A prominent Sikh businessman told the Air India inquiry Friday he's concerned his cultural community has become unfairly associated with terrorists since the high-profile 1985 bombing.
Gian Singh Sandhu, founder of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, said the bombing of Air India flight 182, which killed 329 people, devastated the Sikh community in British Columbia — but they were also stigmatized in its wake.
"The Sikh community as a whole was torn apart.... The majority of the Sikh community was categorically against these type of events," he testified in Ottawa.
However, the onslaught of news coverage and allegations of Sikh involvement in the bombing tainted his community, he said.
Sandhu described to inquiry commissioner John Major being approached while taking part in a parade in B.C. one week after the disaster.
"Kids were asking me when was the next plane going to go down," he testified.
A prominent Sikh businessman told the Air India inquiry Friday he's concerned his cultural community has become unfairly associated with terrorists since the high-profile 1985 bombing.
Gian Singh Sandhu, founder of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, said the bombing of Air India flight 182, which killed 329 people, devastated the Sikh community in British Columbia — but they were also stigmatized in its wake.
"The Sikh community as a whole was torn apart.... The majority of the Sikh community was categorically against these type of events," he testified in Ottawa.
However, the onslaught of news coverage and allegations of Sikh involvement in the bombing tainted his community, he said.
Sandhu described to inquiry commissioner John Major being approached while taking part in a parade in B.C. one week after the disaster.
"Kids were asking me when was the next plane going to go down," he testified.
The inquiry is looking into the investigation of the bombing of flight 182, which exploded off the coast of Ireland as it was flying from Canada to India on June 23, 1985. The disaster claimed the lives of 280 Canadians — the country's worst mass murder.
The luggage carrying the bomb and another explosive that killed two baggage handlers at a Tokyo airport was loaded at Vancouver International Airport.
Investigators believe the bombings were carried out by extremists who wanted India to create an independent Sikh homeland.
Sandhu testified Friday that in 1985, no more than "two to three dozen people" from the 200,000-strong Sikh community in B.C. espoused violent acts against the Indian government.
He named one such organization, Babbar Khalsa, a group of Sikh radicals founded by Talwinder Singh Parmar, the suspected ringleader in the Air India bombing.
But that sentiment was held by the minority, Sandu said.
"Respect for life is paramount in the Sikh religion.... Incidents of this nature are not only abhorrent, but are taken to task in the Sikh community," he said.
Only one person has ever been convicted in the plot. Inderjit Singh Reyat pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2003 and received a five-year sentence.
Parmar died in India in 1992. The RCMP's two main surviving suspects, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, were both acquitted of conspiracy and murder in March 2005 after a 19-month trial.
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