 "Air India flight 182 Memorial. Image source: Wikimedia Commons")
As the Canadian Parliament held a moment of silence to pay respect to Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on his one-year death anniversary, the Indian Consulate in Vancouver on Wednesday remembered the lives lost in the infamous Kanishka plane crash in 1985.
The Consulate General of India on X said, “India stands at the forefront of countering the menace of terrorism and works closely with all nations to tackle this global threat.”
“23 June 2024 marks the 39th Anniversary of the cowardly terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182 (Kanishka), in which 329 innocent victims, including 86 children, lost their lives in one of the most heinous terror-related air disasters in the history of civil aviation,” it added.
A memorial for the victims of the plane crash will be held on June 23 at the Air India Memorial at Stanley Park’s Ceperley Playground area. The Indian diaspora has been invited to participate in the event.
The post came as the Canadian Parliament observed a moment of silence to mark the one year of Nijjar’s killing. Four Indian nationals have been accused and charged with the murder of the Khalistan Tiger Force chief.
Since then, India-Canada relations have hit rock bottom since Nijjar’s killing with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accusing India of being directly linked to his murder.
What was the Kanishka plane blast?
The biggest and most heinous plane hijack incident after the 9/11 attacks, the Kanishka plane crash killed 329 people, including many Canadians.
The plane was flying from Montreal to London via Toronto when it was blown up by Khalistani terrorists.
While some of its remains were scattered over Ireland’s Cork region most of the debris of the plane sank into the North Sea. None of the passengers or the crew survived the crash.