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Air India flight 182: 1985 bombing back in news after Canada row

Published

12 months ago

September 27, 2023

The deadly bombing of an Air India flight in 1985 is back in the news after relations between India and Canada hit a new low.

Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was investigating “credible allegations” that could link the Indian government to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia. India has denied the allegations, calling them “absurd”.

Since then, several commentators in India have brought up the 1985 attack – also known as the “Kanishka bombing” because the Boeing 747 was named after the Emperor Kanishka – which also strained Delhi-Ottawa ties.

What happened in 1985?

On 23 June 1985, an Air India flight travelling from Canada to India via London, exploded off the Irish coast, killing all 329 people on board. The cause was a bomb in a suitcase that was transferred to the flight even though the ticket holder had not boarded. The victims included 268 Canadian citizens, mostly of Indian origin, and 24 Indians. Only 131 bodies were retrieved from the sea.

Irish naval authorities bring ashore debris from an Air India Boeing 747, 28 June 1985 in Cork following the crash of the aircraft 23 June 1985 with some 329 people on board. — Image caption,

Irish naval authorities in Cork bring debris ashore on 28 June 1985

While the flight was still in the air, another explosion at Tokyo’s Narita airport killed two Japanese baggage handlers. Investigators later said that this bomb was linked to the attack on Flight 182 and intended for another Air India flight to Bangkok but it exploded prematurely.

Who was behind the attack?

Canadian investigators have alleged that the bombings were planned by Sikh separatists who wanted to take revenge for the Indian army’s deadly 1984 storming of the Golden Temple in Punjab state.

A few months after the attack, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested Talwinder Singh Parmar – the leader of an extremist group called Babbar Khalsa that is now banned in Canada and India – and Inderjit Singh Reyat, an electrician, on various weapons, explosives and conspiracy charges.

But the case against Parmar – whom India had unsuccessfully tried to get extradited from Canada in the early 1980s – was flimsy and he was released. Investigators now believe that Parmar – who was killed by police in India in 1992 – was the mastermind behind the attack.

In 2000, police arrested Ripudaman Singh Malik, a wealthy Vancouver businessman, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, a mill worker from British Columbia, on a number of charges including mass murder and conspiracy.

Accused Air India bombers Ajaib Singh Bagri (R) and Ripudaman Singh Malik walk together through the exercise yard at the jail where they are in custody November 1, 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. — Image caption,

(From left) Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri at a jail in Vancouver in 2004.

But in 2005, after an expensive trial that lasted almost two years, both men were acquitted of all charges – the judge said there were factual errors and credibility issues with key witnesses who testified against the men. The BBC reported at the time that the verdict was greeted with shock, with victims’ relatives sobbing in the courtroom.

Reyat was the only person to be convicted in connection with one of the world’s worst aviation terror attacks. He was jailed in the UK for 10 years in 1991 for his involvement in the Japan bombing. In 2003, he pleaded guilty in a Canadian court to manslaughter in connection with the bombing of Flight 182, and was sentenced to another five years in prison. He was also later convicted of perjury at the trial of Malik and Bagri, and given an additional jail sentence.

Why was the investigation criticised?

Canadian authorities have been accused of not doing enough to prevent the attack and of bungling the investigation. After outrage from victims’ families over the acquittal of Malik and Bagri, the Canadian government set up a public inquiry in 2006, headed by a former Supreme Court judge, to look into the bombing. It concluded in 2010 that a “cascading series of errors” had led to the “largest mass murder in Canadian history”.

The inquiry heard that an unidentified witness had warned Canadian police of a plot to blow up a plane months before the attack.

06/23/05 - TORONTO, ONTARIO -Kavita Berry and daughter (on left) Sujata Berry pray and mourn the loss of her son/brother, Sharad Berry,16 yrs at the time at the 1985 Air India tragedy. Air India commemoration at noon on the lawn of Queen's Park, where the plaque is next to the tree that was planted for the victims 15 years ago. — Image caption,

Relatives of the victims at a memorial in Toronto in 2005.

It also emerged that in the weeks before the attack, members of the Canadian secret services had followed Parmar and Reyat to some woods on Vancouver Island where they heard “a loud explosive sound”, but did not regard this as important.

In the 1990s, two Sikh journalists who may have been key prosecution witnesses, were murdered in separate incidents in London and Canada – one of them was already in a wheelchair after an earlier shooting.

In 2000, a former Canadian secret services officer told a newspaper that he destroyed tapes with 150 hours of telephone calls made by Sikh suspects instead of handing them over to the RCMP as he feared it could reveal the identity of the informants.

What happened after that?

In 2010, after the inquiry report was released, then Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a public apology to the families of the victims – he said their “legitimate need for answers and indeed, for empathy, were treated with administrative disdain” for years.

In 2016, Reyat was released from a Canadian prison after serving two-thirds of a nine-year sentence – the next year, he was also allowed to leave a halfway house and live where he wanted to, a decision some experts criticised.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (C) leaves a wreath with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) during a ceremony at the Toronto memorial to the 1985 Air India bombing,on April 16, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario. — Image caption,

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) and his then Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper leaving wreaths at a memorial in Toronto in 2015

Last year, Ripudaman Singh Malik was shot dead in his car in Surrey, British Columbia in what police described as a targeted killing – they arrested two men on charges of first-degree murder. Their motive isn’t clear.

A study released by the Angus Reid Institute earlier this year around the 38th anniversary of the Air India bombing found that the tragedy is still “a relatively unknown piece of Canadian history” – they found that nine in 10 Canadians have little or no knowledge of the attack.

What about the reaction in India?

The Air India bombings have long evoked painful memories in India – while the majority of the victims were Canadian citizens, most of them were of Indian origin and had relatives in the country. The overwhelming sentiment in India is that justice has not been delivered to the victims.

In 2006, Canadian lawyer Richard Quance travelled to India to meet some of the relatives of the victims – he told the BBC that the families in India felt “excluded from the judicial process” and had questions about the process that led to the acquittals of Malik and Bagri.

Indian families left bereft by the bombing felt “neglected and left out”, Amarjit Bhinder, whose husband was the co-pilot on the Air India flight, told the BBC at the time.

The recent row between the countries has also brought the tragedy back into discussion in India – a federal minister recently tweeted about it, calling the bombing “one of the most reprehensible acts of aviation terror against India” and criticising the “mindsets that tolerated & even condoned” the act. Several news stories and opinion pieces have also remarked on the missteps by Canadian authorities in the run-up to and after the bombings.

Over the years, families of those who died have spoken of their anguish.

“I still meet people today who were somehow connected with the Air India bombing – my kindergarten daughter’s teacher was a schoolmate of a victim. It is surprising how widely the bombing affected Canadians,” says Susheel Gupta, who was 12 when his mother died.

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Whitehead becomes 1st CHL player to verbally commit to playing NCAA hockey

Published

57 mins ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

Braxton Whitehead said Friday he has verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first member of a Canadian Hockey League team to attempt to play the sport at the Division I U.S. college level since a lawsuit was filed challenging the NCAA’s longstanding ban on players it deems to be professionals.

Whitehead posted on social media he plans to play for the Sun Devils beginning in the 2025-26 season.

An Arizona State spokesperson said the school could not comment on verbal commitments, citing NCAA rules. A message left with the CHL was not immediately returned.

A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, could change the landscape for players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. NCAA bylaws consider them professional leagues and bar players from there from the college ranks.

Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.

“We’re pleased that Arizona State has made this decision, and we’re hopeful that our case will result in many other Division I programs following suit and the NCAA eliminating its ban on CHL players,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who launched the lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an email.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And it lists 10 Division 1 hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.

CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).

The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.

“I think that everyone involved in our coaches association is aware of some of the transformational changes that are occurring in collegiate athletics,” Forrest Karr, executive director of American Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota-Duluth athletic director said last month. “And we are trying to be proactive and trying to learn what we can about those changes.

Karr was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

Earlier this year, Karr established two committees — one each overseeing men’s and women’s hockey — to respond to various questions on eligibility submitted to the group by the NCAA. The men’s committee was scheduled to go over its responses two weeks ago.

Former Minnesota coach and Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Don Lucia said at the time that the lawsuit provides the opportunity for stakeholders to look at the situation.

“I don’t know if it would be necessarily settled through the courts or changes at the NCAA level, but I think the time is certainly fast approaching where some decisions will be made in the near future of what the eligibility will look like for a player that plays in the CHL and NCAA,” Lucia said.

Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward from Alaska who has developed into a point-a-game player, said he plans to play again this season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.

“The WHL has given me an incredible opportunity to develop as a player, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Whitehead posted on Instagram.

His addition is the latest boon for Arizona State hockey, a program that has blossomed in the desert far from traditional places like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan since entering Division I in 2015. It has already produced NHL talent, including Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord and Josh Doan, the son of longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who now plays for Utah after that team moved from the Phoenix area to Salt Lake City.

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AP college sports:

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Calgary Flames sign forward Jakob Pelletier to one-year contract

Published

1 hour ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – The Calgary Flames signed winger Jakob Pelletier to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday.

The contract has an average annual value of US$800,000.

Pelletier, a 23-year-old from Quebec City, split last season with the Flames and American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

He produced one goal and two assists in 13 games with the Flames.

Calgary drafted the five-foot-nine, 170-pound forward in the first round, 26th overall, of the 2019 NHL draft.

Pelletier has four goals and six assists in 37 career NHL games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kingston mayor’s call to close care hub after fatal assault ‘misguided’: legal clinic

Published

1 hour ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

A community legal clinic in Kingston, Ont., is denouncing the mayor’s calls to clear an encampment and close a supervised consumption site in the city following a series of alleged assaults that left two people dead and one seriously injured.

Kingston police said they were called to an encampment near a safe injection site on Thursday morning, where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people. Police said he was arrested after officers negotiated with him for several hours.

The suspect is now facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

In a social media post, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said he was “absolutely horrified” by the situation.

“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents,” he wrote.

The Kingston Community Legal Clinic called Paterson’s comments “premature and misguided” on Friday, arguing that such moves could lead to a rise in overdoses, fewer shelter beds and more homelessness.

In a phone interview, Paterson said the encampment was built around the Integrated Care Hub and safe injection site about three years ago. He said the encampment has created a “dangerous situation” in the area and has frequently been the site of fires, assaults and other public safety concerns.

“We have to find a way to be able to provide the services that people need, being empathetic and compassionate to those struggling with homelessness and mental health and addictions issues,” said Paterson, noting that the safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub are not operated by the city.

“But we cannot turn a blind eye to the very real public safety issues.”

When asked how encampment residents and people who use the services would be supported if the sites were closed, Paterson said the city would work with community partners to “find the best way forward” and introduce short-term and long-term changes.

Keeping the status quo “would be a terrible failure,” he argued.

John Done, executive director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, criticized the mayor’s comments and said many of the people residing in the encampment may be particularly vulnerable to overdoses and death. The safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub saves lives, he said.

Taking away those services, he said, would be “irresponsible.”

Done said the legal clinic represented several residents of the encampment when the City of Kingston made a court application last summer to clear the encampment. The court found such an injunction would be unconstitutional, he said.

Done added there’s “no reason” to attach blame while the investigation into Thursday’s attacks is ongoing. The two people who died have been identified as 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood.

“There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston,” Done said. “So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.”

The concern surrounding the safe injection site in Kingston follows a recent shift in Ontario’s approach to the overdose crisis.

Last month, the province announced that it would close 10 supervised consumption sites because they’re too close to schools and daycares, and prohibit any new ones from opening as it moves to an abstinence-based treatment model.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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