Trade Minister Mary Ng, MP for the Markham–Thornhill riding, on Saturday condemned an alleged incident at a mosque, calling it a hate crime, saying the incident had no place in Canadian society.
The Islamic Society of Markham (ISM) said in a statement an individual had come into the mosque in Markham, 30 km north of Toronto, on Thursday and apparently torn a Koran, ranted at worshippers, and then tried to ram them with his vehicle.
“Deeply disturbed to hear of the violent hate crimes and racist behaviour at the Islamic Society of Markham,” Ng said in a post on Twitter.
She did not give details of the incident but said: “This violence and Islamophobia has no place in our communities.”
Muslims see any attempt to damage a Koran as blasphemous because they consider the Islamic holy book to be the literal word of God.
The incident comes during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when worshippers throng to mosques. Thousands of people attend the mosque at Markham, the society said.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims said in a post on Twitter it was “greatly distressed” by the incident.
Police said on Sunday they had arrested and charged a male suspect after what they called a “hate-motivated incident” at a mosque.
Twenty-eight-year-old Sharan Karunakaran, was arrested in Toronto, the York Regional Police said in a statement.