India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has made Hindu nationalism a central part of his party’s political philosophy, aiming to define Indian identity primarily in terms of Hindu values, heritage and religion.
With India accounting for the largest source of immigrants to Canada, Modi’s politics matter in Canada too. Here, Hindus make up a small but growing share of Canada’s population, numbering about 830,000 individuals in the 2021 census.
At a major celebration of Hindu culture in Toronto in mid-July, thousands of Hindu-Canadians paraded down Yonge Street as part of the annual Rath Yatra Festival of Chariots. Canadian Affairs spoke to several participants to get their views on Hindu nationalism and its place in Canada.
“Politicians are politicians. There’s not much you can do,” said Mahabhagavat Das, referring to Modi’s sometimes charged rhetoric.
Das is a Canadian leader in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a global Hindu religious organization. He acknowledged that he hears plenty of talk about how Hinduism is under threat and how Hindus must counter external menaces to their culture from Muslims, Sikhs, a global liberal elite, secularism and others.
But he resists giving into this noise, he says, which only makes it harder for Hindus to really connect with their own religious tradition. “You lose sight of the spiritual reality,” he said.
Rocky Acharya, by contrast, was not so quick to dismiss political Hinduism. He says he is particularly worried about India’s Muslim population, which accounts for about 14 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion people and has grown as a percentage of the population, while the country’s majority Hindu population has declined.
“The rate of growth in India of Muslims is higher than anywhere in the world,” Acharya said.
Asked why that was a problem, Acharya replied, “See what’s going on in Europe? See what’s going on in Canada?,” he said, declining to elaborate when asked.
At the same time, Acharya says he does not necessarily view himself as a Hindu nationalist.
“I am not a blind supporter of BJP,” he said, referring to Modi’s conservative Bharatiya Janata Party.
‘It’s laughable’
Calls to defend Hinduism now have an official home in Canada.
The recently launched Hindu Public Affairs Council of Canada states, “We owe it to our children and grandchildren to build a future where they can stand tall, proudly Hindu, unapologetically Dharmic, and fully Canadian. A future where they do not fear the anti-Hindu forces but instead lead Canada to prosperity with the confidence and strength of their Hindu heritage.”
“It’s misplaced,” said Toronto Hindu Priest (Pandit) Chander Khanna, a former vice president of the Hindu Institute of Learning, an educational institution in Toronto. “What is talked about is an existential threat to our civilization … It’s laughable.”
Khanna says Hindutva — as the Hindu nationalist movement is known — and its politics of resentment and fear has an emotional appeal for a minority of Hindus. “It’s even in my own family,” he said.
But Khanna, who has been active in interfaith circles for decades and was recently awarded the King Charles medal, calls the Hindu Public Affairs Council of Canada “absurd.”
“To say that a potential threat to a 5,000-year-old civilization is in the hands of a few Sikh extremists — in my mind you are no less extremist,” Khanna said.
Canadian Affairs previously spoke to Chandra Arya, the founder of the Hindu Public Affairs Council of Canada, about his reasons for launching the council.
“[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 was a Liberal MP from 2015 to 2025.
Arya says more needs to be done to represent Hindu-Canadians, which he and others say face increasing attacks.
“Nobody else actively addresses the concerns of the Hindu community at the national level,” Arya told Canadian Affairs.
Arya was unavailable to speak to Canadian Affairs for this article.
‘Not under threat’
Taking a break from the heat of the Chariot Festival at Tim Hortons, Amit Kumar gloried in the opportunity to share his Hindu culture with fellow Hindus and the whole city.
“This is one occasion where we get to meet people and get to see our culture,” Kumar said. During the parade, Hindu deities are drawn in massive chariots down Yonge Street, beginning at Sankofa Square (formerly Dundas Square) and ending at Toronto’s Harbourfront.
Kumar says angry calls to defend Hinduism do not interest him.
“We are not under any threat,” he said.
For Elash P., the opportunity to pull giant chariots down Yonge Street was an opportunity to transcend the mundane world of politics. He pointed out that Lord Jagannath actually means “Lord of the Universe.”
“It’s like pulling the Lord home,” he said. “So also you are going home, going back to the divinity.”
