Canadian “atrocity”

Canadian “atrocity”
Poor consolation for bereaved families
 
The John Major Inquiry Commission to look into the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing has come down heavily on the Canadian government for its failure to prevent the tragedy in which 329 persons, mostly of Indian origin, lost their lives. The commission has not minced words in saying that “a cascading series of errors contributed to our police and security forces failing to stop the bombing” and has called it a “Canadian atrocity”. It has pointed out that despite this “largest mass-murder in Canadian history”, the national security continues to be badly organised between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS). This stinging rap for the Canadian authorities may lower the pressure on the Indian government somewhat, considering that it too has faced the heat because the perpetrators of the heinous crime are still at large. It has been facing criticism in spite of the fact that the bomb that blew up Flight 182 was manufactured in Canada as part of a plot that was hatched in Canada.

It has been established beyond doubt that the plane crashed because of a bomb, but despite years of criminal investigation, there has been just one conviction against a British Columbia mechanic, Inderjit Singh Reyat, who assembled bomb components. Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik were arrested and charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy 10 years ago but British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Ian Josephson acquitted them because he found that the main witness in the case was not credible. How can the families of the victims rest easy when the killers continue to be moving freely?

Ironically, the commission has offered little to the bereaved families except for calling for an independent body to be created to recommend an appropriate ex gratia payment and to oversee its distribution. To those who have waited 25 years for justice and relief, that may amount to no more than passing the buck. 

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