Remembering Canada’s forgotten tragedy Air India Flight 182, forty years later

Mahesh Sharma gently opens a clear plastic bag that sits on top of his wooden desk, surrounding important papers and documents inside his Montreal office.

“Whatever they gave me, I just put it inside. They gave it to me like that. I didn’t open what was inside,” Mahesh said

The contents of the bag reveal the clothes and personal belongings of his deceased family of four, who died 40 years ago in the Air India bombing of 1985. His wife Uma, their two daughters, Sandhya and Swati, and his mother-in-law, Shakuntala, were all headed for a summer vacation to India.

“Their bodies were numbered. This is my daughter ‘25.’ And this,” his hand reached out to touch another plastic bag, “Is ‘103,’ for my other daughter.”

On June 23, 1985, a bomb planted inside Air India Flight 182 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people on board.

The plane was en route from Toronto to India via London, carrying mostly Canadians passengers. Another related bombing simultaneously exploded at Japan’s Narita International Airport, instantly killing two baggage handlers.

Of the passengers on board, 286 were Canadian citizens with East Indian origin. Nearly one-third of the passengers were children who had just finished their school year, ready to travel for a family summer vacation.

Doctors, nurses, academics, engineers, and scientists were among the Canadians who died, including Uma, a 43-year-old accomplished researcher with a PhD in zoology. She was travelling with her mother, Shakuntala, a 66-year-old high-school vice-principal in India, and her two daughters.

Sandhya was a 14-year-old girl known for being bright while her 11-year-old sister, Swati, had planned to become an electrical engineer.

“I thought, the day they died, they could be cremated with me. There’s no mathematical reason behind it. It’s just a feeling, you know?” Sharma said.

Shortly after the bombing, the families of the victims travelled to Ireland to identify the bodies of their loved ones. But officials recovered only 132 bodies from the sea. Uma’s body, among 197 others, was never found and forever lost at sea.

“My brother was with me. He said, ‘Mahesh, it’s best not to look at the bodies. You should remember them as you saw them the last time.’ I think it was a good idea. Now, I remember them as I saw them the last time,” Sharma said.

Sharma reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. He retrieved a photo he took of Uma, Shakuntala, Sandhya and Swati. It’s one of the last times Mahesh saw his family all together.

“They were taken a day apart. The pictures actually helped identify the body of my two daughters.”

Air India bombing dismissed as ‘Indian tragedy’

The bombing of Air India Flight 182 remains the largest mass murder in Canadian history, a terrorist attack that was conceived, planned and executed in Canada. But a recent CityNews-Leger poll conducted in March found the majority of Canadians are unfamiliar with the tragedy.

While most passengers were Canadians, the families of the victims believe the government failed to see them as such.

“It really calls into question the idea of the Canadian identity,” said Meera Kachroo, the granddaughter of 61-year-old victim Mohan Kachroo. “On a political level, the losses even of Canadian citizens, Canadian children, were dismissed as an Indian tragedy.”

“It really draws into light the tension between the immigrant community and settler communities in Canada.”

Kachroo sits cross-legged in her Saskatoon home, flipping through the pages of a family photo album. Sitting on the couch are her mother and father, as they watch her point to pictures of her late grandmother. Snapshots capture Mohan and a young Kachroo, as she recalled memories of her grandmother.

“When she came to Canada, she loved wearing trousers, and my mom was making her dresses. She wore Western clothes, a lot of the time, and she really enjoyed that.”

Mohan’s family said she found new freedom in Canada, no longer feeling bound by cultural norms and quickly settling into Canadian life.

Mohan felt emancipated on her way to India, ready to show off how much of her life had changed since moving to Canada.

Lack of support from Canadian government

Many of the victims’ families expressed their disappointment in the Canadian government for their actions following the bombing.

Dr. Bal Gupta noted the federal government’s absence when he landed in Cork, Ireland, so he could identify the body of his wife, Ramwati.

“In the hospital, there were representatives of Irish government, British government, American government and Indian government. There were no Canadian government representatives present in the hospital,” Dr. Gupta said.

Dr. Gupta is a physician who acted as the coordinator for the Air India Victims Family Association (AIVFA) from 1985 to 2005. He agreed that the Canadian government didn’t treat the bombing as a Canadian tragedy.

“At the time, I kind of burst open and may have used unparliamentary language. The next morning, there was a Canadian representative there from the Canadian High Commission.”

Ramwati had taken an earlier flight to India so she could spend two extra weeks with her parents before the rest of her family arrived. Dr. Gupta described his wife as jolly, loving, and family-oriented.

The federal government’s initial response felt delayed by family members. The trial of the bombings took place nearly two decades later, followed by a public inquiry into their deaths shortly after.

“I lost a parent and there was no recognition of that. No recognition of government institutions, no recognition from our elected officials,” Susheel Gupta said, the son of Dr. Bal and Ramwati.

Longest and most expensive investigation in Canadian history

The trial for two people accused of being apart of the bombing began nearly 18 years later and served as the longest and most expensive investigation in Canadian history.

“All for an acquittal, or two acquittals and that feels very frustrating,” Kachroo said.

The two accused, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were both found not guilty in 2005. Malik was later shot and killed in 2022 outside his business in Surrey, B.C.

“The lack of knowledge even among political leadership in Canada … I was absolutely shocked that I knew more than an elected member of parliament,” shared Kachroo.

The roots of the terrorist attack are connected to the Sikh extremist movement in the aftermath of the 1984 attack on the Golden Temple and the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Sikh extremist Talwinder Singh Parmar is known as the “mastermind” behind the Air India bombing. He was a high-profile leader of Babbar Khalsa, a listed terrorist entity both inside Canada and India. After the bombing, Parmar returned to India, and he was killed by Punjab police in 1992.

The only person convicted was Inderjit Singh Reyat, who pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter and a charge linked to the creation of the bomb. He was initially sentenced to 10 years behind bars but later received nine more years for perjury.

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government launched a public inquiry into the investigation of the Air India bombing in 2006. The inquiry concluded a cascading series of errors by government agencies, including the RCMP and CSIS, which failed to prevent the terrorist attack.

The inquiry recommended improving Canadian national security, streamlining criminal trial processes for terrorism cases, and enhancing cooperation among law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

“They found so many errors. It’s like, why didn’t they act on those errors? They knew things were happening, things were boiling with extremists,” Anita Dhanjal said, the sister of Indira Kalsi. “They saw things happening, and they still didn’t bring those people to question.”

Kalsi, who was on board Flight 182, was a 21-year-old nursing student at the University of Guelph and worked part-time as a pharmacy assistant. She is remembered as selfless and caring, a devoted daughter and sister.

“There was no support for us. There was no support for all the grieving families. We just felt alone. We felt isolated.”

40 years since Air India Flight 182 bombing

The National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism is observed on June 23 and this year will mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing.

While many families said they have lost hope for justice, they are calling on the Canadian government and its agencies to be more vigilant so they can prevent future tragedies from repeating.

“We can take all those negative occurrences, traumatic experiences, and teach those who have a responsibility and mandate to serve and protect Canadians, that they learn from it,” Susheel said.

OMNI News Punjabi will air a special which explores how Canada’s largest terrorist attack remains overlooked, as families continue their calls for justice, closure, and healing. The special will air during the following times in language:

• Wednesday, June 11 at 18:30 – O2, BC, ALB – English
• Friday, June 13 at 18:30 – O2, BC, ALB – Hindi
• Sunday, June 15 at 19:30 – O2, BC, ALB – Punjabi