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“Go back to India,” Indian-Origin Canadian faces racism in viral video
In a video of the encounter posted by Ashwin Annamalai himself, the woman can be heard demanding that he "go back" to India, despite his repeated assertions of being a Canadian citizen.
Women in the video sharing racist remarks / Image- X (@ignorantsapient)
Amid growing diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, a Canadian citizen of Indian origin, was the target of a racist attack by a woman in Waterloo who launched a rampage against him assuming he was not a Canadian.
In a video of the encounter posted by Ashwin Annamalai himself, the woman can be heard demanding that he "go back" to India, despite his repeated assertions of being a Canadian citizen.
Annamalai, who moved to Canada in 2018 as an international student and has since become a citizen, filmed the encounter and shared it on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). In the video, Annamalai recounts how the woman “gave him the finger and spewed hate” while making assumptions about his background.
The once welcoming community of Kitchener-Waterloo has seen a disturbing rise in hate, particularly against people of colour. Here’s a personal account of what I experienced today: A random woman gave me the finger & spewed hate while I was out for a walk at Erb/Avondale 1/n pic.twitter.com/TxvXeXW3Yd
— Ashwin Annamalai (@ignorantsapient) October 15, 2024
“I am Canadian,” Annamalai can be heard telling the woman multiple times, to which she responded, “You’re not Canadian. I’m being aggressive to you because too many Indians are in Canada, and I want you to go back.” She also added, “You can’t even speak English,” prompting Annamalai to respond in French, one of Canada's official languages. The woman eventually walked away, shouting profanities.
Annamalai expressed his concerns over the incident, stating that such encounters have been on the rise. “This isn’t an isolated incident. Such encounters have been happening regularly since the beginning of the year, and people seem to be getting more emboldened,” he said.
Annamalai emphasized that he had not experienced racism in Canada until recently, attributing the surge in hate-filled encounters to rising tensions between India and Canada. The video has drawn mixed reactions online, with some users supporting the woman’s sentiments.
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