Anniversary of bombing rekindles painful memories amid frustration
Families of victims of 1985 terror attack say action from police, Canadian government is lacking
Relatives of some Air India bombing victims say they feel like a forgotten part of the country’s history as Canada marks its 150th birthday next week.
And they say they are no longer being kept informed about the ongoing RCMP investigation into the June 23, 1985, terrorist attack.
“Canada has forgotten the Canadians that were lost,” Shipra Rana said from Toronto on Thursday. “I don’t think that the cry of all of us is ever going to be heard.”
Her sister, Shyla, was a flight attendant on Air India Flight 182 when a B.C.-made suitcase bomb blew it up off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard.
A second B.C.-made bomb, destined for another Air India flight, blew up at Tokyo’s Narita Airport the same day, killing two baggage handlers.
Two B.C. Sikh separatists were charged and later acquitted in the deadly attack. A third man, Vancouver Island resident Inderjit Singh Reyat, was convicted of manslaughter for his role in both bombings, as well as perjury for lying at the trial of his co-accused.
He was released on full parole in February and reunited with his family.
Seeing Reyat get to carry on with his life was particularly difficult, Rana said.
“Of course [June] 23rd is very emotional because I didn’t see her after that,” Rana said of Shyla. “I remember her every day, and for me I relive that day every day.”
Rana will join other victims’ relatives today in Toronto’s Humber Bay Park for a service at the Air India memorial there.
And in Vancouver, Major Sidhu, his family and other B.C. victim’s relatives will gather at the Air India wall in Stanley Park at 6:30 p.m. to remember their lost loved ones.
Sidhu said the Canadian government and the police are ignoring the terrorism case, despite it being Canada’s worst mass murder.
“They never even think about it. They never even do anything about it,” Sidhu said. “I have no idea if police are working on the case.”
He said suspects in the case “are still walking around on the road and nobody touches them and nobody says anything to them.”
RCMP Staff Sgt. Annie Linteau confirmed that there is still an ongoing investigation. But she would not say how many officers are working on it.
“The RCMP is still seeking any assistance from members of the public, especially the members of the Sikh community who may have information that will advance the investigation,” she said via email Thursday in response to an inquiry.
She said investigators “continue to meet and engage with the victims’ family members” despite what several told the media.
Vancouver poet Renee Saklikar lost her aunt and uncle in the bombing — doctors Zeb and Omar Jethwa. Their son was orphaned at seven.
“I guess I’ve learnt — am always learning — about the trajectory of grief, how it comes and goes, and in this case, when the loss of life was huge and profound, how that loss continues. Sadness just washes over me,” Saklikar said Thursday.
“And this year, in particular, I’ve been reflecting on how making art, making poetry, has really helped me keep in touch with the happy vibrant alive-ness, if I can put it that way, of my dear aunty and uncle.”
Anil Hanse, an Australian whose father, Narendra, piloted the flight, remains frustrated by both the actions of police and the Canadian government.
He noted that Canadian politicians continue to attend events with Sikh separatists — some of whom are committed to the same ideology that led to the bombing.
“This government has no morals at all, selling the soul for a fistful of votes and conveniently forgetting about Canada’s worst mass murder,” he said. “No lessons learned after 32 years is horrendous and just plain rude.”