Now, families of Air India bomb blast victims ask for memorial in India
January 18th, 2011 - 2:52 pm ICT by ANI
Toronto (Canada), Jan.18 (ANI): Families of crew members who died in the 1985 mid-air bomb explosion aboard an Air India flight have asked for the wreckage to be sent back to India for a memorial to commemorate the tragedy.
“As you are aware that Canada and Ireland have built four memorials and one memorial respectively, but we have none in India,’ the son of pilot Narendra Singh Hanse, wife of co-pilot Satwinder Singh Bhinder and mother of flight attendant Shyla Juju said in a recent letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Globe and Mail further quoted them, as saying: “We do request your office to consider building a Kanishka memorial in Delhi for remembrance of those whose lives were sacrificed for no fault of their own,” they said, referring to the ill-fated plane by its formal name of Kanishka.
But the RCMP are reluctant to let go of the rumpled fragments of fuselage, charred passenger seats and twisted scraps of wing flaps that were brought up from the ocean floor 20 years ago.
“The wreckage is owned by the government of India but the RCMP, or Canada has custody of it and will maintain custody until there is no possibility of a future trial, because it is all considered evidence,” Inspector Tim Shields, spokesperson for RCMP E Division in Vancouver, said Monday in an interview.
The Boeing 747 was flying at 31,000 feet when the bomb exploded. Deep-sea dives found only 159 pieces of metal, about five per cent of the aircraft.
The aircraft was partially rebuilt with retrieved fragments and fabricated pieces of metal for the trial of two B.C. men accused of playing a role in the conspiracy to blow up the plane.
The wreckage is currently stored in a RCMP warehouse at an undisclosed location. (ANI)
- Kanishka crew families write to PM for memorial in Delhi - Jan 18, 2011
- Kanishka victims reject Canada's $24,000 ex-gratia - Jul 11, 2011
- Families angry as Air India bomber appeals conviction - Feb 09, 2011
- Canada unveils another memorial to Air India victims - Jun 23, 2011
- Air India victims echo judge's remarks on Sikh radicals - May 12, 2011
- Canada unveils Kanishka Project to honour Air India victims - Jun 24, 2011
- Stalemate between Air India management, striking pilots continues - Apr 30, 2011
- Vikram Bajwa to highlight justice for Kanishka crash victims - Dec 31, 2010
- Kanishka victims did not get justice: Canadian judge - May 11, 2011
- No ex-gratia for Kanishka victims in action plan - Dec 07, 2010
- Air India bomber gets nine more years for perjury (Lead) - Jan 08, 2011
- India to integrate indigenous airborne radar in July - Apr 16, 2011
- Jail Kanishka bomber for 14 more years, court told - Nov 18, 2010
- Kanishka report out, Canada to apologise, pay compensation - Jun 18, 2010
- Kanishka bombing: Canada ignored reports on threat to India, says co-pilot's widow - Jun 18, 2010
Tags: air india, air india flight, boeing 747, bomb blast, bomb explosion, c men, co pilot, globe and mail, government of india, ill fated plane, indian prime minister, indian prime minister manmohan singh, kanishka, manmohan singh, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, sea dives, shyla, tim shields, wing flaps