Indo-Canadian community furious as Conservative Party pulls out of Diwali celebration in parliament

The Celebration of Diwali on Parliament Hill was launched by late Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai in 1998. After his death in 2019, the event was hosted by another Conservative MP Todd Doherty. However, community members learnt recently that the Conservatives were pulling out from hosting the event, which their leader Pierre Poilievre had attended last year. No reason was attributed for the abrupt cancellation.

However, Liberal Party MP Chandra Arya will now host the Diwali celebration along with the Calgary-based Obhrai Foundation.

In a release on Tuesday, Foundation chair Priti Obhrai-Martin (the late MP’s daughter) said, “The Celebration of Diwali on Parliament Hill is in its 24th year, and our father, Deepak Obhrai always envisioned this event to be a Non-Partisan Event. He had the unique ability to reach beyond party politics and see our shared humanity in celebrating culture.”

She added, “Chandra Arya has always been a supporter of this event, even before he became a politician. Therefore, it is an honour for our family to have him host this year’s Celebration on Parliament Hill.”

She also thanked Doherty for keeping the celebration going. She said that “while we are sad, he won’t be hosting this year’s event, we are grateful for him and his staff for helping us continue our father’s legacy over the last few years.”

While that statement was diplomatic, others within the community expressed anger over the Conservative action. They connected it to the current crisis in ties between New Delhi and Ottawa over the latter’s allegations that India was involved in directing violent criminal activity in Canada. In an open letter to Poilievre, Shiv Bhasker, president of the Overseas Friends of India Canada or OFIC, expressed “dismay” over the decision and added “failure of the politicians to attend this important cultural event, particularly at such a delicate time, sends a clear message to Indo-Canadians: that we are being viewed not as fellow Canadians, but as outsiders who are somehow linked to the political actions of a country many of us have ancestral ties to but no direct connection with.”

Demanding an “apology” from the party, he said “the sudden withdrawal of political leaders from this event, prompted by the current diplomatic situation between Canada and India, has left us feeling betrayed and unjustly singled out”.

He demanded that Poilievre “acknowledge the harm caused to the Indo-Canadian community by this action.” That view was shared by members of the party of Indian descent. Speaking to the Hindustan Times, one such person of Sikh heritage said they were “furious” over this action.

There was no response from Doherty or the Conservative Party to emails from Hindustan Times regarding the cancellation.