Indian-Origin Canadian Citizen Targeted in Racist Attack Amid India-Canada Diplomatic Tensions in Waterloo

Oct 19 :
A woman in Waterloo went on a rampage against a Canadian citizen of Indian ancestry, presuming he was not Canadian, amid rising diplomatic tensions between India and Canada. Ashwin Annamalai recorded the interaction and uploaded it to his YouTube channel, where the woman yells at him to "go back" to India, even though he insists he is a Canadian citizen.

The meeting was recorded and uploaded on the social media platform X by Annamalai, who became a citizen after moving to Canada in 2018 as an international student. The woman "gave him the finger and spewed hate" and made assumptions about his origins, according to Annamalai's account on the video.

This woman said, "You're not Canadian," in response to Annamalai's repeated assertions that she is Canadian. I want you to return to India; there are too many Indians in Canada, and that's why I'm being pushy with you. Then she said, "You can't even speak English," which made Annamalai reply in French, an official language of Canada. After a while, the woman began to walk away while yelling obscenities.

Such incidents, according to Annamalai, have been on the increase, and he has voiced his worries over the occurrence. This is not a one-off occurrence. According to him, these kinds of meetings have been occurring often since the start of the year, and individuals appear to be becoming more confident as a result. According to Annamalai, who blames increasing tensions between India and Canada for the current uptick in hate-filled encounters, he had never seen racism in Canada before. Opinions on the video have been all over the map, with some viewers siding with the woman.