Relatives shocked

Indian relatives of the Air-India bombing victims expressed concern Friday that Canada may have had advance warning of the 1985 attack.
“It's very depressing to say the least,” said Chandrasekhar Sankurathri, who lost his wife, Manjari, 33, and children, Srikiran, 6, and Sharadha, 3, on the flight.
“It's very disappointing because it's a country like Canada and that the people who are supposed to protect the lives of Canadian citizens can be so callous about it.”
Ontario Lieutenant-Governor James Bartleman testified at a public inquiry in Ottawa on Thursday that he saw a document just days before the attack that outlined a specific threat against an Air-India flight from Canada on June 22 or 23. The plane was bombed June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board.
“There has been absolutely no justice,” said Ramamurthi Kolachuri, who lost his sister-in-law and her children in the crash. Mr. Kolachuri now runs the Chennai-based Bhawani Memorial Trust in his sister-in-law's memory.
“Stephen Harper promised to bring all the people responsible for killing 329 innocent people, to book. He promised this during his campaign, but these politicians forget their promises.”
The Indian government had no comment on the revelation.
“The government's reaction has been rather muted,” said Siddharth Varadarajan, a journalist with The Hindu newspaper. “There is a feeling that this is now an internal Canadian matter.”
But the former head of the Central Board of Intelligence, India's lead police intelligence agency, said Mr. Bartleman's testimony was not surprising. R.K. Raghavan said intelligence reports being passed up or ignored by governments is hardly uncommon given the other pressures on them.
“Intelligence reports are submitted far too often to carry credibility,” he said. “They always say there is a threat and if it doesn't materialize then there is a sense of complacency.”
Mr. Raghavan said it was entirely possible that there was a lapse and government failure to act in time to prevent the bombing.
05/05/07 Sonya Fatah/Globe and Mail,Canada

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Categories: Air India May 2007, Foreign May 2007, Safety May 2007