ON Monday, June 23, a significant milestone will be reached as the 40th anniversary memorial for the victims of the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Air India Memorial in Stanley Park’s Ceperley Playground that was unveiled in 2007 in Vancouver.
The bombing of Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland resulted in the killing of all 329 crew and passengers (of which 82 were children below the age of 13), including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens, 22 American citizens and 24 Indian citizens.
Also, two baggage handlers in Narita, Japan, were killed when another bomb bound for a second Air India flight exploded prematurely at the airport.
Last year, David Teboul. RCMP Assistant Commissioner, Federal Policing Commander, Pacific Region, noted: “The impacts of the greatest terror-related loss of life involving and affecting Canadians in our country’s history have not diminished with time. The trauma caused by the bombing on June 23, 1985 has impacted generations.”
He added: “The Air India investigation is the longest and certainly one of the most complex domestic terrorism investigations that the RCMP has undertaken in our history. Our investigative efforts remain active and ongoing.”
Former MLA Dave Hayer, whose father, Tara Singh Hayer, who was to be a witness in the Air India bombing trial, was assassinated in Surrey, said: “These horrendous acts live on in the memories of all family members of the victims and these annual memorial ceremonies continue to remind us all that terrorism has no place in a civilized world and that it must be stamped out at all costs.”
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