Canada: Historic gurdwara calls for new Kanishka memorial in British Columbia
Toronto: A historic gurdwara in Vancouver had joined in calling upon the government of the province of British Columbia (BC) to establish a permanent memorial and learning to remember the victims of the terrorist attack on Air India flight 182, the Kanishka.
In a letter sent to the province's Premier David Eby, the Khalsa Diwan Society (KDS), which manages the historic Ross Street Gurdwara, said the family members of the victims 'deserve more than silence' and 'deserve a place of honor, reflection and remembrance'.
KDS was formed in 1906 and remains a landmark in the history of Sikhs and Indo-Canadians in the country.
'We respectfully ask you to act now – to build the Kanishka Memorial and Learning Center – as a heartfelt and lasting tribute to those we lost, ensuring their stories and memories live on in the hearts and minds of Canadians forever,' KDS' general secretary Kashmir Singh Dhaliwal stated in the letter to Eby.
KDS joined a coalition of Indo-Canadian organisations that have called upon the BC government to establish the centre.
While a memorial to the victims of the bombing of the Kanishka by pro-Khalistan terrorists on June 23, 1985, was established in 2007 at Stanley Park in Vancouver, the Indo-Canadian groups want a learning centre 'to teach future generations about the real cost of extremism'.
In a letter to Eby, sent earlier, five Indo-Canadian grassroots groups said the centre was envisioned as 'not merely a site of memory but a living testament to the resilience of our communities and a powerful statement of our collective values'.
'Premier Eby, building this centre is not only a moral imperative – it is a profound act of reconciliation and compassion. It represents our shared commitment to justice, our determination to confront hate, and our duty to nurture a safer, more cohesive society for future generations,' the letter noted.
Among the principal proponents of the centre is Vancouver-based Sanjeev Kaul, who said the centre could serve as a year-long venue for commemorative events while offering a safe space to family members of victim for reflection.
The first memorial dedicated to the tragedy was established in Ahakista in Ireland in 1986. The bomb planted by the pro-Khalistsan separatists exploded while the Kanishka was flying close to Ireland and debris washed up on and near its shores. Memorials also exist in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal in recognition of what remains the worst incident of terrorism in Canadian history,and the worst instance of aviation-related terrorism till 9/11.
A total of 331 persons died in the bombs targeting the Air India flights, with 329 of them aboard the Kanishka. Two Japanese baggage handlers who were killed when a second bomb placed within luggage on another Air India plane exploded at Narita airport. The victims included 268 Canadian citizens and 82 children.
A website seeking the centre has also been established ahead of the 40th anniversary of the terror attack. It states, 'This was not a plane crash. It was a preventable act of terrorism, rooted in extremism and worsened by failures in Canada's intelligence, security, and justice systems.'
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