SUMMERLAND, B.C.—The three Lekhi siblings drove from the crack of dawn Tuesday from Vancouver over a mountain pass to reach their family home in Summerland, where they were born and raised.
But when they reached the driveway, it didn’t feel like home anymore. The night before, their parents who live in the house alone heard the smash of rocks coming through their windows and called the police.
When Ramesh and Kiran Lekhi surveyed the damage, it was worse than they could’ve imagined. There was a red swastika, curse words and lewd images of penises all along the front and side of their home.
Overnight, swastikas were also spray painted on a bandshell in nearby Memorial Park, but no other private homes were reportedly targeted.
“The saddest part is that my mom didn’t even know what the swastika was and what it meant,” said 32-year-old Shivali Lekhi, who works as a respiratory therapist at BC Children’s Hospital.
“To explain what it means and for her to comprehend it means they hate the colour of our skin. It made her so scared. I don’t know how we can protect our parents since we don’t live here,” she told the Star.
That was when Marty Van Alphen, a longtime family friend and city councillor, interrupted to say, “Your parents can call me anytime. I’ll be here in a flash,” putting his arm around Shivali.
Over at the front of the house, her mother was sitting in a circle of friends and famly members, wiping tears from her face. Someone had brought a carafe of coffee and was pouring out cups for people to drink.
Her oldest son declined an interview, saying he was too angry to speak.
But the youngest sibling, Abhishek Lekhi, who had just graduated from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, stood defiantly in front of the swastika graffiti.
“There’s vandalism that happens and then there is hate crime. What they drew here represents a lot of hate and racism and made us fearful. For someone to come to our home while our parents were inside shows that hate is real,” the 23-year-old told the Star.
His parents had immigrated to Canada from east India in the 1970s, working various jobs in the Okanagan Valley before buying a piece of farmland to grow apples and cherries. For decades since, Ramesh has managed the farm, while Kiran works as a fruit packing house supervisor.
Ramesh appeared calm, as he studied the swastika on the house where he had raised his children, and pointed out the hole a rock made in a bedroom window and where a rock was still lodged in a living room window frame. Luckily, he and his wife weren’t in either room at the time.
“What can you do, about these kind of people? Whatever comes … I will stay in this house. We’re not going to go,” he said.
Summerland mayor Toni Boot, who is the first Black mayor in the town’s history, spent the morning at the home and said she will convene an urgent meeting of the city council to discuss how they will respond.
“This is not just targeting one family. It is targeting our East Indian community and our town as a whole. Regardless of our backgrounds, we all have to band together to tell people this is not okay,” she told the Star.
Sgt. Dave Preston, of the Summerland RCMP detachment, said police are investigating the two vandalism incidents as suspected hate crimes.
“Because this is not something we’ve seen here before in Summerland, that makes it much more concerning,” he said. “We are asking if anyone who has information to give us a call.”
Abhishek and his brother plan to stay in the house to support their parents for as long as they can.
“We will repair the broken windows and get down this spraypaint as soon as possible. I can’t even look at it for very long. It just brings so much heartache.”
With the support of their neighbours and friends, Abhishek thinks the home will be a safe place for them again.
“There are people who hate people like us, and think people of different colours and religions don’t belong … but we have to come together. Who we are should enrich us and not split us apart.”