Deepak Sharma has been found guilty by the North Vancouver provincial court. The former President of the Abbotsford Hindu temple was charged for sexual assault of a woman in his cab in January, 2019.
Following a trial, Judge Patricia Bond delivered her verdict on Friday. The date for sentencing is yet to be set.
Sharma had been driving for North Shore Taxi when the incident happened. The episode was partly captured by the cab’s onboard security cameras.
Sharma has been close to the Indian consulate in Vancouver and has been hosting public events to celebrate Indian nationalism, inviting Indian officials, including former Counsel Generals of India, Ashok Das and Abhilasha Joshi, besides former acting counsel general Amarjit Singh.
He had established a group called India Canada Association, that took into its embrace pro-India moderate Sikhs. One of its posters carried the pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Kumar Kovind.
His pictures from the programs designed to promote India-Canada friendship are available on social media. In one of these pictures, he can also be seen in the company of a visiting minister of the current right wing Hindu nationalist BJP government, Prakash Javadekar.
It is interesting that the Indian consulate often accuses anyone raising questions against the government of the day for its repressive policies of being anti-India, whereas individuals like Sharma have always been in their good books.
The situation has turned from bad to worse under an intolerant regime led by the BJP, where anyone from a minority community can conveniently be labeled as a traitor for trying to hold the government accountable. Not only can such a person be denied visa, in all likelihood their social media accounts will come under scrutiny. If that is what nationalism means, then it is better to be called antinational instead of being blue eyed boys of Hindu nationalist rulers.
Gurpreet Singh is a journalist
GET COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX
