The controversial Liberal MP from Mississauga—Erin Mills invited trouble when she made a tweet about Kashmir province of India.
File Picture of Iqra Khalid posing with anti-Israel activist Amin El-Maoued. Picture Courtesy CBC.
Khalid, who is of Pakistani origin and has been close to Islamist elements in Canada, including the fundamental seminary ISNA Canada, that encourages Muslim youth in Canada to adopt fundamental Islam as their professed way of life, tweeted that the "innocent" people deserve the right to self-determination and I encourage decision-makers to understand their plight.
There were immediate reactions from several people who pointed out that Canada, which was itself facing threats of secession not only from Quebec but now also Western Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and had a long history of suppressing First nations by genocide and mass murder, did not really have the moral legs to peach to others. People also called out her hypocrisy in raising Kashmir while remaining silent about the Human rights violations by Pakistani Army in Baluchistan, the rape and abduction of Hindu girls in Pakistan, the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir and the genocide of Ughyr Muslims by Communist Chinese regime.
Moreover, Khalid's own proximity with Pakistan, which claims the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir and has waged four wars with India to wrest the territory, makes her stand biased and malafide.
Khalid was born in Bahawalpur Punjab, Pakistan. She came to Canada as a teenager in 1998, growing up in a Muslim dominated locality of Mississauga.
She became a Pakistan activist in college, and became the president of the Pakistani Students Federation. The Student bodies in Canada and US are known to be preferred recruiting grounds of ISI, the Pakistani intelligence agency. As president of the Pakistani Students Federation, Khalid organized a campaign to raise funds and emergency supplies for victims of the 2005 Earthquake in parts of Kashmir that are occupied by Pakistan.
Khalid has close ties with INSA Canada, a Muslim religious group that is active in Canada and targets Muslim youth in Canada with a fundamentalist approach to Islam. INSA is known to have close links with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI), a Pakistani Islamist organization. In 2018, Canada's Revenue Agency (CRA) had suspended ISNA-Canada for funding terrorist group Hizbul Muhajideen, which has been declared a terror organization by United Nations. The outfit has killed thousands of innocent people in Kashmir.
Although politically unknown and with few connections or wealth of her own, she was picked by the Liberal party to contest the federal elections from Mississauga-Erin Mills in 2015. Her sudden rise and selection by the Liberal party had come as a surprise to established Liberal leaders in the area and it was speculated that the local mosque and ISNA may have helped mobilize Muslim votes for her. The riding of Mississauga—Erin Mills has 16% Muslim votes .
In December 2016, Khalid introduced a private members motion (Motion 103) asking the government to develop a strategy to tackle systemic racism and religious discrimination. The motion was developed in response to a petition condemning Islamophobia in Canada, which was sponsored by MP Frank Baylis. The motion passed with 2/3 majority approval and a study was commissioned by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. The committee released a report in 2018, and as a result $23 million was marked to invest in anti-racism and anti-discrimination initiatives. Motion 103 has been accused of "singling out Muslims for special treatment", by condemning only Islamophobia by name and not explicitly mentioning other religious groups.
She was criticized for championing at an event in her constituency Palestinian Greek Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna, who is seen as a supporter and apologist for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
She was also criticized for giving a public service award to Amin El Maoued, at an event where Muslim school children were made to Chant “The Jews Are Our Dogs”. Maoued runs the Palestine House in Toronto and is known in Canada for his anti-Semitic views. Khalid apologized but was soon seen cavorting with Maoued again.