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PM pays homage at Kanishka victims' memorial in Toronto | Visiting Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Monday visited the memorial dedicated to the victims of
the 1985 Air India plane explosion in Toronto. Air India Flight 182, named after
Emperor Kanishka and operating on the Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay route, was
blown up on June 23, 1985, by a suitcase bomb at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400
m) off Ireland's Atlantic coast. In all, 329 people died in the disaster, including
280 Canadian nationals, mostly of Indian birth or descent, and 22 Indians. The
incident represents the largest mass murder in modern Canadian history. Investigation
and prosecution took almost 20 years and was the most expensive trial in Canadian
history, costing nearly 130 million dollars. Earlier, on the sidelines of his
meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at Toronto, Dr. Singh had
said that the victims of the air crash deserved full justice. "My visit to Canada
coincides with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Kanishka air crash. This terrible
disaster and the suffering it has led to will forever remain a stark reminder
of the need for all of us to work unitedly to eliminate this scourge of terrorism,"
Dr. Singh said. "The victims of this ghastly tragedy deserve full justice," he
added. He further said that the terrible disaster and the suffering that it caused
to kith and kin, would "remain a stark reminder of the need for all of us to work
unitedly to eliminate the scourge of terrorism". Earlier, on June 23, Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper had issued an unqualified apology to the relatives
of the victims. The powerful and emotional apology was issued on the 25th anniversary
of the tragedy. "I will make no attempt to make any sense of it. This was evil,
perpetrated by cowards, despicable, senseless and vicious," Harper said. What
Harper did was give a long-awaited government acknowledgement that the bombing
was a preventable, wholly Canadian crime, badly mishandled by federal intelligence
and police agencies. The tragedy was made worse, the Prime Minister said, when
"the families were for years after treated with scant respect or consideration"
by Canadian authorities. "I stand before you, therefore, to offer on behalf of
the Government of Canada, and all Canadians, an apology," he added. |
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