The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian-origin lawmaker Jagmeet Singh have a new dispute after failing to distinguish between the Swastika and Adolf Hitler’s ‘Hakenkreuz,’ or hooked cross. According to a leading Hindu organization in the United States, it is critical for Indian-origin lawmakers Jagmeet Singh and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to avoid combining the ‘Swastika’, a Hindu symbol of auspiciousness, with the ‘Hakenkreuz’, a symbol of hatred used by Nazis.
Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party (NDP) tweeted that swastikas and Confederate flags have no place in Canada amid major protests by hundreds of truckers over the COVID-19 regulations. Trudeau and Singh have both recently accused demonstrators of waving Swastikas.
Indian groups HinduPACT, which advocates on behalf of Hindus and Buddhists worldwide, have told Trudeau and Singh that Hindus, Buddhists, and many indigenous communities around the world revere the Swastika as an auspicious symbol. They also say not to confuse it with the Nazi symbol of hatred, the Hasenkreuz.
How do Swastika and Hakenkreuz differ?
Swastika derives from the Sanskrit roots su (good) and ast (to prevail), and it has been employed in the Rig Veda’s prayers, which provide well-being, prosperity, or good fortune. As part of Hindu philosophy, it is said to represent the four yugas, or cyclical seasons. These are the four goals or ends of life, the four stages of existence, and the four Vedas. Swastika is even used as a girl’s name in some parts of India.
Swastikas are typically made of flowers or written in red, yellow, or blue ink or paint. Therefore, it is commonly found in a variety of temples and religious ceremonies worldwide, as well as in many South Asian homes for welcoming guests. The ‘hakenkreuz’, on the other hand, is generally recognized as a symbol of anti-Semitism, since the Holocaust led to the deaths of about 11 million Jews, and it remains traumatizing today for many people.
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