Liberal MP Chandra Arya is accusing his caucus colleague Sukh Dhaliwal of threatening him in the House of Commons on Friday.
The incident allegedly took place after Dhaliwal, MP for Surrey—Newton in B.C., attempted to get unanimous consent from the House on a motion to condemn the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India as “genocide.”
A number of MPs — including Arya, who represents the Ontario riding of Nepean — called out “no” before Dhaliwal was able to finish reading his motion, denying it unanimous support. Arya later claimed he was the only one to say “no.”
About 20 minutes later, Arya stood up in the House on a point of order and said Dhaliwal “threatened” him on his way out of the Commons chamber. He also said another unnamed MP “aggressively accosted” him in the lobby.
“As a member of Parliament, I should be able to express my opinion, my views, freely in the House and I should not [feel] threatened by any words or actions of my fellow members,” Arya said.
CBC News has reached out to both Arya and Dhaliwal for clarification on what happened Friday, but neither has responded.
In the House of Commons on Friday, Chandra Arya accused his caucus colleague Sukh Dhaliwal of threatening him and another unnamed MP of accosting him.
More than 3,000 Sikhs died in the anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards. The Indian government has consistently rejected any push to recognize the anti-Sikh riots as a genocide and has said it estimates the death toll at 2,800.
Dhaliwal later posted on X, formerly Twitter, about his motion, saying that “sadly, some Conservative MPs and one Liberal MP opposed it.”
Arya also posted about the House incident on X, calling on Hindu-Canadians to push their MPs to oppose such “divisive” motions.
“There is no guarantee I will be in the House to block it the next time any other Member, from any political party, attempts to bring this motion forward,” Arya wrote in his social media post.
“I urge all Hindu-Canadians to act now.”
Friday’s incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between the Sikh and Hindu communities in Canada. Last month, three men were charged after violent clashes took place between protestors in Brampton and Mississauga, including incidents outside a Hindu temple and Sikh gurdwara.
Arya has been an outspoken advocate for the Hindu community and has consistently spoken out against what he calls “Khalistani extremists” — a reference to a movement pushing for an independent Sikh homeland in northern India.
In August, Arya travelled to India and met with current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A statement from Global Affairs Canada at the time said Arya “travelled to India on his own initiative and was not representing the Government of Canada.”
Hindu nationalism has become the dominant political ideology in India in the past decade under Modi, whose party has been accused of aggravating religious fault lines and steadily eroding the secular principles enshrined in India’s constitution.