Father of Air India victim never recovered

Vancouver: Mehnga Singh Sidhu came to Canada for a better life, but died last week still devastated by the terrorist bombing that took his daughter and grandchildren.
He was remembered Saturday by family and friends at the Ross Street Temple in south Vancouver -- the same spot daughter Sukhwinder and her two children, Parminder, 10, and Kuldip, 9 -- stopped en route to Vancouver International Airport on June 22, 1985.
Hours later, the young widow and her kids died with 326 others aboard Air India Flight 182, something that devastated Sidhu until the day he died, his uncle Jack Uppal told The Vancouver Sun.
Uppal, a Sikh pioneer, sponsored Sidhu to Canada in 1975 after Sidhu's son-in-law -- Sukhwinder's husband -- was killed in a car accident near Williams Lake.
Sidhu and his late wife Beant Kaur found comfort and joy in helping their daughter raise her two small children after the loss of her husband at such a young age.
But their world collapsed after the Air India bombing. The soft-spoken Sidhu was absolutely traumatized, Uppal said.
"I can tell you he felt devastated not knowing what had happened -- not only to his daughter, but to her two children -- imagine those innocent little children." Uppal said. "To forget such a tragedy for the family is not easy."
Uppal spoke at the funeral Saturday at Delta's Riverside Funeral home, chastising those responsible for Canada's deadliest act of terror.
"You can't forget and you can't forgive either," Uppal said. "I say whoever did this heinous crime must pay for it. I'm sure his soul will not rest in peace until he dies."
Uppal said Sidhu never lashed out in anger, but internalized his suffering to the point where he had many health problems when he passed away at age 88.
Sidhu's son Major regularly attended the Air India trial, which ended in acquittals three years ago. He also told The Sun that his dad never got over the loss of his sister.
13/04/08 Kim Bolan/Vancouver Sun, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International May 2008, Foreign May 2008, NACIL May 2008, Safety May 2008