Sikh community unfairly labelled 'terrorists' after Air India bombing, inquiry told

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.
07/12/07 CBC.ca, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Dec 2007, Foreign Dec 2007, NACIL Dec 2007, Safety Dec 2007