Renee Saklikar got up Sunday and ran her first five kilometre race in honour of her aunt Zeb and uncle Umar Jethwa — both doctors who died 34 years earlier in the Air India bombing.
And before she went to the starting line, she visited the Air India memorial in Stanley Park before returning Sunday evening to the same spot to meet dozens of others at a memorial service for the victims of Canada’s worst terrorist attack.
“I dedicated that run to my auntie and uncle and to my cousin Irfan who was left behind when his mom and dad were murdered,” Saklikar said. “This day really invites a lot of us who have lost loved ones in this terrorist attack to ask ourselves how do I want to live my life… It forces us to be better people and say hey, I want to make a life that is for the good, not for the bad.”
Her husband and B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix organized the annual memorial event at the wall bearing the names of all the 331 victims of the June 23, 1985 attack.
Dix reminded the mourners gathered that the perpetrators not only killed all 329 aboard Air India Flight 182, but they tried to bomb a second Air India plane. The bomb-laden suitcase instead exploded at Narita airport, killing two Japanese baggage handlers.
“Those who perpetrated this violence wanted more violence, wanted there to be more victims and we should reflect on that today,” Dix said.
“We shouldn’t use exulted terms to describe people who are cowards, who murdered children, who left children orphans. We shouldn’t treat them as anything more than criminal murderers not worthy of our thought or our consideration.”
He noted that flags flew at half-mast across Canada, including at the B.C. legislature Sunday to commemorate all Canadian victims of terrorism.
Gurdial Sidhu, who lost her sister-in-law Sukhwinder, niece Parminder, 10, and nephew Kuldip, 9, said the tragedy is made more painful by the fact the terrorists behind the bombings are free.
“Thirty-four years have passed and we didn’t get any justice — victims left behind their loved ones, their brothers, sisters, children, parents are still suffering,” Sidhu said. “They didn’t get the justice and the criminals did not get punished yet.”
A B.C. Supreme Court judge and a public inquiry determined the bombings were carried out by the B.C. Babbar Khalsa, headed by former Burnaby mill worker Talwinder Singh Parmar. Parmar was killed by Indian police in 1992 before being charged in Canada.
Three of his associates, Ripudaman Singh Malik, Ajaib Singh Bagri and Inderjit Singh Reyat were charged in the bombing plot. Malik and Bagri were acquitted and Reyat pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Air India bombing. He was earlier convicted in the Narita bombing.
Former Liberal MLA Dave Hayer said Sunday that he still hopes people with information about the Air India bombing come forward and help police.
23/06/19 Kim Bolan/Vancouver Sun
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And before she went to the starting line, she visited the Air India memorial in Stanley Park before returning Sunday evening to the same spot to meet dozens of others at a memorial service for the victims of Canada’s worst terrorist attack.
“I dedicated that run to my auntie and uncle and to my cousin Irfan who was left behind when his mom and dad were murdered,” Saklikar said. “This day really invites a lot of us who have lost loved ones in this terrorist attack to ask ourselves how do I want to live my life… It forces us to be better people and say hey, I want to make a life that is for the good, not for the bad.”
Her husband and B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix organized the annual memorial event at the wall bearing the names of all the 331 victims of the June 23, 1985 attack.
Dix reminded the mourners gathered that the perpetrators not only killed all 329 aboard Air India Flight 182, but they tried to bomb a second Air India plane. The bomb-laden suitcase instead exploded at Narita airport, killing two Japanese baggage handlers.
“Those who perpetrated this violence wanted more violence, wanted there to be more victims and we should reflect on that today,” Dix said.
“We shouldn’t use exulted terms to describe people who are cowards, who murdered children, who left children orphans. We shouldn’t treat them as anything more than criminal murderers not worthy of our thought or our consideration.”
He noted that flags flew at half-mast across Canada, including at the B.C. legislature Sunday to commemorate all Canadian victims of terrorism.
Gurdial Sidhu, who lost her sister-in-law Sukhwinder, niece Parminder, 10, and nephew Kuldip, 9, said the tragedy is made more painful by the fact the terrorists behind the bombings are free.
“Thirty-four years have passed and we didn’t get any justice — victims left behind their loved ones, their brothers, sisters, children, parents are still suffering,” Sidhu said. “They didn’t get the justice and the criminals did not get punished yet.”
A B.C. Supreme Court judge and a public inquiry determined the bombings were carried out by the B.C. Babbar Khalsa, headed by former Burnaby mill worker Talwinder Singh Parmar. Parmar was killed by Indian police in 1992 before being charged in Canada.
Three of his associates, Ripudaman Singh Malik, Ajaib Singh Bagri and Inderjit Singh Reyat were charged in the bombing plot. Malik and Bagri were acquitted and Reyat pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Air India bombing. He was earlier convicted in the Narita bombing.
Former Liberal MLA Dave Hayer said Sunday that he still hopes people with information about the Air India bombing come forward and help police.
23/06/19 Kim Bolan/Vancouver Sun
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