Canadian Parliament

New Delhi, (SM/IINA) : All India Muslim Majlis e Mushawarat (AIMMM), a prominent organization of Indian Muslims, congratulated the citizens of Canada, Canadian parliament and government of Canada for their ‘unprecedented actions’ to deal with hate crimes against Muslims in Canada.

The motion, passed by Canadian parliament, calls for the government to condemn Islamophobia and systemic racism. It also asks the heritage committee to study ways the government should approach reducing and eliminating discrimination, The Indian Awaaz News reported.

President of AIMMM Navaid Hamid hailed the historical “anti-Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination” motion which has given a call for politicians to condemn anti-Islamic behavior and rhetoric and also has explicitly called on the government to “quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear.”

Navaid Hamid has pointed that this is the first time when through this motion in parliament of any country, it is said there should be put into action a “government-wide approach for reducing or eliminating systematic racism and religious discrimination.”

The motion asked a Parliamentary Committee to collect the data on hate crimes, conduct official assessments of affected communities and present findings to parliament within eight months.

Hamid, in a statement, has requested the other governments and international forums particularly the United Nations to take lead in dealing with the hate crimes against Muslims under the current harsh violent waves of Islamophobia, with the rise of right-wing politics in majority of Western countries and more recently in South Asia particularly in Myanmar and India.

The Canadian parliament on Thursday passed a motion to publicly denounce Islamophobia and develop strategies to end religious discrimination.

In a vote split 201-91 in favor of the non-binding motion, the parliament agreed to “condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination.” The motion, dubbed M-103, also tasks the parliament with establishing a committee to investigate policies that could be aimed at “reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia in Canada.”

Iqra Khalid, a liberal member of parliament who is Muslim, introduced the motion in December as a response to rising anti-Muslim sentiment. It took on renewed significance in January after a mass shooting at a mosque in Quebec City left six worshippers dead.