Two-thirds of Canadians want Air India's Kanishka bombing to be part of school curricula: Survey

New Indian Express

4 days ago

CHANDIGARH: Two-thirds of Canadians believe details of the Kanishka Air India flight bombing in 1985 by Khalistani extremists in which 280 Canadian citizens and 49 others died should be part of the school curricula, while seven in ten say an exhibit on it should be created at the Canadian Museum of History.
The findings were made by a new survey conducted by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute (ARI), published on the 40th anniversary of the bombing on June 23. "Today marks 40 years to the day that Canada endured the worst terror attack in its history, but if you ask most Canadians, there's a good chance they'd be unable to tell you that. On June 23, 1985, 280 Canadian citizens and 49 other people died when an explosion caused by a bomb brought down Air India Flight 182 on its way from Canada to London, England."
"New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds few Canadians, approximately one-in-five (17 per cent), able to identify the Air India bombing as the deadliest terror attack Canada has endured. Further, just one-in-10 (9 per cent) say they know a lot about the incident, while one-third (32 per cent) had never heard of it," said the ARI.
"There is larger agreement that the tragedy has never been treated as a national one by Canada. Half (51 per cent) believe the bombing "has never been treated like a Canadian tragedy", a proportion that grows among those who know a lot (60 per cent) about the incident. There is appetite among most Canadians for more to be done to educate the country about the incident," it added.