Kanishka terror attack anniversary: India says justice awaited; Trudeau silent on perpetrators

New Delhi

As Sunday (June 23) marked the 39th anniversary of the Kanishka Air India terror attack that happened in 1985 and resulted in the death of 329 civilians, India renewed its call for justice for the victims and reiterated its stance of zero tolerance towards terrorism. The bomb planted by Canada-based Khalistani terrorists exploded mid-air off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people on board, including Indian nationals and many Indian-origin Canadian nationals. It remains Canada's worst terror attack and one of the worst aviation disasters of all time. 

India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar posted on social media, "Today marks the 39th anniversary of one of the worst acts of terrorism in history...The anniversary is a reminder why terrorism should never be tolerated."

Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma led the memorial at the Air India Flight 182 monument at Commissioner's Park, Dow's Lake, Ottawa. Speaking at the sombre moment, he said, "The Kanishka bombing was a heinously planned cowardly attack carried out by individuals with a twisted ideology, aimed at striking fear and demonstrating power through violence. We still await full and desired justice to the families of the victims of the bombing."

Talwinder Singh Parmar, a Canadian national and the founder of the banned terrorist organisation Babbar Khalsa International was identified as the mastermind behind Canada's worst terror attack. Inderjit Singh Reyat was convicted of manslaughter in connection with the bombing and received a 15-year prison sentence in 2003. Reyat was released to the halfway house in 2016. Two other accused, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, were both acquitted and found not guilty.

Since Reyat refused to testify against anyone else, he remained the only suspect to be convicted in the case.

The Indian high commissioner said, "No government in the world should overlook the threat of terrorism emanating from its territories for political gains. Human lives are much more important than the transitory political interests. All terrorist activities should be met with exemplary legal and social actions before they start harming the larger humanity."

The Indian high commission's remarks come even as India has been raising its concerns over space being given to extremist ideology in the North American country. Khalistan extremists have time and again held protests and issued threats against Indian diplomats in Canada and the Indian leadership. Recently, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau attended an event that saw pro-Khalistan chants, which saw Delhi summoning Canada's Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi. 

Trudeau also issued a statement on the anniversary in which he pointed out that the attack "reminds us of the senseless violence that terrorism perpetuates and of our shared responsibility to unequivocally condemn terrorism."

In a detailed statement, he explained how Canada is "doing its part to counter terrorism and violent extremism", which included updating the Counter-Terrorism Strategy and providing "funding to organizations that help improve our understanding of violent extremism and our capacity to prevent these acts of violence." The statement, though, did not make any mention of the perpetrators of the terror attack. 

Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), who plays a key role in supporting the Trudeau government also issued a statement but made no mention of the perpetrators. In a post on X, he said, "We will not let hate win."