What happened to the Muslim family of five in Canada?
Written and Researched by Preethi Serafina, India and P. Unni Krishnan, India.
Muslim family of five, Victims of Premeditated “Terrorist” attack induced by Islamophobia and hate in Canada.
According to Canadian authorities, four members of a Muslim family were slain in a "premeditated" vehicle attack on Sunday,7th June 2021. The attack happened in the city of London, in the province of Ontario. The family's lone survivor, a nine-year-old kid, is in a deplorable state at the hospital. Four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder have been filed against a 20-year-old Canadian man, Nathaniel Veltman. The incident was the worst against Canadian Muslims since six people were massacred at a mosque in Quebec City in 2017.
"These victims are thought to have been targeted because they are Muslim," Detective Superintendent Paul Waight said at a press briefing on Monday.
The Police have also filed a a terrorism charge against the accused. The London Police Service declared that Veltman’s 4 charges of 1st degree murder also constitutes to terrorism and that both the federal and provincial prosecutors have agreed on the same.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his 44-year-old wife Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack, while the couple’s nine-year-old son was seriously injured. According to authorities, the nine-year-old boy was taken to the hospital with critical but non-life-threatening injuries. Nathanial Veltman was apprehended without incident roughly 6 kilometers (4.8 miles) from the crime site at a retail center. According to Detective Superintendent Paul Waight, it is unknown whether the suspect has ties to any hate groups.“This was an act of mass murder perpetuated against Muslims,” Mayor Ed Holder said. “It was rooted in unspeakable hatred.”
The extended family issued a statement “Everyone who knew Salman and the rest of the Afzal family knows the model family they were as Muslims, Canadians, and Pakistanis. They worked extremely hard in their fields and excelled. Their children were top students in their school and connected strongly with their spiritual identity.”
“This young man who committed this act of terror was influenced by a group that he associated with, and the rest of the community must take a strong stand against this, from the highest levels in our government to every member of the community,” the statement said. The family also issued in its statement that the public needs to stand against hate and Islamophobia. The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said Muslims in Canada have become all too familiar with the violence of Islamophobia. “This is a terrorist attack on Canadian soil, and should be treated as such,″ council head Mustafa Farooq said.
Nawaz Tahir, a London lawyer, and Muslim community leader, said, “We must confront and stamp out Islamophobia and Islamic violence — not tomorrow, today, for the sake of our children, our family, our communities.”
The mayor declared that the flags of London will be lowered for three days, saying that between 30,000 and 40,000 Muslims, there are over 400,000 residents.
“To the Muslim community in London and to Muslims across the country, know that we stand with you. Islamophobia has no place in any of our communities. This hate is insidious and despicable — and it must stop,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted.
The country’s minister of diversity and inclusion and youth, Bardish Chagger, responded to that call on Friday, saying the government would be “hosting a series of summits including a National Summit on Islamophobia to coordinate further action”.
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