Victims’ families hope for justice — 30 years later
Portrait of terrorist group’s founder still hangs at temple
Thirty years after the Air India bombing, a large portrait of its mastermind hangs outside a Sikh temple in Surrey.
The Punjabi words on the picture of Talwinder Singh Parmar call him a martyr and a high priest.
There is no mention of the fact that a B.C. Supreme Court judge found Parmar to be the leader of the conspiracy to blow up two Air India planes on June 23, 1985.
Founder of the Babbar Khalsa terrorist group, Parmar was killed by Punjab police in 1992, before he could be tried for the devastating bomb plot that left 331 dead.
Among those was Surjit Singh Kalsi’s 21-year-old cousin Indira.
The Surrey senior is frustrated that all these years later, Parmar’s picture is allowed to hang in public view at Dasmesh Darbar temple.
“I am not feeling good. I am thinking the Canadian government, they don’t want to deal with this,” Kalsi said. “What is in the minds of those people hanging the photo?”
Kalsi will be among the B.C. residents who lost loved ones gathering today at the Air India memorial in Stanley Park to mark the 30th anniversary of Canada’s deadliest act of terrorism.
Three decades ago, a small group of B.C. Sikh separatists plotted to blow up two Air India planes in their campaign against the Indian government. Two suitcase bombs were checked in at Vancouver airport on flights connecting to Air India planes headed in opposite directions.
One of the flights blew up off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard. The second suitcase exploded at Tokyo’s Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers.
After a lengthy trial that ended in 2005 with the acquittals of two suspects and a public inquiry that aired myriad problems with the investigation, Kalsi despairs at the lack of justice for his beloved cousin.
And he feels there is still support for the B.C. terrorists behind the bombing.
“They change the name of the groups, but their work is the same,” he said. “Politicians don’t want to do anything because they are interested in votes only.”
Former B.C. MLA Dave Hayer shares Kalsi’s frustrations about the portrait.
“They should not be promoting any terrorist as a hero anywhere, regardless of the religion,” Hayer said.
His journalist father, Tara Singh Hayer, was assassinated in 1998 after revealing details about the bombers in his newspaper and agreeing to be a Crown witness.
“Our family feels very disappointed that after 17 years no one has been charged and convicted in his case,” Hayer said.
Retired RCMP deputy commissioner Gary Bass, who oversaw the Air India investigation for years, is in West Cork, Ireland this week to attend a memorial service there. Bass has been to Ireland more than a dozen times to join the gathering of Canadians who lost loved ones and the Irish who dealt with the aftermath of the tragedy when Air India flight 182 exploded off their coast.
He is working to secure funding to maintain the memorial in Ahakista, Ireland.
“Even though there are five other monuments in Canada, the one in Ireland is still kind of the main attraction, certainly for all the people that were involved,” said Bass, who first started going to Ireland while still a Mountie.
“Initially I saw it as part of the responsibility of the force to show support. But after that, you get to know everyone so well it becomes more of a personal thing,” he said.
Bass finds solace in the fact that one accused, Inderjit Singh Reyat, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for helping make the bomb. “It is not insignificant to have someone in jail for 27 years,” Bass said.
Reyat is serving a nine-year sentence for perjury for lying at the trial that saw his co-accused acquitted. He earlier served two sentences for manslaughter — one for the Air India bombing and one for the Narita explosion.
Despite the fact that 30 years have passed, the investigation “remains active and ongoing, with a dedicated team,” Sgt. Rob Vermeulen said.