Jagmeet Singh triggers a row with his refusal to condemn Kanishka bomber
TORONTO: Newly-minted leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Jagmeet Singh has already attracted controversy with his refusal to condemn the practice at some Canadian gurdwaras of displaying portraits of a man considered the “mastermind” of the Air India flight 182 terrorist bombing in 1985 that claimed 329 lives.
Asked repeatedly during an interview on national broadcaster CBC to disavow this practice of honouring Talwinder Singh Parmar as a “shaheed” or martyr, Singh avoided addressing the specific issue though he described the Kanishka bombing as a “heinous massacre”.
“I don’t know who’s responsible (for the bombing) but I think we need to find out who’s respon- sible, we need to make sure the investigation results in a conviction of someone ...” Singh said.
This reluctance to denounce such glorification has deeply “disappointed” the families of those who perished in the bombing that was blamed on the proKhalistan Babbar Khalsa militant group. There were 268 Canadian citizens among the dead and Inder Singh Reyat was the only person convicted in the case related to the bombing.
Bal Gupta, chair of Air India 182 Families’ Association, said of the displaying of such portraits: “The whole thing is glorifying terrorism and terrorists...”
On Jagmeet Singh staying mum on the matter, Gupta commented, “He should have disowned the glorification of terrorism, even suspected terrorism or promoters of terrorism. He should have clearly said that, but he has every right to his opinion.”
Gupta’s wife Ramwati was among the victims of the attack.
Gupta, who lives in Toronto, watched the interview and was “disappointed” at Singh’s non-reaction. Referring to the host of the CBC programme on which Singh appeared, Gupta said, “I think Mr (Terry) Milewski did a good job to put him on the spot.”
On Sunday, Singh became the first person of Indian and Sikh heritage to be elected leader of one of Canada’s three largest national parties. He will lead NDP’S campaign for the federal election in October 2019.
Commenting on the issue, Shuvaloy Majumdar, Munk Senior Fellow at the MacdonaldLaurier Institute in Ottawa said, “Silence speaks volumes. He sidestepped the question three times, which is unconscionable given that this is the biggest terrorist incident that Canada has experienced.”
Majumdar said this issue and those related to it will “continue to plague” Singh. “Federal leaders have a moral obligation in Canada to condemn terrorism in all forms unequivocally and give no oxygen to the idea that there is legitimacy behind the Khalistan movement,” he said.