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Canadian officials have expressed support for a man of Indian descent after a woman was filmed demanding he “go back to India.” Ashwin Annamalai shared his encounter on X on October 16 and has since received over 1.7 million views.
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What happened: In the video, Annamalai is seen calmly confronting the woman for allegedly giving him “the finger” without provocation as he walked on a sidewalk in Waterloo on October 15. When asked why she was aggressive, the woman replied: “I am being aggressive towards you because there are too many Indians in Canada and I want you to go back. Go back to India.” Annamalai, who became a Canadian citizen after moving from India as an international student in 2018, corrected the woman, but she insisted his parents and grandmother were not Canadian. When asked if it is a crime to become Canadian, the woman said: “It is a crime if there are so many Indians [and Africans] take over Canada.” Unfortunately, the encounter was just one of many that Annamalai witnessed. “I have been dealing with increased incidents of hate and racism in recent months,” he told CTV News, noting that his friends had also seen the same thing. A friend reported Annamalai’s last encounter to Waterloo Regional Police, who are now investigating.
The once welcoming community of Kitchener-Waterloo has seen a disturbing increase in hate, especially against people of color. Here’s a personal account of what I experienced today: A random woman gave me the finger and spewed hate while I was walking in Erb/Avondale 🧵 1/n pic.twitter.com/TxvXeXW3Yd
— Ashwin Annamalai (@ignorantsapient) October 15, 2024
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Get support: Several local officials expressed support for Annamalai, including Waterloo Regional Councilor Colleen James, who wrote on X: “I am sorry that you and so many others in this community continue to experience such hateful racism.” Rob Deutschmann, another regional council member, called the incident “horrible” in his post, adding: “There is no justification for this behavior.” The Waterloo Region reported the highest rate of hate crimes in Canada last year, with 34 cases per 100,000 people, WRPS chief Mark Crowell told CBC News.
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