On Sunday (5th November), Canadian PM Justin Trudeau attracted controversy by mistaking the peaceful, holy Hindu Swastika for a Nazi Hakenkreuz, a symbol of hatred from the 20th century. The Canadian PM was talking about a pro-Palestinian rally that took on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday (4th November), where the hooked cross could be spotted. The Hakencreuz was used by the protesters to blatantly compare Israel to the Nazis.
The Canadian PM condemned the display of hooked cross flags displaying hatred but blatantly compared it to the Hindu Swastika committing a grave mistake. “When we see or hear hateful language and imagery, we must condemn it. The display of a swastika by an individual on Parliament Hill is unacceptable. Canadians have the right to assemble peacefully – but we cannot tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, or hate of any kind,” Trudeau stated on Twitter (X) after which Hindu netizens slammed the Canadian PM for equating the symbol of peace to the Nazi symbol of hatred.
When we see or hear hateful language and imagery, we must condemn it. The display of a swastika by an individual on Parliament Hill is unacceptable. Canadians have the right to assemble peacefully – but we cannot tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, or hate of any kind.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 5, 2023
Vishwa Hindu Parishad spokesperson Vinod Bansal corrected the Canadian PM and tweeted that the leader should know and learn about the symbol of peace first before blindly spreading hatred against it.
“Stop equating the Hindu symbol “Swastika” with the Nazi’s symbol “Hakenkreuz” or the Hooked Cross. Your language clearly shows that by coming closer to terrorists or protecting them, you are inclined to become Hinduphobic and Indiaphobic which is not good for a country like Canada. Remember, Terrorism never escaped even its founders and supporters,” Bansal tweeted.
Dear @JustinTrudeau ,
— विनोद बंसल Vinod Bansal (@vinod_bansal) November 5, 2023
Please learn #Swastik before blindly spreading hate against it.
Stop equating the Hindu symbol "Swastika" with Nazi's symbol "Hakenkreuz" or the Hooked Cross. Your language clearly shows that by coming closer to Terrorists or protecting them, you are… pic.twitter.com/TC3JsJSIIC
Another netizen commented that this was the second time that the Canadian PM had compared the symbol of goodness and peace to the Nazi symbol of hatred.
Justin Trudeau doesn't know the difference between Nazi sign and Swastika:
— Frontalforce 🇮🇳 (@FrontalForce) November 5, 2023
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau again equates Hindu Swastika with Nazi Symbol, this time calls Nazi symbol of hate hakenkreuz – a Hindu Swastika. pic.twitter.com/oISAUHkYIZ
Meanwhile, many other Hindu netizens could be seen schooling the Canadian PM for making such a disgraceful comparison and hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community.
Swastika isn't a Hakenkreuz ! Pls use the right term for what is what…
— Sᴜᴢᴀɴɴᴇ Bᴇʀɴᴇʀᴛ (@suzannebernert) November 5, 2023
Regards from India, that is Bharat 🙏
Notably, this is not the first time the Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has made this weird comparison hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community. Earlier, in the year 2022, during the truck driver’s protest in Canada over the COVID-19 regulations, Trudeau and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh had raised voices against demonstrators raising hateful flags on the streets of Canada.
“Swastikas and Confederate flags have no place in Canada,” the leaders were quoted as saying. The Canadian leaders were schooled by Hindu netizens at that time as well explaining the difference between the two symbols. However, the Canadian PM making similar comparisons again indicates his alleged deliberate intentions to demean the Hindu community and its culture.
The HinduPACT (Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective), in the year 2022, had urged Trudeau and Singh not to conflate the “Swastika,” an ancient and auspicious symbol for Hindus, Buddhists, and many indigenous communities around the world, with the “Hakenkreuz,” a Nazi symbol of hatred from the 20th century.
Swastika and the Hakenkreuz explained
There is an important difference between the two symbols, which international media houses, leftists, and propagandists ridiculously use interchangeably, not only to hurt Hindu feelings but also to display their inherent Hinduphobia.
Swastika is made up of ‘su’ meaning “good” and ‘asti’ meaning “to be”. The word has been translated from the Sanskrit base. In other words, the symbol indicates well-being and attracts happiness. The symbol dates back some 6,000 years. Scholars generally agree it originated in India.
Other ancient cultures, including the Vikings and Greeks, as well as Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains, recognised Swastika as a symbol of good luck, prosperity, and all things auspicious.
A religious symbol for Hindus, the Swastika was first mentioned in the Vedas. It symbolises many things like Surya (the sun) and Brahma, the creator. It is seen as a power symbol and is also the emblem of Ganesha, the god of good luck. In both Hinduism and Jainism, the Swastika is used to mark the opening pages of account books, doors, and thresholds. It is found in a variety of temples and religious ceremonies all over the world. Further, it is used as a welcome sign in many South Asian households.
In fact, it is found that the Swastika was also used in Ancient Greece. The ancient Druids and the Celts also used the symbol. It was used by Nordic tribes and even early Christians used the Swastika as one of their symbols, including the Teutonic Knights, a German medieval military order, which became a purely religious Catholic Order.
Furthermore, the American Jewish Committee, one of the country’s oldest Jewish advocacy organisations, released a leaflet clarifying the distinction between the Swastika used for millennia by Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cultures and the deformed Nazi version of it.
The ‘Hakenkreuz’, on the other hand, is widely recognized as a symbol of anti-Semitism, having resulted in the deaths of approximately 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. The Nazi symbol represents fascism and also it is a trauma for many people today.
Documented evidence proving the difference between the two symbols
It has been debunked several times that Hakenkreuz and Swastikas are very different symbols. Hindus and Hindu leaders worldwide are working constantly to change the perception people have created towards Swastika.
It is worth mentioning that this is the tactic used by Hindumisic propagandists who intentionally link ‘Swastika’ to the Nazi Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) in order to indicate that Hindus draw their inspiration from Nazis.
Interestingly, there is documented evidence that Adolf Hitler never used the word Swastika in his autobiography ‘Mein Kampf’ but used Hakenkreuz. However, when it was translated from German to English, the translator used Swastika, which has been propagated ever since.
Many in the West think that Hitler invented the word Swastika or that wrote it in his writings. However, the book that he wrote, ‘Mein Kampf’ never used the word Swastika. In fact he clearly used the word ‘Hakenkreuz’ to describe the hooked cross.
The book written by Hitler was translated by Irish Catholic Priest and journalist James Vincent Murphy in 1939 who purposefully mistranslated Hakenkreuz into Swastika while allowing other German words in their original form or correctly translating them into English.
The book was also translated by one Edgar Trevelyan Stratford Dugdale who correctly translated the word ‘Hakenkreuz’ to ‘hooked cross’ but his version never gained attention. He never once used the word Swastika.
Australia and California rightly recognised the difference between Swastika and Hakenkreuz
Recently, in March 2023, the Queensland government, Australia, moved legislation banning hate symbols and acknowledging the distinction between Hindu Swastika and the Nazi Hakenkreuz. Shannon Fentiman, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence spoke about the misappropriation of the Hindu Swastika and the need to differentiate it from a hooked cross or the Nazi Hakenkreuz.
“…when referring to Nazi symbols, it is important to note that the Nazi hooked cross is the correct terminology for the most widely known symbol. The hooked cross closely resembles the swastika, which has peaceful and profound meaning in some religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Hindu Community of Australia helped the government in noting this important distinction,” the leader was quoted as saying.
In May 2022, California Legislative Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan read Assembly Bill 2282 differentiating between peaceful Hindu Swastika and Nazi Hakenkreuz. In February 2022, Assembly Members Baurer-Kahan and Levine introduced Assembly Bill No 2282 to amend the Penal Code that deals with crimes. At that time, the bill did not differentiate between Nazi Hakenkreuz and Hindu Swastika and called for punishment for anyone who places or displayed signs of hate, including “Nazi Swastika”.
The California government recognised the difference after the Hindu American Foundation extensively worked on the issue and educated the general public as well as the lawmakers about the difference between the Nazi Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) and the Hindu holy symbol Swastika.
#Breaking: California Legislative Assembly Member @BauerKahan responds to education efforts of @HinduAmerican & California Dharma communities to amend #AB2282 & decriminalize the Hindu Swastika!
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) May 23, 2022
We call on #CALeg to support the amended bill affirming that Hakenkreuz ≠ Swastika pic.twitter.com/H9ghtkfdkw
Hindu holy symbols are regularly defamed by the West, liberal media, and the left intelligentsia
This is not the first time that the West leader, international media, or the left intelligentsia have been caught blatantly exhibiting their Hinduphobia and purposefully linking the holy Hindu Swastika to the Nazi symbol.
Earlier in 2022, the international media outlet ‘The Guardian’ reported about an incident where a gunman had opened fire in a school in the central Russian city of Izhevsk, killing at least six people and injuring 20 before killing himself. While reporting on the horrible killings, the media outlet stated that the killer was wearing a jacket with the holy Hindu ‘Swastika’. “Gunman with a swastika on T-shirt kills 15 at Russian school,” the headline given by the media outlet read.
Likewise, many other international media houses like Global News, The Times, vice.com, Toronto Sun, South China morning post, and NBC News displayed the same Hinduphobia while reporting about the incident. The media houses failed to differentiate between two symbols which are poles apart and furthered their propaganda against the Hindu community.
Recently in June 2023, Maharashtra’s former CM Uddhav Thackeray committed the same mistake. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav camp) Chief on the occasion of the Shiv Sena foundation day backed Western propaganda and equated the Nazi Hakenkreuz to the Hindu Swastika.
Thackeray equated PM Modi to Hitler and claimed that his rule pushed the country towards dictatorship in the same way Adolf Hitler pushed Germany in the 1930s. Equating BJP to Hitler’s Nazi party, Thackeray said, “Our ruling party is acting in the same way as Hitler’s party [the Nazi party]… It is silencing all Opposition, unleashing Central agencies on them, and seizing control of the media. Remember, Hitler’s symbol too was the Swastika.” He claimed that the “authoritarian” rule of the PM and the BJP was threatening to “split the country into pieces”.
Did the Canadian PM deliberately make the unfavoured comparison?
The equation of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau with India and the Hindu community has not been so good lately. The relationship soured after he, on 19th September, accused India of killing Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. Canada also expelled a senior Indian diplomat as a result of the allegations. The allegations against India opened a can of worms as the allied countries of Canada refused to issue a joint statement against India. Furthermore, India also firmly denied the allegations and expelled a Canadian diplomat in retaliation.
“We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as well as the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,” the Ministry of External Affairs has said in its statement.
Canada, led by PM Justin Trudeau, has been housing terrorists and allegedly supporting them in their anti-India activities. The Khalistani terrorists have defaced several Hindu temples and properties in Canada. Despite holding several official talks to condemn and protect the Hindu community residing in the country, the Canadian authorities seem to have hardly done anything to protect the Hindu community as the attacks on the Hindu temples continue to take place. The recent one happened on 8th September 2023.
Moreover, the Canadian PM was schooled by the Hindu community for using the Nazi symbol and the Hindu Swastika interchangeably. The HinduPACT (Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective), in the year 2022, had urged Trudeau and his staffer not to conflate the “Swastika,” an ancient and auspicious symbol for Hindus, Buddhists, and many indigenous communities around the world, with the “Hakenkreuz,” the Nazi symbol of hatred from the 20th century.
However, Trudeau happened to use the two symbols interchangeably again on Sunday (5th November) while raising his voice against the crimes. This shows nothing but Trudeau’s deliberate intentions to hurt the Indian and the Hindu community by not recognising the significant difference between the two symbols and using them interchangeably.
