My last post began with the NSICOP report and a phrase that seemed tailor-made to undermine India's dual concerns about credible threats of violence against Indian diplomats in Canada and Canada’s indifference to celebrations of violence in the name of Khalistan. Politicizing such an important report is disturbing, but it was not the first time…
Last week’s release of the Special Report on Foreign Interference on Canada’s Democratic Processes and Institutions (known as the NSICOP report) raises far more questions than it answers. However, a few sentences invite scrutiny with respect to a domestic matter. The report indicates that while China is the primary concern, “India’s foreign interference efforts have…
“As if to underwrite the pain, Canada Day comes a week after the June 23 anniversary of Air India 182. … Voices rise to sing ‘we stand on guard for thee.’ It is only after the euphoria has passed that certain minority groups realize they are not a part of ‘thee.’ So wrote my late…
As the month of June unfolds, two lines from Arthur Symons’ In Fountain Court beckon: “The fountain murmuring of sleep, a drowsy tune … Peace, through a slumbering afternoon, the peace of June.”
This year’s AI 182 entry is late in coming. The past six weeks have been devoted to completing my mother’s estate affairs and emptying her home. Little time remained for all else. A near-disaster was averted; in my zeal for sorting and giving away possessions, Children of Air India by Renée Saklikar was mislaid and…
When I began writing about the 1985 bombing of Air India 182, an Indian journalist observed that Canada refused to take ownership of this tragedy. The past remains the present -- despite the efforts of Bob Rae, John Major, and a handful of Canadians -- Canada as a nation state still refuses to own this…
Earlier this month I continued the correspondence I began two years ago; I wrote to influential Members of Parliament about the bombing of Air India Flight 182 and requested appropriate acknowledgement of this national tragedy within the seat of government. Excerpts of my letter were published this past weekend by Vancouver Sun and The Province…
In the days following the downing of Ukrainian International Airlines 752, with the loss of many Canadians, and others with ties to Canada, much has been written about the aftermath of the 1985 bombing of Air India 182—how disinterested Canada had been then, how victims’ families and friends were left to bear their grief in…
It is early morning in Ireland; in a few hours people will gather for the memorial service held every year near Ahakista since 1986. In Canada, services will be held tomorrow in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. Returning to the words of Bob Rae, "This is a Canadian catastrophe, whose dimension and meaning must be…
In December 2007, retired Supreme Court Justice John Major released the first report of the inquiry into the bombing of Air India Flight 182, titled The Families Remember. It portrays the human dimension of the tragedy – that before those 329 became victims, they were real people. They lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow. They were…
Remembering June 23 