Issue 42 Vol II, June 30, 2007

T H I S  O U R  C A N A D A

Air India victims Toronto memorial
Shall it bring justice?

Twenty-two years after the worst mass murder in Canadian history, a memorial commemorating victims of the Air India bombings was unveiled on June 23 on a calm waterfront in the city of Toronto. It could be a place for peaceful reflection or a tourist spot in that most happening city, victims’ families and friends wondered whether ever justice would be done. Khalistani militants annoyed by Operation Blue Star are being accused for this mass murder.

Jayashree Thampi, who represents the Air India Victims' Families Association and lost her daughter and husband on the flight feels, “There is work to do still; hopefully with the inquiry, we'll get some kind of closure. I don't think we'll ever get justice." Yet she finds "It's very serene, very beautiful – they couldn't have chosen a better place."  It was the first site the association looked at. Sundra Aurora, whose 26-year-old daughter Shyla was working as a flight attendant on the Air India flight, came from New Delhi for the commemoration. She found the memorial "very, very touching.”

She like others is disturbed at the  revelation recently that some witnesses at the public inquiry by former Supreme Court justice john major  into the bombings were too afraid to testify is typical of the kind of fear and silence that has surrounded the tragedy since the beginning. Thampi lamented, “After 22 years, things haven't changed. I only hope the security people can give them the protection that they need so they can come forward."

Lata Pada, who lost her husband and two daughters on the flight, called the memorial "a beautiful sanctuary" and "a place of pilgrimage" for the families and friends who lost their loved ones."

 Mourners calmly lit incense and laid flowers on the granite memorial, as Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper spoke about the ghastly tragedy that should not have happened.

The memorial is comprised of a sundial, gardens and a granite inscription wall in Toronto's west end that bears the names of the 329 people who lost their lives when Air India Flight 182 exploded off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985.It also commemorates two baggage handlers killed by a bomb in a related attack at Tokyo's Narita airport the same day. It resembles a similar memorial built in Ireland 22 years ago.

Most family members said that they have got no justice. “Who is the culprit? We are waiting for the inquiry commissioner." This was one telling comment by Rattan Kalsi, the 77 year old father who lost his daughter Indira in the bombing, “The monument brings peace but not justice. I hope something will come out of the inquiry. I want to see where the mistakes were made.” There was a very clear failure on the part of the Canadian security and intelligence and despite clear warnings could not stop the attack.

He added that several days before the bomb detonated and killed 329 people flying over Ireland, CSIS watched Sikh militant Talwinder Singh Parmar, Inderjit Singh Reyat and an unidentified man walk into the woods near Duncan, B.C., to test explosives. "They were there. How much proof do they want? They should have stopped them and saved so many lives."

Reyat was later convicted of building the bomb that killed two baggage handlers at the airport in Narita, Japan, and Parmar was reportedly killed in Punjab by Indian police in 1992. Others were set free by the court in BC

Along with Stephen Harper, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller joined more than 200 people at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa as the enquiry inched towards some tangible results. It found the paper trail old, but enormous. It is important now since with the passage of time the memories of many potential witnesses at the Air India commission of inquiry the memories are dimmed.

A written record of some of the things that went terribly wrong 22 years ago Saturday, when a terrorist bomb brought down Flight 182 – and how the government responded – is stored in an electronic database that at last count had 11,429 separate documents, many of them running to scores and even hundreds of pages.

Commission investigators say this only scratches the surface. Locked away at the Department of Justice is a second archive of Air India documents in hard-copy form filling 121 bankers' boxes. These are documents compiled over the years by government lawyers anticipating that Ottawa might face lawsuits some day.

Mark Freiman, the commission's chief counsel finds the paper trail as crucial in helping the commission to identify witnesses and construct a chronology of events around the 1985 terrorist bomb plot, said The documentation is so important that John Major threatened to shut down the proceedings in February because he felt the Department of Justice was not satisfactorily helpful with material. Then Harper intervened, ordering the national security adviser, Margaret Bloodworth, to speed up the process of vetting and declassifying documents.

Many pages of material have been heavily censored before being released publicly and to the families of the 329 victims of the Flight 182 bombing. Canada still has secrets in the Air India files that officials believe must be protected.  These include the identities of informants recruited by CSIS and the RCMP, and intelligence passed along by foreign governments.

There is still hope as the proceedings show that justice Major will find the truth.

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“Strawberry Fields Forever”
Pamela Tennant writes from Vancouver

I sat in the living room of “Uncle” at his farm. I drank terrific Chai and eventually went to the kitchen for some Roti! Inside the farm house was hard wood floors and furniture covered with bed sheets. Pictures of Gurus of the Sikh faith and the picture of the Golden Temple. Marble coffee tables, plastic flowers, Uncle’s rocker and a huge TV. My Jesus mind and thoughts were small in comparison to Uncle’s display. I was there to talk about getting workers into the field.

I was there because I was told he needed labourers to pick his strawberries. I knew some people through my regular agency that may enjoy such work. I arranged for them to go directly to him and not through me as I do not possess the necessary registration as yet. After speaking with his sons I was assured a certain price per flat would be paid to the workers.

I would receive a finder fee for all my work. I decided to take on the project and fell for the farmer and his wife right away. They were not able to get any pickers for some reason and really needed the help. I brought my staff in early and called every applicant and their families to see if they would like to work at berry picking.  My staff, the three of us spoke at length to our people to get them to come.

The goal was to clean every patch of berries and assist the farmer before these rotted on the vine. The berries were intertwined with rows of blueberries and were not weeded, they looked neglected. I have a philosophy that has served me well, that I work with my people in new jobs to make sure what the work is like. I do not take on any work I will not do myself. So on the next day I was in the fields also, hoping to make some extra money!

We worked picking and as the day progressed the rain stopped and the sun came out and I was proud of the berries I had picked. I was proud of the people and the money they could be making. As more of the workers arrived through my companies efforts I felt that perhaps my misgivings about some Punjabi farm owners were wrong and this was actually a worthy cause. My goal was to offer my Punjabi workers a secure environment whereby at the end of the day they would be paid for their hard back breaking work.

On that day I had my period, menses and asked several times for a toilet that was not supplied. I was told to stand in the bush on the other farmers’ field, use a dirty bottle of water and cover my used female hygiene products with dirt and my foot.  No facilities to wash my hands, how incredibly sad. No covered area for people to escape the sun’s sharp rays and no place to sit.

As the day ended and we needed to weigh the berries and that is when the trouble started. Strawberries in pallets waiting for uncle to come, workers ready to go home and asking where he was. After 2 hours wait, Uncle arrived after numerous phone calls from the top of the field to the back of the field where we were working. He slogged along in his tractor and arrived with punch cards.

Immediately he adjusted the scale and then started the confusion. Putting pallets in the back of the truck and not punching the cards. Weighing the berries and not punching the cards correctly. He was clearly not honest in his dealings with the people that blessed him that day. As he manipulated and confused me and the workers, his wife started telling the people to forget about me and come on their own or they would pick them up the next day and pay more.

All words spoken in Punjabi, while she was smiling at me, telling me not to worry! She appealed to them, explaining the confusion was the goree’s fault, discussing and interjecting and pointing “the gori!” Even to a kindly couple who turned out to be my partners in laws, she was convincing them to come directly. A character not usually found in Punjabi ladies in my experience, but then again, our marriages force us to change.

Uncle was void of any regard for their dignity or respect and went about yelling at me in broken English, “You AD! You AD!” What is wrong with you? You don’t understand” And then looking into my tired face, told me,” I no pay you!”

“I need make calculation, I no pay workers.” Good thing he realized how stupid I was from the very beginning. Good thing he is far smarter than I.

I appealed to his sons over the phone. How embarrassing it must be to have to apologize for your father time after time. I drove people to the son’s to get them paid. It was the only way, as now the son’s saying they were not coming to the farm. I lined up 4 tired people and asked them to present their cards for payment at the sons’ company office.

I was exhausted and determined to pay the people, with no longer any concern for my self. More discussions and loud words and the people were paid finally at the farm by the sons.

My inward passion for years has been to change this state of affairs. Not in my Canada, no Uncle. Not to Canadians, and not to Punjabi’s or Punjabi Canadians either. Your breed is dying, and soon the new generation will come. Those ways will no longer be practiced. Not in my British Columbia.

The change is coming and those who do not treat well, will have no pickers in the fields! Workers! Know your rights and take care of your self. You do not have to get into an unsafe vehicle. You do not have to put up with not getting paid. You do not have to give anyone your pay. It belongs to you. There is a way to change, and it begins within. Honest days pay, for an honest day’s work and basic facilities like toilets, water and shelter.

If farm workers knew, that with out them no berries would be picked! If farm workers knew just how important they really, truly are? Changes could be made, huge changes; wages would be higher, vehicles safer, proper working conditions established. You are stronger and more powerful than you think!

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Vedanti’s visit disappoints moderate Sikhs
Gurpreet Singh

THE recent visit of the Akal Takhat Jathedar, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti to this side of the world has disappointed the moderate Sikhs. Vedanti was here to inaugurate a Sikh temple in Surrey. Being a head of the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs his visit had brought a hope of reconciliation among the moderate Sikhs, who were ostracized by one of his predecessors on the langar issue.

Vedanti not only refused to visit the Sikh temples controlled by the moderates, but also endorsed the edict which had excommunicated the moderate Sikhs. In 1998, the then Akal Takhat Jathedar, Bhai Ranjit Singh had banned the moderate Sikhs from serving langar on tables and chairs, a practice which was considered as normal among the Vancouver Sikhs since 1906.

Bhai Ranjit Singh, who was an orthodox head of the Akal Takhat and most popular among the Sikh radicals, had ordered the Vancouver gurdwaras to serve langar on the floor in a traditional way. However, the moderate Sikhs had refused to follow the edict that brought a division among the local Sikhs. The defiant moderate leaders were excommunicated by Bhai Ranjit Singh. Among them was Balwant Singh Gill, who is the president of the Surrey Sikh temple and also a leader of the North America Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

Gill was shocked by Vedanti’s statement that the edict that had ostracized him and others still stand. ``We are disappointed because we never expected this from Mr. Vedanti, as we always considered him more reasonable and moderate compared to Bhai Ranjit Singh’’.

He told SAP that he doesn’t understand why Vedanti refused to come to their gurdwaras, which are managed by the sangat (public). ``Instead he accepted the hospitality of those who are running private gurdwaras’’. While terming these gurdwaras as deras, he said that they are no different from the deras in Punjab, which the Akali government there is trying to shut. ``This is all hypocrisy of the Badal government’’.

Interestingly, Vedanti is considered as a Badal ally, while Bhai Ranjit Singh was his foe. ``I don’t understand why a Jathedar close to Badal would do it?’’.

The leaders of the gurdwara inaugurated by Vedanti are considered to be orthodox. The same lobby had earlier supported Bhai Ranjit Singh. It is pertinent to mention that the radical Sikhs are also divided on a number of issues. A section of the orthodox Sikhs is equally upset with Vedanti on a number of issues. They are more inclined to the hard line approach adopted by Bhai Ranjit Singh. In a nutshell, Vedanti’s visit has failed to bring any rapprochement between the warring factions of the Sikhs.

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