Remembering Air India #Flight182 Passengers and their Families’ Calls for Justice.

[A thread]

35 years ago, on June 23, 1985, AI Flight 182 was bombed in an act of terrorism. 329 people lost their lives – most were Canadian citizens.

The bomb on the second Air India plane detonated prematurely killing 2 baggage handlers at the #Narita Airport. The attack was planned and executed from Vancouver.

The family members of Flight 182 asked for justice for years. At first, the Canadian government said it was an Indian issue and not a Canadian one.

Had the plane been full of white passengers, would it still have been treated as an Indian issue?

Not only did the Canadian families of Flight 182 passengers face discrimination and #systemicracism with the lack of investigation (erased evidence), lack of information, and lack of support services. In my view, their experiences of discrimination manifested in 2 other ways:

1 – It took decades for a member of the Canadian government to publicly recognize that the bombing of Flight 182 was a Canadian issue.

In order to be heard, and in each call for justice, the Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and other families had to prove that they deserved justice.

2 – The families’ calls for justice, their claims of racism and discrimination, and their desire for change was co-opted by the government and used to justify the state’s position on anti-terrorism.

When one stands up for their rights, this will always be the concern… that calls for justice against racism will be used to further those already in positions of power.

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