33 yrs of Kanishka bombing

LAST Saturday saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clear the air about where Canadian liberals stood on the midair killing of 331 persons this day 33 years ago. Admittedly, few countries have owned up to past mistakes. Canada under Trudeau has done that once already by apologising for the Komagata Maru incident. But South Block always detected obliquity in Ottawa’s stand on the separatist movement of Khalistan and the explosion of Emperor Kanishka was a crucial watermark. A probe panel indicted the Canadian intelligence agencies of virtually sleeping over several tip-offs about an imminent strike and handling anti-India separatists with kid gloves. The impression was strengthened after the liberals swept back into power and were then seen as again indulging the separatists.

In politics, remorse and regret are rare and there is motive on the rare occasions they are expressed. Separatists are not getting much traction in Canadian politics and the recent provincial election in Ontario was a testimony to that. Trudeau also skipped the “Khalsa Day” event in Toronto that had earned him New Delhi’s ire last year and effectively sabotaged his India visit. His Cabinet colleague Harjit Sajjan, who earned a cold shoulder from Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, too was revelatory on the Kanishka bombing when he called for the remaining conspirators to be brought to justice. 

The change of tune may also be because many Canadian business initiatives decelerated after South Block detected separatist sympathies in its liberal government. Trudeau, in fact, was panned in Canada for his week-long India trip that produced a piffling $250 million in contracts. After the fiasco of Sajjan’s visit, Ottawa may also again want to test the waters in the lucrative Indian defence sector. Canada needs to completely turn the page over that dark chapter to prove its steadfastness to mindless extremism. The Kanishka incident needs a fresh probe to unearth the real masterminds, more so because there is a massive traffic of people between India and Canada. And both India and Canada would like to do without elements with violence in their souls.