When I tweeted out to 680 News that there was an unusual level of police activity at the nearby plaza, I didn’t expect it to be anything serious.
It was around 11:00 PM when all the commotion caught my attention.
For a few minutes, I wondered whether there had been an accident at the Bombay Bhel Indian restaurant located across the intersection from our building in Mississauga. From my vantage point in a high-floor apartment, I had a bird’s eye view of the plaza and its goings-on. Perhaps it was a gas leak or food poisoning or some such thing, I mused.
It was wishful thinking on my part. I did not want it to be something intentionally caused.
When a blast rocks your neighbourhood, you are in unchartered territory.
As details of the attack poured in, it became evident that the two people who walked into the restaurant and detonated the explosive device had done it deliberately. The only question that remained was whether it was a targeted attack or a random one.
Once again, I found myself wishing that it was not a random attack. Somehow a crime stemming from a personal vendetta or a business disagreement seemed less heinous than one rooted in hate.
The better of the two bad options!
As I write this, police have indicated that the attack does not appear to be terror or hate related. The injured patrons who were taken to hospitals have been treated and released.
I am relieved, for now.
I try to analyze if the police statement appeases the Canadian in me or the Indian in me.
When you live in a multicultural society, the religious, political, and cultural ideologies of its residents don’t necessarily align. It does not take more than a few bad elements with extremist views to create chaos through targeted hate-based actions.
As a Canadian, I take solace in the fact that the two recent incidents involving mass casualties in the Greater Toronto area have turned out to be unrelated to terror.
Small consolation.
As an Indian, I am not about to jump to conclusions.
True, it would be a bummer if I had to look over my shoulder every time I went to an Indian restaurant in Mississauga or Toronto. But until the perpetrators are apprehended, speculating on their motives — racial, religious, geopolitical, or other — would be an exercise in futility that can have negative ramifications.
To state the obvious: A terrorist attack or a hate crime is not something that you want in your neighbourhood, or anywhere in the world. Until it happens in your neck of the woods, you assume that it’s the sort of thing that happens to other people; the kind of stuff you read about in the newspaper and see on TV.
The psychological impact of a blast in your neighbourhood goes beyond the scene of the crime.
“What’s next?”
For the sake of the restaurateurs in our beautiful city, I hope that the culprits are caught soon, and their true motives revealed.
The weather is turning, and the patios and bars are beginning to fill up. It would be a shame if this incident put a damper on it.
For Bombay Bhel specifically, I hope the adage “All publicity is good publicity” works. I am sure that the community will rally around them as they get back into business.
I certainly will.
