Air India families outraged over B.C. temple memorial

Vancouver: The father of an Air India bombing victim is outraged that a Surrey temple held a weekend memorial for the victims while displaying a portrait of the alleged mastermind of the atrocity.
"These people worship him, the killer. That's wrong," said Rattan Singh Kalsi, whose daughter Indira, 21, was among 331 people killed on June 22, 1985. "The Canadian government should wake up and stop these things."
The Dasmesh Darbar temple held its first Air India memorial this weekend with around-the-clock prayers that began Friday morning and ended Sunday, while displaying a picture of Talwinder
Singh Parmar, alleged leader of the deadly plot.
Kalsi said the Surrey temple displays Parmar's photo because it considers him a "martyr, a very good man who did the right thing" to try to create Khalistan, an independent Sikh state.
"They can't achieve Khalistan in India but they certainly succeeded in Canada. There is no Khalistan in India, they'll never be able to achieve it. Here, yes."
Kalsi, of London, Ont. is to speak at an Air India memorial in Toronto Monday.Temple president Sudagar Singh Sandhu said the memorial was suggested by new members when the temple replaced its executive council.
Parmar - the founder of Babba Khalsa, a group that tried to establish Khalistan - was killed by the Indian government in 1992.
The temple considers him a martyr, and that's why his picture is on the wall, Sandhu said.
23/06/08 Katie Mercer and Joe Couture/Canwest News Service/Canada.com, Canada

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