Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) Society strongly condemns the racially motivated verbal and physical abuse of South-Asian seniors and children on July 28 in Surrey’s Aspen Park, said Satbir Singh Cheema, President and CEO of PICS Society.  

A very disturbing video of the incident circulating on the social media shows a Caucasian couple letting off a tirade of racist and foul language directed at grandmothers and children. Do remember, this is not an isolated incident; rather such incidents are getting more and more rampant across communities all over the country.  The victims invariably belong to the minority communities, more so from visible minorities – Indigenous, South-Asian, Chinese and others.

The harsh reality is that Colonial mindset of “superiority of the whites” is deeply entrenched in more minds than are discernible in everyday life and a blatant systemic and institutional discriminationcontinues its inherent existence at almost all levels of governance; both political and otherwise.  The symbolic political grandiloquence is not likely to fix anything unless we endeavor to permanently reform the supremacist attitude.  We strongly urge the Government to take tangible measures to put an end to the spread of hate, intolerance, racism and systemic discriminationin this great country.

People from every community, faith, race, culture and religion have the right to freely live and thrive without fearing for their own safety and security as also of their loved ones.  We owe it to our families and our future generations.  PICS Society reiterates its commitment to do its part by continuing to work judiciously towards building an inclusive and mutually respectful society.