EDMONTON — The Edmonton Police Service have confirmed that two Sikh men at an Edmonton gurdwara were stabbed and injured Friday following an attack involving a suspect released from prison on Thursday. EPS said they responded to Nanaksar Gurdwara shortly after 5 a.m. after receiving a phone call about an incident in which a male walking into the facility attempted to enter the prayer area and stabbed two male staff members who confronted him. EMS treated and transported the 75-year-old and 51-year-old victims to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and a 27-year-old suspect was taken to the hospital as well. Officers said the suspect was an individual known to police who was released from a federal prison, elsewhere in Alberta, on Thursday after serving 20 months of a 31-month sentence for aggravated assault and assaulting a police officer. The suspect was supposed to report to a halfway house in Edmonton but had not done so. "This is something that federally, myself and other chiefs of police across Canada, through the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, have been advocating for," said Edmonton's police chief, Warren Driechel. "We're working with all levels of government to continue to talk about bail reform, but it is concerning when violent repeat offenders are continually released in our community that cause further harm.Driechel said investigators, with the assistance of the service's hate crimes unit, are working to determine the motive of the incident, and if it was driven by ideology, EPS will consider all applicable Criminal Code provisions, including the recently passed Bill C-9. "Obviously, we have an indication that this is a place of worship; that would be a consideration," said Driechel."We're going to look at who was attacked, if there are members of a community that's related to that area, or if the suspects are giving any kind of ideology or things that they're saying during the event." .The World Sikh Organization of Canada says it is “deeply troubled” after an early-morning attack at an Edmonton gurdwara left two people injured and reportedly involved the desecration of Sikh scripture.The organization said preliminary reports also indicate Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Sikh holy scripture, was attacked during the incident.WSO said it was awaiting confirmed information about the circumstances of the attack and any possible motive.“We are deeply troubled by what has happened at Nanaksar Gurdwara this morning, but unfortunately we cannot say that we are surprised,” WSO President Danish Singh said.“We have been warning for quite some time that anti-Sikh hate is rising in Canada and that, if it is allowed to continue unchecked, hateful rhetoric can translate into threats and actual violence.”.The Edmonton incident follows reports of threats against Sikh places of worship in Calgary.Calgary police confirmed Thursday they were investigating threatening calls made to two gurdwaras in northeast Calgary, including the Dashmesh Culture Centre. The WSO said the threats reportedly included calls for Sikh places of worship to be demolished.Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas condemned the threats.Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said the incident is "shocking," and individuals in the community are "rightfully upset." "Every Albertan deserves to be safe, and crimes at places of worship are particularly unsettling," reads a quote from Nenshi distributed by the party. "This comes as threats are being made toward cultural and religious centres in Calgary, and crime and public disorder have increased to the point where people no longer feel safe.".The WSO also pointed to an incident earlier this month involving Sikh truck driver Talwinder Singh Atwal at an Edmonton Walmart.Atwal reported being subjected to comments about his religious identity before being physically assaulted. He said he was punched and pushed and had his beard pulled. Video showed Atwal on the ground with his dastaar partially removed.The Edmonton Police Service Hate Crimes Unit is assisting in that investigation.The organization also cited the March killing of 22-year-old Birinder Singh in what was described as an apparently unprovoked highway shooting near Leduc. The WSO previously called on investigators to consider whether hate played a role in that case.Singh said Sikhs are facing hostility from several sources.“The Sikh community is being targeted from multiple directions,” he said. “We are seeing increasingly aggressive far-right and anti-immigrant racism directed at visibly identifiable Sikhs, alongside a sustained campaign of disinformation and vilification originating from India that attempts to portray Canadian Sikhs and Sikh political expression as extremist or dangerous.”The WSO earlier this year released a report titled Understanding & Addressing Anti-Sikh Hate in Canada, based on more than 1,600 survey responses and consultations.According to the organization, more than 80% of respondents said anti-Sikh hate and discrimination had increased during the previous five years. Nearly two-thirds reported experiencing verbal harassment, while more than 70% of victims said they did not report incidents because of fear, a belief reporting would accomplish little or a lack of confidence in institutional responses..The report said 91% of visibly identifiable Sikh respondents reported having been targeted, while 65% said the experiences had significantly affected their mental health.The WSO said its study identified domestic racism and xenophobia, along with what it described as transnational repression and disinformation linked to India, as major drivers of anti-Sikh hate.“Threats against gurdwaras followed by an attack must be treated with the utmost seriousness,” Singh said.“Governments and police cannot simply express concern after each incident and then move on. We need concrete action to confront anti-Sikh hate, protect places of worship and ensure that threats and hate-motivated incidents are properly investigated.”The WSO is urging gurdwaras across Canada to review their security procedures and remain vigilant.It also called on Edmonton police to investigate whether hate or bias played a role in Friday's attack and asked federal, provincial and municipal governments to work with Sikh organizations on enhanced security measures for places of worship.“Anti-Sikh hate cannot be allowed to become normalized,” Singh said.
