‘Oh no, not again’: Alleged attack at mosque brings back bad memories for London, Ont. Muslims

An alleged hate-motivated incident at a Toronto, Ont. area mosque last week has brought back memories of an attack in London, Ont. in June of 2021.

“It is one of those situations where you hear about it you think, 'Oh no, not again’,” said Nawaz Tahir, chair of Hikma, a media advocacy group on behalf of Muslims in London.

“Although there were no physical injuries, it still represents a psychological trauma and re-trauma that’s happening at a mosque and especially here in London with the car piece of this as well,” said Tahir.

York Regional Police (YRP) allege a 28-year-old man shouted Islamophobic slurs and drove his vehicle directly at a worshiper at the Islamic Society of Markham, Ont. on April 6, 2023, during the holy month of Ramadan.

“Our communities have reason to be afraid. Make no mistake, we could have been at a funeral today,” Islamic Foundation of Markham (IFM) President Qasir Nasir Khan said at a news conference Monday afternoon, calling the incident “shocking” for the community.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) joined IFM officials Monday and called on the Doug Ford government to expedite legislation aimed at combatting Islamophobia.

“The time for action against Islamophobia is now,” said NCCM Chief Operating Officer Nadia Hasan.

“This cannot go on; we must address this phenomenon directly and comprehensively. We call on the Ontario government to expedite the passing of the Our London Family Act in Ontario. This is a model piece of legislation that seeks to address Islamophobia through multiple areas of policy and law,” said Hasan.

In the wake of the alleged hate-motivated attack in London that killed four members of a Muslim family almost two years ago, the 'Our London Family Act’ was introduced by the Ontario New Democrats. The bill has been sitting in committee since March 3, 2022.

In addition to moving forward with legislative action at Queen’s Park, Hasan called on the federal government to expand the coverage of security expenses at places of worship.

While the mosque in Markham will add extra security during the remainder of Ramadan, the London Muslim community said it always has security top of mind.

“It doesn't really take an event like this to make us re-examine security,” said Tahir. “It's happening non-stop. I think with an event like this, you sort of re-double your efforts to see if there's anything else you could do to just make the community feel safe.”

YRP Inspector Chuck Byham reassured the community that the police force has no reason to believe that the accused was part of a larger extremist or terrorist organization.

Toronto resident Sharan Karunakaran, 28, was located and arrested shortly after midnight on Friday.

He was charged with one count of uttering threats, one count of assault with a weapon, and one count of dangerous driving. The charges have not yet been proven in court.

 

With Files from Hannah Alberga, CTV News Toronto