Pro-Khalistan group in Canada to organise vigil for Kanishka bombing victims; families upset
The families of those killed in the June 1985 terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182, the Kanishka, are troubled by plans of a leading pro-Khalistan group in Canada to organise an event at a Toronto memorial for the victims on the eve of the anniversary of the tragedy.
The “March to mourn the victims of Air India 182” is being organised by the Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar’s Canada East unit, a group that has openly espoused Khalistan.
Leading the effort is pro-Khalistan figure Sukhminder Singh Hansra, who said that “even though solidarity and statements have been issued many times before”, this year, for the first time, the organisation is holding a “formal” candlelight vigil at the memorial at Humber Bay in Toronto. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited this memorial during his 2015 trip.
Bal Gupta, chairman of the Air India 182 Victims Families Association, voiced disquiet at the development. He said, “It will be upsetting to the families, there’s no doubt about it.” He added it could possibly be a case of guilty conscience.
Hansra added this “collective effort” on behalf of the community has a different objective. “We believe that misinformation about the bombing is haunting Sikhs. We need to be on record that we mourn the loss of lives.”
He was a leading figure in the move in December to ban Indian officials from gurdwaras across Canada. He is considered among the main grassroots organisers of the pro-Khalistan movement in Canada. Hansra said the Sikh community is “facing stigma for the past 33 years” over the bombing that took 329 lives. He sought a new commission of inquiry.
Hardliners, including Hansra, have supported a conspiracy theory claiming the bombing was meant to malign Khalistan movement.
Retired Supreme Court judge John Major, who headed a commission of inquiry that submitted its report in 2010, has been categorical that the “mastermind” was Babbar Khalsa International leader Talwinder Singh Parmar, a contention that wasn’t disputed during the trial.