Parliament petition based on “Sikh belief” launched for “fresh inquiry” on Air India bombing

A petition calling for Canadian parliament to order a “fresh inquiry into Air India” (the 1985 Air India Kanishka flight bombing) has been sponsored by Liberal Party MP Sukh Dhaliwal on behalf of members of his Surrey-Newton (British Columbia) constituency.

The petition has been pushed by local media figure Gurpreet Singh who is a leading voice questioning the official narrative around the incident, echoing wider beliefs the Indian State was involved in the tragic massacre. Dhaliwal (MP since 2015) met with Gurpreet Singh about the petition on 30th July, before officially sponsoring it on 13th August. It is now available to sign on the official Canadian commons website.

As part of his official sponsoring of the petition, Dhaliwal signed off on statements including “The Sikhs in Canada widely believe that this was the handiwork of a foreign intelligence to discredit their political activism and undermine their advocacy work for human rights in India”.

The 1985 Air India bombing is the biggest terrorist attack in Canada’s history. Whilst a mainstream narrative suggests it was carried out by Khalistanis (free Sikh homeland supporters), those accused of being involved have always denied this and the trial regarding the incident yielded obscure results. Many Sikh groups and activists have long stated the incident was a “false-flag” by the Indian State in an attempt to malign the Khalistan movement. It has also been noted such terrorism does not align with other openly celebrated acts of Khalistan resistance, which targeted individuals involved with the Indian State (politicians, police, army).

Reasoning behind beliefs the Khalistan movement was framed for the tragic act of terrorism has been intricately relayed by various Sikh figures, to the extent that many groups also openly call for reinvestigation into the incident, especially given ongoing revelations about Indian interference in Canada. The issue has even been raised by former Canadian diplomat Bhupinder Singh Liddar. Detailed long lists of discrepancies which point away from a simple “Khalistani act of terror” are the basis for the ongoing Sikh calls for the incident to be reinvestigated.

The book “Soft Target” which explores the complexity of the Air India trial is also regularly referenced by Sikhs regarding the bombing, with many highlighting quotes from the book which relay Canadian intelligence belief of India’s involvement.

Panth (Sikh community/path) focused news outlet Baaz also confirmed earlier this year that RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) say their investigation into the bombing is still open.

Depending on the amount of signatures the petition receives, an official inquiry and reinvestigation may gain official parliamentary support by next year, when it will be the 40th anniversary since the tragic incident. The petition closes on 11th December.