Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...
flight operating on the
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
–
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
–
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
–
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237Bregistered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to London, at an altitude of over the Atlantic Ocean, as a result of an explosion from a bomb planted by Canadian Sikh terrorists. The remnants of the airliner fell into the ocean approximately off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens, and 24 Indian citizens. The bombing of Air India Flight 182 is the deadliest aviation incident in the history of Air India and was the world's deadliest act of aviation terrorism until the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in 2001.
Investigators found the attack was a part of a larger transnational terrorist plot and had included two attempted plane bombings. The first bomb was meant to explode aboard Air India Flight 301, which was scheduled to take off from
Narita International Airport
Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airpo ...
, Japan, but it exploded before it was loaded onto the plane. This bomb detonated early, killing two baggage handlers, because perpetrators failed to take into account that Japan does not observe
daylight saving time
Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...
. The second bomb planted aboard Air India Flight 182 in Canada was successful. It was eventually determined that both the plot and the bombs, which had been hidden inside luggage, had originated in Canada. The plan's execution had transnational consequences and involved citizens and governments from five nation states. The
Babbar Khalsa
Babbar Khalsa International (BKI, pa, ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, ), better known as Babbar Khalsa, is an organisation whose main objective is to create an independent Sikh country, Khalistan. It operates in Canada, Germany and the United ...
separatist group was implicated in the bombings.
Although a handful of members were arrested and tried for the Air India bombing, the only person convicted was Inderjit Singh Reyat, a dual British-Canadian national and a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), who pleaded guilty in 2003 to
manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...
. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for assembling the bombs that exploded on board Air India Flight 182 and at Narita.
The subsequent investigation and prosecution lasted almost twenty years. This was the most expensive trial in Canadian history, costing nearly C$130 million. The Governor General-in-Council in 2006 appointed the former
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
Justice John C. Major to conduct a commission of inquiry. His report, which was completed and released on 17 June 2010, concluded that a "cascading series of errors" by the
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...
, the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
(RCMP), and the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...
(CSIS) had allowed the terrorist attack to take place.
Background
During the 1970s, many Sikhs emigrated to western Canada for better economic opportunities. These included men who later became leaders and members of the
Babbar Khalsa
Babbar Khalsa International (BKI, pa, ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, ), better known as Babbar Khalsa, is an organisation whose main objective is to create an independent Sikh country, Khalistan. It operates in Canada, Germany and the United ...
including
Talwinder Singh Parmar
Talwinder Singh Parmar (26 February 1944 – 15 October 1992) born in Kapurthala, Punjab, India was a sikh kharku. He was also the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International, better known as Babbar Khalsa, a militant Sikh g ...
, Ajaib Singh Bagri, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Inderjit Singh Reyat. By the 1980s, the area around
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
, had become the largest centre of Sikh population outside India.
In India on 13 April 1978 a convention organised by the
Sant Nirankari Mission
Sant Nirankari Mission is a Nirankari spiritual organisation based in Delhi, India. It was founded in 1929 by Buta Singh. Mata Sudiksha, the daughter of Satguru Baba Hardev Singh, is the sixth spiritual head of the Mission since 17 July 2018 ...
took place at the time of the important Sikh festival of ''
Vaisakhi
Vaisakhi (Punjabi: ), also pronounced Baisakhi, marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April and sometimes 14 April as a celebration of spring harvest primarily in Northern India. Further, ot ...
'', a celebration of the birth of
Khalsa
Khalsa ( pa, ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,Kha ...
. The convention was led by
Gurbachan Singh
Gurbachan Singh (10 December 1930 – 24 April 1980) was the third guru of the Sant Nirankari sect, considered to be heterodox by all Sikhs. He was born in Peshawar (modern-day Pakistan). He was declared next Baba by his father and predecesso ...
, leader of the Sant Nirankari Mission, and was organized in Amritsar with permission from the
Akali Dal
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ( translation: ''Supreme Akali Party'') is a centre-right sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are ...
state government. The practices of the Sant Nirankari were considered heresy by the school of orthodox Sikhism expounded by Bhindranwale. From the premises of the Golden Temple, the preeminent spiritual site of SikhismExcerpts /ref> Bhindranwale delivered an angry sermon in which he declared that he would not allow the convention to go ahead and that he would "go there and cut them to pieces." A procession of about 200 Sikhs led by Bhindranwale and Fauja Singh of the
Akhand Kirtani Jatha
The Akhand Keertanee Jathaa (AKJ) is a ''jatha'' (collective group) of Sikhism dedicated to the Sikh lifestyle. The Jatha follows a strict discipline in keeping the Rehat of Guru Gobind Singh Jee. They also enjoy an active style of Keertan rec ...
(AKJ) left the Golden Temple, heading towards the Nirankari Convention. Fauja attempted to behead Gurbachan Singh with his sword but was shot dead by bodyguards, while Bhindranwale escaped. In the ensuing violence, several people were killed: two of Bhindranwale's followers, eleven members of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and three Nirankaris.
A criminal case was filed against 62 Nirankaris who were charged by the Akali-led government in Punjab with the murder of 13 Sikhs. The case was heard in the neighbouring
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
state, and all the accused were acquitted, on the basis that they acted in
self-defence
Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...
. The Punjab government decided not to appeal the decision. As a result of the Nirankaris receiving positive attention in the media, some orthodox Sikhs claimed this to be a conspiracy to defame the Sikh religion. Bhindranwale increased his rhetoric against the perceived enemies of Sikhs. A letter of authority was issued by
Akal Takht
The Akal Takht ("Throne of the Timeless One") is one of five takhts (seats of power) of the Sikhs. It is located in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India. The Akal Takht (originally called Akal Bunga) was built by ...
to ostracize the Sant Nirankaris and created an environment where some of his followers felt justified to kill the perceived enemies of Sikhism. The chief proponents of this attitude were the
Babbar Khalsa
Babbar Khalsa International (BKI, pa, ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, ), better known as Babbar Khalsa, is an organisation whose main objective is to create an independent Sikh country, Khalistan. It operates in Canada, Germany and the United ...
founded by the widow,
Bibi Amarjit Kaur
Bibi is a given name, nickname and surname.
Notable people with this name As a nickname or stage name
* Bibi Andersson (1935-2019), Swedish actress
* Bibi (artist) (born 1964), French visual artist Fabrice Cahoreau
* Bibi Baskin (born 1952), ...
of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha; the
Damdami Taksal
The Damdamī Ṭaksāl is an orthodox Sikh cultural and educational organization, based in India. Its headquarters are located in the town of Mehta Chowk, approximately 40 km north of the city of Amritsar. It has been described as a seminary or ...
led by
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (; born Jarnail Singh Brar; 2 June 1947– 6 June 1984) was a militant leader of the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal. He was not an advocate of Khalistan. "Bhindranwale was not an outspoken supporter of Khalistan, ...
, who had also been in Amritsar on the day of the attack on the convention; the Dal Khalsa, formed with the object of demanding a sovereign Sikh state; and the All India Sikh Students Federation, which was banned by the government.
The founders of this
Panthan Panth (also panthan, meaning "path" in Sanskrit) is the term used for several religious traditions in India. A panth is founded by a guru or an acharya, and is often led by scholars or senior practitioners of the tradition.
Some of the major pant ...
group (sect) in Vancouver vowed to avenge the deaths of Sikhs. Talwinder Singh Parmar led the militant wing of AKJ, which became the Babbar Khalsa, to attack the Nirankaris. On 24 April 1980
Gurbachan Singh
Gurbachan Singh (10 December 1930 – 24 April 1980) was the third guru of the Sant Nirankari sect, considered to be heterodox by all Sikhs. He was born in Peshawar (modern-day Pakistan). He was declared next Baba by his father and predecesso ...
, the ''Baba'' (head) of the Nirankaris, was killed. A member of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Ranjit Singh, surrendered and admitted to the assassination three years later, and was sentenced to serve thirteen years at the
Tihar Jail
Tihar Prisons, also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram, is a prison complex in India and the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, Government of Delhi, the prison contains nine central prisons, and is one ...
in Delhi.
On 19 November 1981, Parmar was among the terrorists who escaped from a shootout in which two Punjab Police officers were gunned down outside the house of
Amarjit Singh Nihang Amarjit may refer to
* Amarjit Chandan, British-Punjabi writer
* Amarjit Chopra, Indian chartered accountant
* Amarjit Kaypee , Indian cricketer
* Amarjit Singh Dulat, Indian intelligence officer
* Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Indian footballer
* Ama ...
in
Ludhiana district
Ludhiana district is one of the 23 districts in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It is Punjab's largest district by both area and population. Ludhiana, the largest city in Punjab, is the district headquarters.
The main industries are ...
. This added to the notoriety of Babbar Khalsa and its leader. He went to Canada. In 1982, India issued a warrant for Parmar's arrest for six charges of murder, stemming from the killing of the police officers. India notified Canada that Parmar was a wanted terrorist in 1981 and asked for his extradition in 1982. Canada denied the request in July 1982.
After an
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
alert, Parmar was arrested while attempting to enter
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. West Germany chose to handle the case locally rather than transfer him over to India. Parmar went on a hunger strike to win his religious right to wear a turban and have vegetarian meals in the
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
jail. After India received information that Parmar had made assassination threats against
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
, they found that Germany had decided that the evidence was weak.
In 1983, rebels led by Damdami Taksal
Jathedar
A jathedar ( pa, ਜੱਥੇਦਾਰ) is a leader of high regard chosen to head and ensure discipline within a jatha, a body of Sikhs.
The Jathedar of the Akal Takht is the central head of the Sikhs worldwide, who makes all important decisions ...
(leader)
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (; born Jarnail Singh Brar; 2 June 1947– 6 June 1984) was a militant leader of the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal. He was not an advocate of Khalistan. "Bhindranwale was not an outspoken supporter of Khalistan, ...
had occupied
Akal Takht
The Akal Takht ("Throne of the Timeless One") is one of five takhts (seats of power) of the Sikhs. It is located in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India. The Akal Takht (originally called Akal Bunga) was built by ...
Sikh temple
A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...
. They passed the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, which demanded more powers to the state from Central government and autonomy by changes in the Indian constitution. Or else they demanded creation of a Sikh state, to be called
Khalistan
The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (' Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that cur ...
. In the violent events since the inception of Akali Dharm Yudh Morcha, the militants allegedly killed 165 Hindus and Nirankaris, and 39 Sikhs. The total number of deaths was 410 in violent incidents and riots while 1,180 people were injured. The Central government rejected the secessionist demands and on 3–6 June 1984,
Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
Indira Gandhi ordered
Operation Blue Star
Operation Blue Star was the codename of a military operation which was carried out by Indian security forces between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of ...
, to remove the militants from the Golden Temple. Sikhs protested against the operation worldwide. On 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was
assassinated
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
1984 anti-Sikh riots
The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...
, guided by certain
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
members, killed thousands of Sikhs in India.
Preparation
Parmar visited
Inderjit Singh Reyat
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to Lond ...
, an auto mechanic and electrician who lived in
Duncan, British Columbia
Duncan (pop. 5,047 in 2021) is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is the smallest city by area (2.07 square kilometres, 0.8 square miles) in Canada. It was incorporated in 1912.
Location
The city is about 45 kilo ...
, a small community north of Victoria on Vancouver Island. He asked him to construct a bomb; Reyat later claimed he had no idea for what it would be used. Reyat asked various people in the community about dynamite, saying he wanted to remove tree stumps on his property. Reyat also discussed explosives with a co-worker, while expressing anger at the Indian government and Indira Gandhi in particular.
Later that year, Ajaib Singh Bagri accompanied Parmar as his right-hand man in the militancy against the Indian government. Bagri worked as a forklift driver at a sawmill near the town of
Kamloops
Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...
. He was known as a powerful preacher in the
Indo-Canadian
Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The terms ''Indo-Canadian'' or ''East Indian'' are sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indian Cana ...
community. The pair travelled across Canada to incite Sikhs against the Indian government for conducting Operation Blue Star. They used the meetings as fundraisers for Babbar Khalsa. A former head priest in Hamilton testified that Bagri said, "The Indian Government is our enemy, the same way the Hindu society is our enemy." Bagri told a congregation, "Get your weapons ready so we can take revenge against the Indian Government".
Bagri speech
On 28 July 1984, the founding convention of the
World Sikh Organization
World Sikh Organization (WSO) is a Sikh religious and non-profit organization whose 1984 founding goal was "to provide an effective, credible voice to represent Sikh interests on the world stage", after Operation Blue Star. Its stated goal is "t ...
(WSO) was held at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in New York City. The WSO's constitution was committed to diplomacy and non-violence, and it said the organisation would "strive for an independent Sikh homeland by peaceful means." Although Parmar was blocked at the border (he had been put under 24-hour watch), Bagri gave an hour-long speech at the convention.
He said, "until we kill 50,000 Hindus, we will not rest," before a crowd of 4,000 people; this statement was quoted against him at his later trial. Bagri defended hijackers who had forced the 'hated' Indian government into negotiations with the Sikh leadership, and was critical of Gandhian non-violence. "We are to die in the battlefield, fighting, by sacrificing ourselves. To die such a death, which is the mission of the Khalsa, is our religion".Matas, Robert. "Bagri Called for the Death of 50,000 Hindus", ''The Globe and Mail'', 3 December 2003"
Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front
The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) is a militant separatist organization active in both the Indian-administered and Pakistani-administered territories of Kashmir. It was founded by Amanullah Khan, with Maqbool Bhat also credited as a co ...
members and Afghan mujahideen were also invited to the rally. An Afghan ''
mujahid
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...
'' said, "We will bring together all movements against India because India allies itself with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
." (At the time, the
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...
was underway, and many foreign mujahideen had gone to Afghanistan to help the Muslims.)
A professional translator testified later as a witness that Bagri's speech in Punjabi had been distorted by observers who failed to understand "its context within Sikh history and literature;" he denied that Bagri had urged Sikhs to take revenge against all Hindus. He conceded that Bagri was trying to "inflame passions and arouse national pride".
Plot preparations
In late 1984, at least two informers reported to authorities on the first abortive plot to bomb Air India Flight 182, which then flew out of Montreal's Mirabel International Airport. In August 1984, the known criminal Gerry Boudreault claimed that Talwinder Parmar showed him a suitcase stuffed with $200,000 payment if he would plant a bomb on a plane. He decided, "I had done some bad things in my time, done my time in jail, but putting a bomb on a plane ... not me. I went to the police." In September, in an attempt to get his sentence for theft and fraud reduced, Harmail Singh Grewal of Vancouver told the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...
(CSIS) and the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
(RCMP) of the plot to bomb the flight from Montreal. Both reports were dismissed as unreliable.
The moderate Sikh
Ujjal Dosanjh
Ujjal Dev Dosanjh ( pa, ਉੱਜਲ ਦੇਵ ਦੁਸਾਂਝ) (), (born September 9, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 33rd premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada member of ...
had spoken out against violence by Sikh extremists. He was attacked in February 1985 by an assailant wielding an iron bar. His skull was broken and he required 80 stitches in his head. On 5 March 1985, three months before the bombing, the CSIS obtained a court order to place Parmar under surveillance for one year. Although the Babbar Khalsa had not yet been officially banned, the
affidavit
An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...
for surveillance stated, it "is a Sikh terrorist group now established in Canada", it "has claimed responsibility for more than forty assassinations of moderate Sikhs and other persons in the Punjab," and "penned its name to threatening letters ddressed tonbsp;... high officials in India". The affidavit said that on 15 July 1984, Parmar urged the Coach Temple congregation of
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, to "unite, fight and kill" to avenge the attack on the Golden Temple.
Explosives and clocks
In April 1985, a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
familiar with blasting was asked by Reyat how much dynamite it would take to blow up a tree stump. Reyat asked numerous people in Duncan about explosives, and expressed the need for revenge. Reyat sought cases of dynamite and appeared willing to pay three times the normal price. He eventually confided to one acquaintance that it was not about stumps, but "trouble in the old country", that he needed "explosives to help my countrymen." One friend declined to get him dynamite, but did lend him a 400-page manual on mining with explosives.
On 8 May 1985, Reyat bought a Micronta digital automobile clock at the
RadioShack
RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921.
At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...
store in Duncan. Designed for a 12-volt automobile electrical system, it could also be powered by a 12-volt lantern battery. The 24-hour alarm activated a buzzer. Reyat returned to the store a week later to buy an electrical relay, after asking how to get the buzzer signal to power another device.
Wiretap
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
pers recorded nine telephone calls in one month between Reyat and Parmar's residence in Vancouver; Reyat called either from his residence or workplace on Vancouver Island. As a result of this activity, the government added Reyat to the list of persons being monitored for terrorist activities. The Canadian government would later accuse Reyat of lying in 2003, when at first he said he did not know for what the three clocks he had bought could be used. He later said Parmar needed an explosive device to blow up a bridge or something large in India, and that he needed timers for an explosive device. The relay could be used to trigger the detonator circuit for a
blasting cap
A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common.
The commercial use of explosives uses electri ...
, which would provide the initial shock needed to detonate larger explosives, such as dynamite.
Reyat later visited a television repair shop, seeking help for a partially disassembled car clock wired to a lantern battery. He claimed that he needed help so that the buzzer stayed on rather than intermittently beeping, so that it would turn on a light in his camper to wake him up. The repairman knew his friend did not own a camper. Justice J. Raymond Paris said at Reyat's 1991 trial that this was an odd use for a timer.
Bomb tests
By mid-May, Reyat had gone into the woods to test a device with a 12-volt battery, cardboard cylinder, gunpowder, and some dynamite, but the device failed to work. The wooded area was in proximity to Duncan and
Paldi
Paldi is an area located in South Western Ahmedabad, India. Corporate offices and city centres of many national and international companies like ICICI Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Religare, Claris, Gujarat Gas are located within Paldi. It ...
. Later, Reyat acquired between six and eight sticks of dynamite "to blow up unidentified stumps if need be in the future" from a Duncan well driller after visiting his house to fix a truck. He also obtained a few blasting caps days later. On 31 May 1985, Reyat brought his timer, attached to a
boombox
A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through ...
, into his shop so that his fellow employee at Duncan Auto Marine Electric could help him fix it for a friend, but he returned the radio after it did not work properly.
On 4 June, CSIS agents Larry Lowe and Lynn Macadams followed Parmar and a "youthful man" (identified only as "Mr. X", "Third Man" or "Unknown Male") as they went from Parmar's house to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, rode the
Nanaimo
Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...
-bound ferry, and visited Reyat at his home and shop at Auto Marine Electric. The three drove to a deserted bush area, where Reyat was observed taking an object into the woods. Staying out of sight, the agents, who did not bring a camera, only heard a bang which sounded like a "loud gunshot". Later tests showed it could also have been an explosion, and later searches turned up remnants of an aluminium "electrical blasting cap". J.S. Warren, director-general of counter-terrorism at CSIS, would later ask on 16 July 1986 why they did not ask the police to stop and question the suspects, or search the vehicle, which might have deterred the bombing plot.
The next day, Reyat purchased a large Sanyo component tuner, model FMT 611 K, at Woolworths, and left his name and telephone number on the charge slip, which was later found in a search of his home. Reyat also bought smokeless gunpowder from a sporting goods store, signing "I. Reyat" on the explosives log. Study of debris from the Narita explosion would eventually show the bomb had been housed inside a Sanyo tuner with a serial number matching a model sold only in British Columbia, and used a Micronta clock as a timer, which powered a relay with an Eveready 12-volt battery to trigger blasting caps to set off a high explosive consistent with sticks of dynamite, all matching items purchased by Reyat. This would lead to his eventual conviction. As late as 2010, Reyat admitted only to buying and assembling some parts, but denied he ever made a bomb, knew what the bomb was to be used for, who was behind any plot, or that he ever asked or knew the name of the man who he said stayed in his house for a week completing construction of the explosive device after his device failed.
On 9 June 1985, a police informer in Hamilton reported that Parmar and Bagri had visited the Malton Sikh Temple, warning the faithful that "it would be unsafe" to fly Air India. Vancouver police also monitored militants 11 days before the bombing. A leader of the
International Sikh Youth Federation
The International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) is a proscribed organisation that aims to establish an independent homeland for the Sikhs of India in Khalistan. It is banned as a terrorist organisation under Australian, European Union, Japanese, ...
complained that no Indian consuls or ambassadors had yet been killed, but the response was, "You will see. Something will be done in two weeks".
Tickets
The suspects in the bombing used pay phones and talked in code. Translators' notes of wiretapped conversations include the following exchange between Talwinder Parmar and a follower named Hardial Singh Johal on 20 June 1985, the day the tickets were purchased:
:Parmar: Did you write the story?
:Johal: .
:Parmar: Do that work first.
This conversation appears to be an order from Parmar to book the airline tickets. It is believed that "writing the story" referred to purchasing the tickets; afterward, Johal phoned Parmar back and asked if he could "come over and read the story he asked for", to which Parmar agreed.
Moments after the wiretapped conversation, at 01:00 UTC, a man calling himself "Mr. Singh" made reservations for two flights on 22 June: one for "Jaswant Singh" to fly from
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
to Toronto on
Canadian Pacific Air Lines
Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian a ...
(CP) Flight 086 and one for "Mohinderbel Singh" to fly from Vancouver to Tokyo on Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 003 and connect to Air India Flight 301 to
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
. At 02:20 UTC on the same day, another call changed the reservation in the name of "Jaswant Singh" from CP 086 to CP 060, also flying from Vancouver to Toronto. The caller further requested to be put on the waiting list for AI 181 from Toronto to Montreal and AI 182 from Montreal to Bombay. The next day, at 19:10 UTC, a man wearing a turban paid for the two tickets with $3,005 in cash at a CP ticket office in Vancouver. The names on the reservations were changed: "Jaswant Singh" became "M. Singh" and "Mohinderbel Singh" became "L. Singh". The reservation and purchase of these tickets together would be used as evidence to link the two flights to one plot.
One telephone number left as a contact was Vancouver's Ross Street Sikh temple. The other number became one of the first leads tracked by investigators, and was traced to Hardial Singh Johal, a janitor at a Vancouver high school. Johal was an avid follower of
Talwinder Singh Parmar
Talwinder Singh Parmar (26 February 1944 – 15 October 1992) born in Kapurthala, Punjab, India was a sikh kharku. He was also the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International, better known as Babbar Khalsa, a militant Sikh g ...
, and thus closely scrutinised in the investigation following the
Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...
bombing. He was alleged to have stored the suitcase explosives in the basement of a Vancouver school and to have purchased the tickets for the flights on which the bombs were placed. Mandip Singh Grewal recounted how he saw and recognised Johal as his school's janitor when he said goodbye to his father, one of the Flight 182 victims, at the airport on the day of the bombing.
Reyat went to work on 21 June. Phone records show he called Johal at 7:17 p.m. A witness whose name was protected testified that Bagri asked to borrow her car the night before the bombing to take some suitcases to the airport, though he would not be flying with them.
Emperor Kanishka
Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire r ...
''. The aircraft had its first flight on 30 June 1978 and was delivered to
Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...
in July, 1978.
Bombings
On 22 June 1985, at 13:30 UTC (6:30 a.m. PDT) a man calling himself "Manjit Singh" (checked in as M. Singh) called to confirm his reservations on Air India Flight 181/182. He was told he was still wait-listed, and was offered alternative arrangements, which he declined. At 15:50 UTC (8:50 a.m.), M. Singh checked into a busy line of 30 people for the CP flight from Vancouver to Toronto, which was scheduled to leave at 9:18 a.m. He asked agent Jeannie Adams to check his dark brown, hard-sided
Samsonite
Samsonite International S.A. () is an American premium luggage manufacturer and retailer, with products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. The company was founded in Denver, Colorado, United States.
Its regis ...
suitcase, and have it transferred to Air India Flight 181 and then to Flight 182 to India. The agent initially refused his request to inter-line the baggage since his seat from Toronto to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
and from Montreal to
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
was unconfirmed. He insisted, but the agent again rebuffed him, telling him, "Your ticket doesn't read that you're confirmed" and "we're not supposed to check your baggage through." The man said, "Wait, I'll get my brother for you." As he started to walk away, she relented and agreed to accept the bag, but told him he would have to check in again with Air India in Toronto. After the mass murders, Adams would realise this deception got the bag on its way to Flight 182. The anxious man was never identified. At 16:18 UTC (9:18 a.m.), Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 60 to
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...
departed without Singh.
Reyat would later testify that he travelled by ferry from Duncan to Vancouver that morning to work on his brother's truck. Phone records show someone called from his residence in Duncan to Johal's number at 10:50 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. later that day. Reyat was seen in the company of another East Indian man at the Auto Marine Electric store in
Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
, near Parmar's house, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. He bought two 12 volt batteries similar to the one used in the explosive device tested in the woods, and they were to fit into a special metal bracket he had brought with him. Constable Clark-Marlowe later believed there was "ample time for Inderjit Singh Reyat to obtain the batteries at the Auto Marine Electric limited store in Burnaby, incorporate the batteries in the assembly of an explosive device and then have the device transported in a suitcase to the Vancouver airport".
At 20:22 UTC (4:22 p.m. EDT), Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 60 arrived in Toronto twelve minutes late. Some of the passengers and baggage, including the bag M. Singh had checked in, were transferred to Air India Flight 182. In response to threats from Sikh activists, Air India had requested extra security, leading Canada to assign extra policemen in terminals in Toronto and Montreal, and all baggage was to be checked by X-ray or by hand. But after the x-ray machine broke down that day, inspectors used a portable PDD-4 explosive sniffer. An Air India security officer had demonstrated that it made a loud scream when a lit match was held an inch away, and showed that it should be used around the edge of the bag being tested. Between 5:15 and 6:00, the sniffer was heard to beep at a soft-sided maroon suitcase with a zipper going all around; it beeped in a low volume near the zipper lock. But Air India was not informed since checkers were not instructed on how to react to only a short beep, so they allowed the bag to pass on its way. Later investigation would determine that the two containers that could have contained M. Singh's bag were placed close to the sensitive electronic bay of the aircraft.
At 00:15 UTC (8: 15 p.m., 22 June) on 23 June, Air India Flight 181, a Boeing 747-237B named ''Emperor
Kanishka
Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire re ...
'', departed
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...
for
Montréal–Mirabel International Airport
Montréal–Mirabel International Airport , originally called Montréal International Airport, widely known as Mirabel and branded as YMX International Aerocity of Mirabel (''YMX Aérocité internationale de Mirabel''), is a cargo and former i ...
. The aircraft was an hour and 40 minutes late because a " fifth pod" (a spare engine) was installed under the aircraft below the left wing to be flown to India for repairs. Some of the parts had to be stored in the rear cargo compartment. The 5th pod engine was a serviceable spare engine that had been on lease to
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
after one of their Boeing 747s suffered an engine failure on the way to India. That engine received a post lease inspection and was declared serviceable by Air Canada personnel.
The plane arrived in Montréal-Mirabel International Airport at 01:00 UTC (9:00 p.m., 22 June). There, it became Flight 182.Kirpal, p. 31. "Air India Boeing 747 aircraft VT-EFO 'Kanisha' was operating flight AI-181 (Bombay-Delhi-Frankfurt-Toronto-Montreal) on 22 June 1985. From Montreal it becomes AI-182 from Mirabel to Heathrow Airport, London en route to Delhi and Bombay." Flight 182 departed for
London Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the Airports of London, London airport sys ...
, en route to
Palam International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of , is situated in Palam, Delhi, southwest of the New Delh ...
, Delhi, and
Sahar International Airport
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is an international airport serving Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It is the second busiest airport in the country in terms of total and international passenger traffic aft ...
, Bombay. Three hundred and twenty-nine people were on board: 307 passengers and 22 crew. Captain Hanse Singh Narendra (56) served as the captain, with Captain Satwinder Singh Bhinder (41) as the first officer and Dara Dumasia (57) as the
flight engineer
A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air me ...
. Many of the passengers were going to visit family and friends.
At 07:09:58 GMT (8:09:58 a.m.
Irish time
Ireland uses Irish Standard Time (IST, UTC+01:00; ga, Am Caighdeánach Éireannach) in the summer months and Greenwich Mean Time ( UTC+00:00; ''Meán-Am Greenwich'') in the winter period. (Roughly half of the state is in the 7.5°W to 22.5° ...
), the crew of the Boeing 747 "squawked 2005" (a routine activation of its aviation transponder) as requested by
Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport ( ga, Aerfort na Sionainne) is an international airport located in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. The airport is the third busiest ai ...
Air Traffic Control (ATC), then vanished from the radar screens at 07:14:01 GMT (8:14:01 a.m. Irish time). At exactly the same time, a bomb hidden in a
Sanyo
, stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka, Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiari ...
tuner in a suitcase in the forward cargo hold exploded while the plane was at at . It caused
explosive decompression
Uncontrolled decompression is an unplanned drop in the pressure of a sealed system, such as an aircraft cabin or hyperbaric chamber, and typically results from human error, material fatigue, engineering failure, or impact, causing a pressure vesse ...
and the break-up of the aircraft in mid-air. The wreckage settled in 6,700 feet (2,000 m) deep water off the south-west Irish coast, offshore of
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...
. No "
mayday
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
" call was received by Shannon ATC. ATC asked aircraft in the area to try to contact Air India, to no avail. By 07:30:00 GMT, ATC had declared an emergency and requested nearby cargo ships and the
Irish Naval Service
The Naval Service ( ga, An tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh) is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork.
Though preceded by earlier mar ...
vessel LÉ ''Aisling'' to look out for the aircraft.
Meanwhile, sometime before 20:22 UTC (1:22 p.m. PDT), L. Singh (also never identified) checked in for the 1:37 p.m. CP Air Flight 003 to Tokyo with one piece of luggage, which was to be transferred to Air India Flight 301 to Bangkok. However, L. Singh did not board the flight.
The second bag checked in by L. Singh went on Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 003 from
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
to
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. There were no x-ray inspections of luggage on this flight. Its target was Air India Flight 301, due to leave with 177 passengers and crew bound for Bangkok-Don Mueang, but 55 minutes before the Flight 182 bombing, it exploded at the terminal in
Narita International Airport
Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airpo ...
. Two Japanese
baggage handler
In the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage (suitcases or luggage), and other cargo (airfreight, mail, counter-to-counter packages) for transport via aircraft. With most airlines, the formal job title i ...
s were killed and four other people were injured. It appears the conspirators meant for both bombings to occur simultaneously, but they neglected to take into account that Japan does not observe
daylight saving time
Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...
, as Canada does.
Recovery of wreckage and bodies
By 09:13 UTC, the cargo ship ''Laurentian Forest'' discovered wreckage of the aircraft and many bodies floating in the water. India's civil aviation minister announced the possibility that the plane had been destroyed by a bomb, and the cause was probably some sort of explosion. Previous 747s had been damaged or destroyed on the ground, but this was the first jumbo jet downed by sabotage.
The bomb killed all 22 crew and 307 passengers. Of those, 132 bodies were recovered; 197 were lost at sea. Eight bodies exhibited "flail pattern" injuries, indicating that they had exited the aircraft before it hit the water. This was a sign that the aircraft had broken up in mid-air. Twenty-six bodies showed signs of hypoxia (lack of oxygen). Twenty-five, mostly victims who were seated near windows, showed signs of explosive decompression. Twenty-three had signs of "injuries from a vertical force". Twenty-one passengers were found with little or no clothing.
One official quoted in the report stated:
Two of these drowning victims, a pregnant woman in her second trimester and her unborn son, were described by Dr. John Hogan in testimony given at a coroner's inquest convened in
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
on 17 September 1985:
Additional evidence to support a bombing was retrieved from the broken-up aircraft, which lay on the sea bed at a depth of . The British vessel '' Gardline Locater'', equipped with sophisticated
sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
, and the French cable-laying vessel '' Léon Thévenin'', with its
remotely operated underwater vehicle
A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''.
Definition
This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ai ...
''Scarab 1'', were dispatched to locate the
flight data recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
(FDR) and
cockpit voice recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
(CVR) boxes. The boxes would be difficult to find and it was imperative that the search commence quickly. By 4 July, ''Gardline Locator'' detected signals on the sea bed. On 9 July, ''Scarab 1'' pinpointed the CVR and raised it to the surface. The next day, the FDR was also located and recovered. In 1985, the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) ''John Cabot'' participated in the investigations, mapping the underwater wreckage of the aircraft.
Victims
A casualty list was provided by the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
. The victims included 268 Canadians, 27 Britons, 22 Indians, and 12 people of undetermined nationality. Canadians of Indian descent made up the majority of the passengers.
Between 82 and 86 passengers were children, including six infants. "He said the victims included 86 children; 29 families were completely wiped out – both spouses and all children killed; 32 persons were left alone – their spouse and all children were killed; six couples lost all their children; two children lost both parents." There were 29 entire families on the plane. Two children not on board had both parents on board, resulting in them becoming orphaned. There were six sets of children of their entire families. There were 32 people not on the aircraft who had the remaining members of their families on board.
Most of the victims resided in
southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
and were Hindus. Some of the victims were Sikhs; around 35 passengers were Sikhs from
Greater Montreal
Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a ...
. In terms of metropolitan areas, the
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...
was the home of the majority of the passengers, with Greater Montreal also having the next largest number of passengers. Some passengers originated from British Columbia. Forty-five passengers were employees of Air India or relatives of Air India employees. Notable passengers and crew included
Inder Thakur
Inder Thakur (c. 1950 – 23 June 1985) was an Indian actor, fashion designer, and model who also worked as a purser on Air India.Jiwa, Salim and Donald J. Hauka. ''Margin of Terror: A Reporter's 20-year Odyssey Covering the Tragedies of the Air ...
, an Air India
purser
A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...
and former actor along with his wife and son; and
Yelavarthy Nayudamma
Yelavarthy Nayudamma (10 September 1922 – 23 June 1985) was a chemical engineer and a scientist killed on Air India Flight 182 (Emperor Kanishka bombing).Mirabel Airport, while 202 passengers who travelled on Flight 182 had boarded at Toronto Pearson Airport. The report stated that interlining passengers boarding Flight 181 in Toronto who became passengers on Flight 182 included ten passengers connecting from
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
, five passengers from
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, four passengers from
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, and two passengers from
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
. It stated that all of these passengers had taken flights on Air Canada, and no interlining passengers boarded Flight 182 in Montreal. In the documentary ''
Air India 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal– London– Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to L ...
'',
Renée Sarojini Saklikar Renée Sarojini Saklikar is an Indian-born Canadian lawyer, poet and author. Raised in New Westminster in Greater Vancouver,Smith, Charlie.Renee Sarojini Saklikar draws large crowd to SFU Woodward's for launch of new book of poemsArchive. '' The Ge ...
stated that her aunt and uncle had taken a
Canadian Pacific Air Lines
Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian a ...
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
''. Retrieved on 22 November 2014. "They flew out of Montreal in the early hours (UTC) of 23 June 1985, on Air India Flight 182." The flight crew and cabin crew of Flight 182 had boarded in Toronto and commanded the segment of Flight 181 from Toronto to Montreal.
There were 68 persons who cleared customs in Toronto and were scheduled to re-board Flight 181 so they could travel to their final destination, Montreal. There was a practice of passengers who intended to fly to Toronto actually buying tickets to Montreal, because tickets to Montreal had a lower cost than tickets to Toronto. On the flights going to Canada, such passengers simply disembarked in Toronto and chose not to re-board the flight to Montreal. Three passengers scheduled to go onward to Montreal never re-boarded Flight 181, and so there were 65 passengers destined for Montreal who flew the Toronto-to-Montreal segment.
Investigations
Within hours, Canada's Indian community was a focus of attention as victims and among hints that officials were investigating connections to the Sikh separatists who had threatened and committed acts of violence in retaliation against Hindus.
In the subsequent worldwide investigations over six years, many threads of the plot were uncovered. Based on recovery of wreckage and bodies from the surface, it was decided to retrieve wreckage and recorders from the bottom of the sea. That voice and flight recorders were cut out at the same time, and damage to parts recovered from the forward cargo bay consistent with a blast, established that it was probably a bomb near the forward cargo hold that brought the plane down suddenly. The flight was also soon linked to the earlier bombing in Japan which had also originated from Vancouver; tickets for both flights had been purchased by the same person, and in both cases the planes were carrying bags without the passenger who checked them in.
One of the problems the investigators thought may have been the reason of the supposed crash was that the aircraft was carrying a spare engine. Therefore, there would have been more weight on one side. This reason was ruled out as the flight recorders relayed information of the rudder position which assists in the carrying of a 5th engine. Carrying a 5th engine helped airlines carry broken engines back to be maintained.
No bomb parts were recovered from the ocean, but investigations of the blast at Tokyo established that the bomb had been placed in a Sanyo stereo tuner of a series that had been shipped to Vancouver in Canada. The RCMP assigned no less than 135 officers to check every store that could have sold Sanyo tuners, leading to the discovery of a recent sale to mechanic Inderjit Singh Reyat in his hometown of
Duncan, British Columbia
Duncan (pop. 5,047 in 2021) is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is the smallest city by area (2.07 square kilometres, 0.8 square miles) in Canada. It was incorporated in 1912.
Location
The city is about 45 kilo ...
. RCMP contacted the CSIS and found they were already investigating the Sikh activists; RCMP learned that CSIS already had wiretaps and had observed Reyat and Parmar at the test blast near Duncan, and had recovered blasting cap shunts and a paper bundle wrapper from a blasting cap. A search recovered the receipt for a Sanyo Tuner Model FMT-611K with invoice with his name and phone number, along with sales of other bomb components. It was not until January 1986 that Canadian investigators at the
Canadian Aviation Safety Board
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB, french: Bureau de la sécurité des transports du Canada, BST), officially the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board (french: link=no, Bureau canadien d'enquête sur les ...
concluded that a bomb explosion in the forward cargo hold had downed the airliner. On 26 February 1986, Supreme Court Judge Kirpal of India presented an inquiry report based on investigation conducted by H.S. Khola (the "Khola Report"). The report also concluded that a bomb originating in Canada brought down the Air India flight.
Based on observations, wiretaps, searches and arrests of persons believed to be participants, the bombing was determined to be the joint project of at least two Sikh terrorist groups with extensive membership in Canada, the United States, Britain and India. Militant Sikhs were angered by the destruction of the Golden Temple and deaths of Sikhs during India's ground assault on separatists, as well as the
1984 anti-Sikh riots
The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...
.
Suspects
The multiple suspects in the bombing were members of a
Khalistani
The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (' Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that cur ...
group called the
Babbar Khalsa
Babbar Khalsa International (BKI, pa, ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, ), better known as Babbar Khalsa, is an organisation whose main objective is to create an independent Sikh country, Khalistan. It operates in Canada, Germany and the United ...
(banned in Europe and the United States as a proscribed terrorist group) and other related groups who were at the time agitating for a separate
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
state (called
Khalistan
The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (' Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that cur ...
) in
Punjab, India
Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...
.
*
Talwinder Singh Parmar
Talwinder Singh Parmar (26 February 1944 – 15 October 1992) born in Kapurthala, Punjab, India was a sikh kharku. He was also the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International, better known as Babbar Khalsa, a militant Sikh g ...
(26 February 1944 – 15 October 1992) – a Canadian citizen born in Punjab and living in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
, was a high-ranking official in the Babbar Khalsa. His phone was tapped by CSIS for three months before the bombing. He was killed by the Punjab police 15 October 1992 in an encounter with six other terrorists.
* Inderjit Singh Reyat (born 11 March 1952) – was born in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, but moved to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
with his family in 1965 and later to Canada in 1974, and holds dual British and
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
citizenship. He worked as an auto mechanic and electrician in
Duncan, British Columbia
Duncan (pop. 5,047 in 2021) is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is the smallest city by area (2.07 square kilometres, 0.8 square miles) in Canada. It was incorporated in 1912.
Location
The city is about 45 kilo ...
on
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...
. Investigation of the bombing in Tokyo led to discovery that he had bought a Sanyo radio, clocks and other parts found after the blast. He was convicted of manslaughter for constructing the bomb. As part of a deal, he was to testify against others, but as he declined to implicate others, he would be the only suspect convicted in the case. Reyat was released to halfway house in 2016 and now fully released with some restrictions since early 2017 to his family's home in BC.
* Ajaib Singh Bagri (born 4 October 1949) – a
mill
Mill may refer to:
Science and technology
*
* Mill (grinding)
* Milling (machining)
* Millwork
* Textile mill
* Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel
* List of types of mill
* Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...
worker living in
Kamloops
Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...
. During the founding convention of the
World Sikh Organization
World Sikh Organization (WSO) is a Sikh religious and non-profit organization whose 1984 founding goal was "to provide an effective, credible voice to represent Sikh interests on the world stage", after Operation Blue Star. Its stated goal is "t ...
in New York in 1984, Bagri gave a speech in which he proclaimed that, "until we kill 50,000
Hindus
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, we will not rest." He and Ripudaman Singh Malik (4 February 1947 – 14 July 2022) were acquitted in 2005. Bagri was living in Kamloops as of 2011. In July 2022, Malik was murdered in a targeted attack in
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...
.
* Surjan Singh Gill (born 19 October 1942) – was living in Vancouver as the self-proclaimed
consul-general
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
of Khalistan. Some RCMP testimony claimed he was a
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
who left the plot just days before its execution because he was told to pull out, but the Canadian government denied that report. He later fled Canada and was believed in August 2003 to be hiding in London, England.
*
Hardial Singh Johal A chief engineer for the Vancouver School Board, Hardial Singh Johal was an avid follower of Talwinder Singh Parmar, and thus closely eyed in the investigation following the bombing of Air India Flight 182. He was alleged to have stored the suitcase ...
(born 20 November 1946 - 15 November 2002) – a follower of Parmar who was active in the
Gurdwara
A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...
s where Parmar preached. On 15 November 2002, Johal died of natural causes at age 55. His phone number was left when ordering the airline tickets, he was seen at the airport the day the luggage was loaded, and he had allegedly stored the suitcases containing the bombs in the basement of a Vancouver school, but was never charged in the case.
* Daljit Sandhu – named by a Crown witness as the man who picked up the tickets. During the trial, the Crown played a video from January 1989 in which Sandhu congratulated the families of Indira Gandhi's assassins and stated that "she deserved that and she invited that and that's why she got it." Sandhu was cleared by Judge Ian Josephson in a 16 March judgment.
*
Lakhbir Singh Rode
Lakhbir Singh Rode is a Khalistani separatist and the nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
He currently heads the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), which has branches in over a dozen countries in western Europe and Canada. Rode is ...
– the leader of the Sikh separatist organisation
International Sikh Youth Federation
The International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) is a proscribed organisation that aims to establish an independent homeland for the Sikhs of India in Khalistan. It is banned as a terrorist organisation under Australian, European Union, Japanese, ...
. In September 2007, the commission investigated reports, initially disclosed in the Indian investigative news magazine ''
Tehelka
''Tehelka'' (Hindi: Sensation) is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and a ...
'', that Parmar had allegedly confessed and named the hitherto-unnamed Lakhbir Singh Rode as the mastermind behind the explosions. This claim appears to be inconsistent with other evidence known to the RCMP.
On 17 August 1985, Reyat became a third suspect once the receipt for the tuner was found with his name. On 6 November 1985, the RCMP raided the homes of Parmar, Reyat, Gill and Johal. In a -hour interview, Reyat denied all knowledge of the test blast or even Parmar. After he was told the CSIS had seen both of them, he changed his story that Parmar really wanted to build a device powerful enough so that he could take the device back to India to destroy a bridge. He explained that the gunpowder in the test was a failure, as the device fizzled. The search of Reyat's house produced a carton with an unusual green tape also found in the Narita blast and a can of Liquid Fire-brand starting fluid matching fragments found at the blast site, along with blasting caps and dynamite, including a pound of dynamite in a bag taken out its original tube casing, though none was consistent with blast residue. Reyat insisted only the clock, relays and tuner had been purchased for other than "benign purposes". There was insufficient evidence to hold Parmar as charges were dropped days later.
Bagri would later state before his later trial that he knew he was probably a suspect by October 1985, but insisted he would have faced charges if there were any evidence he had anything to do with the bombing. It was established by November that it was a man with a Sikh name who probably checked the bag in Vancouver that caused the crash. Parmar was not seen in Canada sometime after late 1986, as authorities believed him to be living in Pakistan where he continued operations against India.
Trials
Authorities initially lacked evidence to link Inderjit Singh Reyat directly to either the Narita or Air India blasts and pursue a conspiracy to commit murder charge. Instead, Reyat pleaded guilty on 29 April 1986 to possession of an explosive substance and possession of an unregistered firearm. His sentence was a light $2,000 fine. Just three months later, Reyat moved his family from Canada to
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, near Birmingham, in the UK. Reyat was soon hired at a Jaguar factory where he worked for nearly two years.
Mounties
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
working with prosecutor Jardine and RCMP and Japanese experts eventually determined the components of the bomb from fragments and matched them with items that Reyat possessed or had purchased. Prosecutor Jardine visited Tokyo five times to meet with Japanese authorities, and Canada formally asked that evidence to be sent to Canada. Still lacking sufficient evidence for a murder charge, Jardine recommended two manslaughter charges and five explosives-related counts, resulting in a request to Britain to extradite Reyat, who was arrested on 5 February 1988 as he was driving to the Jaguar car plant. After lengthy proceedings to extradite him from Britain, Reyat was flown to Vancouver on 13 December 1989 and his trial began 18 September 1990. On 10 May 1991, he was convicted of two counts of manslaughter and four explosives charges relating to the Narita Airport bombing. He was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.
Fifteen years after the bombing, on 27 October 2000, RCMP arrested Malik and Bagri. They were charged with 329 counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the people on board Air India Flight 182, conspiracy to commit murder, the attempted murder of passengers and crew on the Canadian Pacific flight at Japan's New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport), and two counts of murder of the baggage handlers at New Tokyo International Airport. It became known as the "Air India Trial".
On 6 June 2001, RCMP arrested Reyat, who about to finish his earlier 10-year-sentence, on charges of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy in the Air India bombing. On 10 February 2003, Reyat pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter for aiding in the construction of a bomb. He was sentenced to five years in prison. The court claimed Reyat was guilty of helping make of the bomb, but that he lacked any knowledge of how it would be used and lacked an intent to kill. He was expected to provide testimony in the trial of Malik and Bagri, but prosecutors were vague.
The trial of Malik and Bagri proceeded between April 2003 and December 2004 in Courtroom 20, more commonly known as "the Air India courtroom". At a cost of $7.2 million, the high-security courtroom was specially built for the trial in the Vancouver Law Courts. On 16 March 2005, Justice Ian Josephson found the two accused not guilty on all counts because the evidence was inadequate:
In a letter to the
Attorney General of British Columbia
The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General, a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The attorney general ...
, Malik demanded compensation from the Canadian government for
wrongful prosecution
A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. In ...
in his arrest and trial. Malik owes the government $6.4 million and Bagri owes $9.7 million in legal fees.
On July 14, 2022, Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of the men acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombings, was shot to death in Surrey, B.C.
Reyat's perjury trial
In February 2006, Inderjit Singh Reyat was charged with
perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
with regard to his testimony in the trial. The indictment was filed in the
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Supreme may refer to:
Entertainment
* Supreme (character), a comic book superhero
* ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film
* Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer
* "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams
* The Supremes, Motown-e ...
and lists 27 instances in which Reyat allegedly misled the court during his testimony. Reyat had pleaded guilty to constructing the bomb, but denied under oath that he knew anything about the conspiracy.
In the verdict, Justice Josephson said:
On 3 July 2007, with perjury proceedings still pending, Reyat was denied parole by the
National Parole Board
The Parole Board of Canada (french: Commission des libérations conditionnelles du Canada; formerly known as the National Parole Board) is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons i ...
, which concluded he was a continued risk to the public. The decision meant Reyat had to serve his full five-year sentence, which ended 9 February 2008.
Reyat's perjury trial began in March 2010 in Vancouver, but was abruptly dismissed on 8 March 2010. The jury was dismissed after "biased" remarks about Reyat by a woman juror.
A new jury was chosen. In September 2010, according to the '' Lethbridge Herald'' newspaper, jurors were told Reyat had lied 19 times under oath. On 19 September 2010, Reyat was convicted of perjury.
On 7 January 2011, he was sentenced to 9 years in prison by Justice Mark McEwan, who remarked that Reyat "behaved nothing like a remorseful man unwittingly implicated in mass murder," adding that, " the
witness box
A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...
, Mr. Reyat behaved like a man still committed to a cause which treated hundreds of men, women and children sexpendable."Bolan, Kim. 2017 March 31. Air India Flight 182 Bombing " ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (last edited 2017 March 31). In February 2011, Reyat filed an appeal stating that the judge "erred in law, misdirected the jury and failed to tell jurors there was no evidence to support portions of the Crown's closing address," and called it "harsh and excessive," asking for a new trial.
In January 2013, the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
rejected Reyat's bid to appeal his perjury conviction. The country's top court did not disclose its reasons as per customary practice.Air India Bombing: Canadian Supreme Court Rejects Inderjit Singh Reyat's Plea , International Business Times, 25 January 2013
In March 2014, the
British Columbia Court of Appeal
The British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) is the highest appellate court in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1910 following the 1907 Court of Appeal Act.
The BCCA hears appeals from the Supreme Court of Britis ...
dismissed Reyat's appeal that the 9-year length of the sentence, the country's longest sentence for perjury, was unfit. The court ruled the gravity of the perjury in such a case was without comparison.
Parole
On 28 January 2016, Inderjit Singh Reyat was released on
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
. He was released from a
halfway house
A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves.
As well as serving as a ...
less than 13 months later, on 14 February 2017, with restrictions.
Mistakes and missed opportunities
Previous warning
The Canadian government had been warned by the Indian
R&AW
The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; hi, ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, a ...
about the possibility of terrorist bombs aboard Air India flights in Canada, and over two weeks before the crash, CSIS reported to the
RCMP
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
that the potential threat to Air India as well as Indian missions in Canada was high.
In June 1985, there was an Air India
telex
The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a Public switched telephone network, telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of ...
message that suggested planes could be targeted by "time delay devices." Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario
James Bartleman
James Karl Bartleman (born 24 December 1939) is a former Canadian diplomat and author who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 2002 to 2007.
Bartleman grew up in the Muskoka town of Port Carling, and he is a member of the ...
also testified that, as a senior intelligence official in the federal
Department of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
, he saw a security "intercept" with a specific warning of a threat against the airline on the weekend of the bombing.
Destroyed evidence
In his verdict, Justice Ian Josephson cited "unacceptable negligence" by CSIS when hundreds of
wiretap
Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
s of the suspects and other informants were destroyed. Of the 210 wiretaps that were recorded during the months before and after the bombing, 156 were erased. These tapes continued to be erased even after the terrorists had become the primary suspects in the bombing.
Because the original wiretap records were erased, they were inadmissible as evidence in court. CSIS claimed the wiretap recordings contained no relevant information, but an RCMP memo states that "There is a strong likelihood that had CSIS retained the tapes between March and August 1985, that a successful prosecution of at least some of principals in both bombings could have been undertaken." "The CSIS investigation was so badly bungled that there was a near mutiny by CSIS officers involved in the probe," said the agent who destroyed the tapes once he had been granted anonymity in January 2000 by ''
Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' journalists. One agent "said he felt compelled to destroy the tapes (that were in his possession) because he was morally obliged to do everything in his power to protect the safety of his sources. ' decided it was a moral issue... If their identity had become known in the Sikh community, they would have been killed. There is no doubt in my mind about that.'"
Murdered witnesses
Tara Singh Hayer
Tara Singh Hayer (November 15, 1936 – November 18, 1998) was an Indian-Canadian newspaper publisher and editor who was murdered after his outspoken criticism of fundamentalist violence and terrorism. In particular, he was a key witness in the ...
Order of British Columbia
The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier B ...
, provided an
affidavit
An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...
to the RCMP in 1995 claiming that he was present during a conversation in which Bagri admitted his involvement in the bombings. While at the London offices of fellow Sikh newspaper publisher
Tarsem Singh Purewal
Tarsem Singh Purewal (10 June 1934 – 24 January 1995) was an Indian editor for '' Des Pardes'', a Punjabi-language weekly in Gurmukhi script, published in London, UK and aimed at the local Indian community. Purewal was shot and killed, and ...
, Hayer claimed he overheard a meeting between Purewal and Bagri in which Bagri stated that "if everything had gone as planned the plane would have blown up at Heathrow airport with no passengers on it. But because the plane was a half-hour to three quarters of an hour late, it blew up over the ocean." On 24 January that same year, Purewal was killed near the offices of the '' Des Pardes'' newspaper in
Southall
Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...
, England, leaving Hayer as the only other witness.
On 18 November 1998, Hayer was shot dead while getting out of his car in the garage of his home in
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...
. Hayer had survived an earlier attempt on his life in 1988, but was paralysed and used a wheelchair. As a consequence of his murder, the affidavit was inadmissible as
evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field.
In epistemology, evidenc ...
. This was later cited as a reason why the suspects in the bombing were eventually acquitted in 2005.
CSIS connection
During an interview with Bagri on 28 October 2000, RCMP agents described Surjan Singh Gill as an agent for CSIS, saying the reason that he resigned from the Babbar Khalsa was because his CSIS handlers told him to pull out.
After the subsequent failure of CSIS to stop the bombing of Flight 182, the head of CSIS was replaced by
Reid Morden Reid Morden, Order of Canada, CM (born June 17, 1941) was the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service from 1988-1992. From 1991-1994, Morden served as Deputy Minister (Canada), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Canada, Foreign Affair ...
. In an interview for
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
's news program '' The National'', Morden claimed that CSIS "dropped the ball" in its handling of the case. A
Security Intelligence Review Committee
The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC; french: Comité de surveillance des activités de renseignement de sécurité) was a committee of Privy Councillors that was empowered to serve as an independent oversight and review body for the o ...
cleared CSIS of any wrongdoing. However, that report remains secret to this day. As of June 2003, the Canadian government continued to insist that there was no
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
involved.
Public inquiry
On 1 May 2006, the Crown-in-Council, on the advice of Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
, announced the launch of a full
public inquiry
A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...
into the bombing, headed by retired
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
Justice
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
, to find investigate the events surrounding the bombing and the subsequent investigation, as well as to identify gaps in Canada's security and intelligence system.
Initiated later in June, the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182 was to examine how
Canadian law
The legal system of Canada is Legal pluralism, pluralist: its foundations lie in the English common law system (inherited from its period as a colony of the British Empire), the Napoleonic Code, French civil law system (inherited from its New Fra ...
restricted funding
terrorist groups
A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...
, how well
witness protection
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...
is provided in terrorist cases, if Canada needed to upgrade its
airport security
Airport security includes the techniques and methods used in an attempt to protect passengers, staff, aircraft, and airport property from malicious harm, crime, terrorism, and other threats.
Aviation security is a combination of measures and hum ...
, and if issues of co-operation between the RCMP, CSIS, and other law enforcement agencies had been resolved. It was to also provide a forum wherein families of the victims could testify on the impact of the bombing and would not repeat any criminal trials.
The inquiry's findings were published on 17 June 2010 in its final report, Air India Flight 182: A Canadian Tragedy. The report was 4,000 pages long, with 5 volumes and 64 recommendations. Major concluded that a "cascading series of errors" by Crown ministries, the RCMP, and CSIS allowed the terrorist attack to take place. He called for the Canadian government's
National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils.
National sec ...
to be given responsibility for preventing conflict between agencies, as well as calling for a national director of terrorism prosecutions, a new coordinator of witness protection for terrorism cases, and broad changes to close the gaps in airport security.
As per recommendation of the inquiry, Stephen Harper announced in the media, a week after the report and on the 25th anniversary of the disaster, that he would "acknowledge the catastrophic failures of intelligence, policing and air security that led to the bombing, and the prosecutorial lapses that followed" and deliver an apology on behalf of the sitting
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of Minister of the Crown, ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the ...
.
Legacy
"A Canadian tragedy"
On 23 June 2005, 20 years after the downing of Air India Flight 182, Prime Minister
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
The son o ...
attended a memorial service in
Ahakista
Ahakista ( or ''Áth an Chiste'') is located approximately halfway along the Sheep's Head peninsula between Durrus and Kilcrohane in County Cork, Ireland. It is a wooded coastal village with a deep and sheltered harbour.
History Archaeology
Th ...
,
West Cork
West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbe ...
, Ireland, with victims' families to grieve. This would be the first time a
Canadian Prime Minister
The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as such ...
had visited the Irish memorial, which was built right after the bombing.
Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the List of Governors General of Canada#Governors General of Canada, 1 ...
, on the advice of Martin, declared the anniversary a
national day of mourning
A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of ...
. During the anniversary observances, Martin said that the bombing was a Canadian problem, not a foreign problem, saying,
Ujjal Dosanjh
Ujjal Dev Dosanjh ( pa, ਉੱਜਲ ਦੇਵ ਦੁਸਾਂਝ) (), (born September 9, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 33rd premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada member of ...
, the moderate Sikh who had been attacked in a prelude to the Air India bombing, was by this time a member of Martin's cabinet as federal Minister of Health, and had previously in the interim been Premier of British Columbia.
In May 2007,
Angus Reid Strategies
Angus Reid (born December 17, 1947) is a Canadian entrepreneur, pollster, and sociologist. He is the chairman of the Angus Reid Institute and CEO and founder of Angus Reid Global. He is director of the Reid Campbell Group which operates Rival Te ...
released the results of public opinion polling of whether Canadians viewed the Air India bombing as a Canadian or Indian tragedy and whom they blamed: 48% of respondents considered the bombing as a Canadian event, while 22% thought it was a mostly Indian affair; 34% of those asked felt both CSIS and airport security personnel deserved a great deal of the blame in addition to 27% who believed the RCMP were largely to blame; 18% mentioned
Transport Canada
Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...
.
Ken MacQueen and John Geddes of ''
Maclean's
''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...
'' said that the Air India bombing has been referred to as "Canada's
9/11
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
." They disagreed, however, stating the following:
Memorials
Memorials were erected in Canada and elsewhere to commemorate the victims. In 1986, a monument was unveiled in Ahakista, Ireland, on the first anniversary of the bombing.
Subsequently, a groundbreaking occurred on 11 August 2006 at a playground that would form part of a memorial in
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...
, Vancouver,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
.
Another memorial was unveiled on 22 June 2007 in
Humber Bay Park
Humber Bay Park is a waterfront park located in Etobicoke, part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park consists of two landspits situated at the mouth of Mimico Creek. The park is south of Lake Shore Boulevard West, near Park Lawn Road. Humber Bay ...
East, Toronto, Ontario; many of the bombing victims had lived in Toronto. The memorial features a sundial, the base of which consists of stones from all provinces and territories of Canada, as well as the countries of the other victims, and a wall, oriented toward Ireland and bearing the names of the dead.
A third Canadian memorial opened in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
in 2014. A fourth memorial was unveiled in Lachine,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
on the 26th anniversary of the tragedy. There are no memorials in India as of yet.
Recognition in media
In film and television:
*
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
announced the start of filming for ''Flight 182'', a documentary about the tragedy directed by
Sturla Gunnarsson
Sturla Gunnarsson (born August 30, 1951) is an Icelandic-Canadian film and television director and producer.
Gunnarsson was born in Reykjavík in 1951. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, with his parents when he was seven years old. As he ...
. Its title was changed to ''
Air India 182
Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal– London– Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to L ...
'' before premiering at the
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...
in Toronto in April 2008. It subsequently premiered on CBC Television in June.
* The crash was featured in season 5 of the Canadian-made, internationally distributed documentary series ''
Mayday
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
'', on the episode "Air India: Explosive Evidence".
Many journalists have commented on the bombing throughout the decades since it occurred.
* In 2006, International bestselling author
Anita Rau Badami
Anita Rau Badami (born 24 September 1961) is a Canadian writer of Indian descent. Born in Rourkela, Odisha, India, to a South Indian Kannada-speaking family, she was educated at the University of Madras and Sophia Polytechnic in Bombay. She e ...
published ''Can you hear the nightbird call?'', a fiction novel that explored the lives and events leading up to the Air India bombing, which incorporated factual details of the tragedy.
*Eight months after the bombing, ''
The Province
''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...
'' newspaper reporter Salim Jiwa published ''Death of Air India Flight 182''.
* ''Loss of Faith: How the Air-India Bombers Got Away With Murder'' was published by the ''
Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...
'' reporter
Kim Bolan
Kim Rosemary Bolan (born 1959) is a Canadian journalist who has been a reporter at ''The Vancouver Sun'' since her journalism career began in 1984. She has reported on minority, women's, education, and social services issues; wars in El Salvador ...
in May 2005.
* Jiwa and fellow reporter Don Hauka published ''Margin of Terror: A reporter's twenty-year odyssey covering the tragedies of the Air India bombing'' in May 2007.
* In her short story, "The Management of Grief," Indian-born American writer
Bharati Mukherjee
Bharati Mukherjee (July 27, 1940 – January 28, 2017) was an Indian American-Canadian writer and professor emerita in the department of English at the University of California, Berkeley. She was the author of a number of novels and short story ...
uses fiction to explore the enduring grief of relatives of Air India 182 victims. "The Management of Grief" was originally published in the fiction collection ''
The Middleman and Other Stories
''The Middleman and Other Stories'' (1988) is a collection of short stories by Bharati Mukherjee. Stories from this volume are frequently anthologized, particularly ''Orbiting'', ''A Wife's Story'', and ''The Middleman''. The short story ''Ja ...
Clark Blaise
Clark Blaise, OC (born April 10, 1940) is a Canadian-American author. He was a professor of creative writing at York University, and a writer of short fiction. In 2010, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Early life and education
...
.
* Inspired by mainstream Canada's cultural denial of the Air India tragedy,
Neil Bissoondath
Neil Devindra Bissoondath (born April 19, 1955, in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago) is a Trinidadian-Canadian author who lives in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. He is a noted writer of fiction. He is an outspoken critic of Canada's system of multicultur ...
wrote ''The Soul of All Great Designs''.
* In 2013, Canadian poet
Renée Sarojini Saklikar Renée Sarojini Saklikar is an Indian-born Canadian lawyer, poet and author. Raised in New Westminster in Greater Vancouver,Smith, Charlie.Renee Sarojini Saklikar draws large crowd to SFU Woodward's for launch of new book of poemsArchive. '' The Ge ...
Farzana Doctor
Farzana Doctor is a Canadian novelist and social worker.
Biography
Born in Zambia to Dawoodi Bohra Muslim expatriate parents from India, she immigrated to Canada with her family in the early 1970s.
She has published three novels to date, and w ...
.
* Dr. Chandra Sankurathri, husband and father of Air India victims, wrote an autobiography called ''Ray of Hope''.
Other recognition
The Pada memorial awards at
Laurentian University
Laurentian University (french: Université Laurentienne), officially the Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Lau ...
were established in honour of victim Vishnu Pada, the husband of
Lata Pada
Lata Pada, (ಲತಾ ಪಾದ) CM (born 7 November 1947) is an Indian-born Canadian choreographer and Bharatanatyam dancer. Pada is the founder and artistic director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, a dance company that performs South Asian dan ...
, Indian-born
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
choreographer and
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...
dancer.
The
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.computer engineering
Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers ...
students.
Laxminarayan and Padmini Turlapati, the parents of victims Sanjay and Deepak Turlapati, created the Sanjay Deepak Children Trust.Sankurathri Foundation was established by Dr. Chandra Sekhar Sankurathri in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh in memory of his wife Manjari, son Sri Kiran and daughter Sarada, victims of the Air India Flight 182. SF implements educational programs through Sarada Vidyalayam, health care programs through Sri Kiran Institute of Ophthalmology and disaster relief programs through Spandana.
1984 anti-Sikh riots
The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...
Avianca Flight 203
Avianca Flight 203 was a Colombian domestic passenger flight from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali, Colombia. It was destroyed by a bomb over the municipality of Soacha on Novembe ...
Indian Airlines flight 814 hijacking
Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on Friday, 24 December 199 ...
*
Iraqi Airways Flight 163
Iraqi Airways Flight 163 was a Boeing 737-270C, registered YI-AGJ, that was hijacked in 1986. On 25 December 1986, en route from Baghdad's Saddam International Airport to Amman, Jordan, Flight 163 was hijacked by four men. Iraqi Airways securi ...
*
Itavia Flight 870
On 27 June 1980, Itavia Flight 870 (IH 870, AJ 421), a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 passenger jet en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea between the islands of Ponza and Ustica, killing all 81 people on board. Known ...
*
Japan Air Lines Flight 123
Japan Air Lines Flight 123 (JAL123) () was a scheduled domestic Japan Air Lines
, also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tok ...
*
Lata Pada
Lata Pada, (ಲತಾ ಪಾದ) CM (born 7 November 1947) is an Indian-born Canadian choreographer and Bharatanatyam dancer. Pada is the founder and artistic director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, a dance company that performs South Asian dan ...
*
List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
This list of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft includes notable events that have a corresponding Wikipedia article. Entries in this list involve passenger or cargo aircraft that are operating commercially and meet this list ...
*
Metrojet Flight 9268
Metrojet Flight 9268 was an international chartered passenger flight, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia (branded as Metrojet). On 31 October 2015, at 06:13 local time EST (04:13 UTC), an Airbus A321-231 operating the flight exploded ...
* Narita Airport Bombing, a bombing that occurred on the same day at Tokyo Narita Airport. Luggage that came from the same person in Vancouver that bought the ticket for Flight 182 was being loaded onto another
Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...
jet when the bomb exploded when being loaded onto the aircraft, killing two baggage handlers.
*
Operation Blue Star
Operation Blue Star was the codename of a military operation which was carried out by Indian security forces between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of ...
*
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...
*
Sikhism in Canada
Canadian Sikhs number nearly 800,000 people and account for 2.1% of Canada's population as of 2021, forming the country's fourth-largest and fastest-growing religious group. The largest Sikh populations in Canada are found in Ontario, followed ...
*
Terrorism in Canada
Terrorism and mass attacks in Canada includes acts of terrorism, as well as mass shootings, vehicle-ramming attacks, mass stabbings, and other such acts committed in Canada that people may associate with terroristic tactics but have not been class ...
*
Timeline of airliner bombing attacks
Commercial passenger airliners and cargo aircraft have been the subject of plots or attacks by bombs and fire since near the start of air travel. Many early bombings were suicides or schemes for insurance money, but in the latter part of the 20th ...
*
Cubana Flight 455
Cubana may refer to:
* a woman born in Cuba
* Cubana de Aviación, an airline of Cuba
* Cubana, West Virginia
Cubana is an unincorporated community in Randolph County, West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atl ...
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...
The Verdict – Reasons for Judgment, R. v Malik and Bagri
Background on Air India bombing – CBC.ca
– www.Canada.com Air India archives
*
Passenger lists
nbsp;— Does not indicate locations or distinguish crew from passengers
* " ''
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'' at ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...