When Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes to pay tribute to the victims of the 1985 Air India-Kanishka bombing memorial in Toronto on April 16, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will in all likelihood, accompany him.
If this happens it will send out a strong signal to people of all communities that India and Canada have one view when it comes to terrorism of any and all nature.
Talking about the Prime Minister’s visit, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, “Of course when two leaders meet, they will go beyond these issues and one of the issues that both India and Canada have a common approach to is security matters, this includes as open societies we face threats.
The Kanishka Memorial is in the Humber Bay Park near Lake Ontario, and is a modest memorial for victims of the 1985 mid-air explosion that killed all 329 passengers and crew on board. Air India flight 182 exploded mid-air on June 23, 1985 in a terror attack organized by a Khalistani terror group called the Babbar Khalsa.
Most of those who died were Canadian citizens. Their names are inscribed on the wall.
Renowned classical dancer Lata Pada, who lost her daughter and husband in the incident, still maintains that the investigation of it was done unfairly.
Pada said the acquittal of two Babbar Khalsa members and the fact that the attack was never seen as a Canadian tragedy still rankles her.
She sees the Kanishka air crash as the first instance of aviation terrorism.
While recounting the horror of losing her loved ones, Pada says that dance and music have gone a long way to help her to recover from the tragedy. Pada today runs the Sampradaya Dance Academy in Toronto, and her group will be performing at a community programme at the Ricoh Colosseum.
“The Indian government conducted its own inquiry into the air plane accident that had nothing to do with the criminal element. The criminal investigation was done by the Canadian government and the case ran through the courts and the accused were found not guilty because of insufficient evidence beyond reasonable doubt. One person is in jail for constructing the bomb, and according to Canadian law he will be released in January 2016,” Air India 182 Victims Families Association chair Bal Gupta, whose wife Ramvati was on the plane.
“There is no reason to be satisfied with the investigation because the prime conspirators are still running loose, whether in Canada or in other countries. Unless they are brought to book, the families will not be satisfied. Prime Minister Modi can pick it up but the Canadian government is doing what it can. It was a huge tragedy and the largest terrorist act in Canadian history. The unfortunate thing is that the culprits are still running loose,” he added.
Till this incident, the Khalistani movement had the total support of the Canadian establishment and society. Funds, propaganda and active support to militancy came in from Canadian Sikhs and their well wishers in the Canadian establishment. That started changing.
Canadian law enforcement agencies proved that the Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa had carried out the blast in retaliation to Operation Blue Star of June 1984. The investigation and prosecution lasted 20 years.
In 2010, when former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited the Kanishka Air India memorial to pay homage, the Canadian leadership did not accompany him. This time it is expected that Prime Minister Harper will be there when the Indian Prime Minister heads there tomorrow.
