Canada shouldn’t allow a movement originating from India that disseminates hate and victimizes religious minority groups to entrench itself in this country. This is an increasing influence/ threat from the ‘movement’ spearheaded by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), closely linked to BJP government in India; that promotes discrimination against minority religious groups at home and abroad. RSS poses a major challenge to Canadian human rights, tolerance & multiculturalism commitments. Its activists also created law and order situation in UK and other countries. The outfit is seeking to shrink space for Muslims and other minorities in Western capitals. RSS network has not only roots in Canada but is also extending its global outreach while propagating far right views in various ways. A recent report has confirmed RSS elements spreading hatred of Muslims in UK under the garb of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) organization. Presence/ entrenchment of RSS and its affiliates in Canada has already resulted in a litany of Islamophibic, anti-Sikh, and casteist incidents in Canada.

Such incidents resemble communal tensions being exploited/ exacerbated by RSS in India. Hindutva movement by RSS and its large network of affiliates (Sangh Parivar) trying to present its agenda ‘as agenda of all global Hindus’. This is both impossible and completely false. Electoral success of BJP and its deep ties with RSS helped smuggle Hindutva’s discriminatory vision to world’s diverse religions from ‘margins to the mainstream’ with devastating results. RSS antagonism against Muslims, Sikhs, Christians & Dalits became socially legitimized, emboldened & now threatens to destabilize Indian’s large diaspora both here in Canada & elsewhere. Canadian leaders should not allow individuals/ organizations pushing Hindutva vision of India – a supremacist vision discriminating against minorities leading to mass bloodshed – entrench themselves in this country. Extremist outfit’s presence will perpetuate supremacist ideologies, and would antagonize relations between large faith-based communities in Canada.

On International Women’s Day, Tolo News aired a special broadcast featuring an all-female panel and audience. This is a rare feat since the Taliban takeover, which resulted in the loss of jobs for many female journalists who either left the profession or worked off-air.

Asma Khogyani, a journalist on the panel, discussed the position of women in Islam, asserting that they have the right to work and be educated. The survey by Reporters Without Borders in 2021 showed that over 75% of female journalists had lost their jobs due to the Taliban’s rule.

The panel on Wednesday evening wore masks to protect themselves, a reminder of the challenges female journalists are still facing in Afghanistan.

The Taliban last year restricted most girls from high school, women from university and stopped most Afghan female NGO workers.

Another panellist, former university professor Zakira Nabil said women would continue to find ways to learn and work. “Whether you want it or not, women exist in this society … if it’s not possible to get an education at school, she will learn knowledge at home,” she told the panel.

Due to growing restrictions as well as the country’s severe economic crisis, the International Labour Organisation said female employment had fallen 25 per cent last year since mid-2021. It added that more women were turning to self-employed work such as tailoring at home.

On Wednesday, the United Nations Mission to Afghanistan urged the Taliban to lift their restrictions on the rights of girls and women, describing them as “distressing.” The Taliban have claimed that they are honoring women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture. Moreover, an official committee had been established to examine the perceived issues in order to reopen girls’ schools.