the assassination of Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar and refuses to cooperate with Canadian authorities, is both shameful and dangerous,” the organization’s statement said.
‘Our duty’
Sarswat, of the Coalition of Hindus of North America Canada, says he sees a growing political interest among Hindu Canadians.
Sarswat was one of the speakers at a national Hindu conference held in Brampton at the end of May.
Canadian Affairs reached out to the conference organizers multiple times for comment. They did not respond before deadline. Canadian Affairs also sought comment for this story from close to a dozen experts on Hinduism, Indian history in Canada or geopolitics. Those who responded to interview requests declined to comment for this piece.
Arya says Hindu Canadians need to do more to educate Canadians about the contributions Hindus have made to Canada.
“It is our duty which we have neglected, that we have to educate fellow Canadians on the Hindu religious aspect … the Hindu heritage,” he said.
Sarswat says the Hindu values of diversity fit well with Canadian values.
“Hindu values need to be at the front and centre, and there’s no reason to be ashamed in today’s world,” he said.
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