Kanishka bombing report little consolation to victims’ families (Second Lead)

OTTAWA - Though there was little in the Air India Kanishka report presented Thursday for the families of 329 bombing victims, the probe commission has recommended the setting up of an anti-terrorism centre to be called the Kanishka Centre.

Blamed on Khalistani elements seeking revenge for the 1984 army action at the Golden Temple in Punjab to flush out militants, the bombing of Air India Kanishka flight 182 from Montreal to Delhi June 23, 1985, killed all 329 people aboard, making it the worst air tragedy till 9/11.

“This is a Canadian atrocity… the government needs to take responsibility to avoid further failure and to prevent a return to a culture of complacency,” said former Canadian chief justice John Major here Thursday while releasing the report of the commission of inquiry he headed.

As some of the families of the victims heard, Major said the ‘finest tribute’ to the victims will be create systems to avoid such tragedies in the future.

Since the Air India case was tried by a single judge, the report recommends up to 16 jurors in future terror cases. In all, the report makes 64 major recommendations.

Since rivalry between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had led the plot to succeed and the accused to go scot free, he recommended that a new director of Terrorism Prosecutions to co-ordinate such cases in future.

Since “a cascading series of errors contributed to the failure of our police and security forces to prevent this atrocity”, the report said the new director of terrorism prosecutions should “provide relevant legal advice to the Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams and to the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service”.

Though the spy agency (CSIS) had successfully traced and wire-taped the plot mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar testing the bomb, it failed to give the tapes to the RCMP. In fact, it erased the tapes rather than hand them over to the RCMP to successfully prosecute the suspects.

The report says “CSIS should destroy such intelligence after 25 years or a period determined by parliament, but only if the director of CSIS certifies that it is no longer relevant.”

The Air India Kanishka flight 182 from Montreal to Delhi was blown off mid air near the Irish coast June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on aboard.

Another bomb, meant for another Air India flight, also went off at Tokyo airport the same day, killing two baggage handlers.

As the Air India trial confirmed, both the bombs were loaded by pro-Khalistan elements at Vancouver airport in two unaccompanied suitcases which were later transferred to the connecting Air India flight and Tokyo-bound flight at Toronto airport.

The bombing mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar, who wanted to avenge the Indian army action at the Golden Temple in 1984 to flush militants led by Bhindranwale, fled to India where he was killed in an encounter with the Punjab Police.

Only Inderjit Singh Reyat, who was released last year after spending 15 years in jail, was convicted for the Kanishka bombing blamed on Khalistani extremists seeking revenge for the Indian army action at the Golden Temple to flush out militants in 1984.

Two other suspects - Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik - were acquitted by the trial court in March 2005.

The verdict created pressure by the families of the victims on the Canadian government to pinpoint the reasons for the worst air tragedy till 9/11, leading to the appointment of the commission under Justice John Major.

Running into 4,000 pages, the five-volume report, which also carries various academic papers and a number of studies, will pinpoint the causes and systemic failures which led to the worst aviation tragedy till 9/11.