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Kanishka damages: Kin wait, watch
The Canadian government’s decision to apologise and give more compensation to families of the victims of the 1985 Kanishka airline bombing, following a report damning the government for the attack, has evoked a mixed response among disillusioned relatives.
The Canadian government’s decision to apologise and give more compensation to families of the victims of the 1985 Kanishka airline bombing, following a report damning the government for the attack, has evoked a mixed response among disillusioned relatives.
“Our entire family was wiped out in the crash and the men who masterminded the heinous crime have been getting away with mild punishments,” said Naseeb Kaur of Bir village in Jalandhar, Punjab.
“We have been getting a lot of hollow assurances,” she added. “Let’s see how the Canadian government decides to compensate for such a huge tragedy.”
Naseeb’s son Bhajan Singh, daughter-in-law Sukhwinder Kaur, and grandchildren Kuldip Singh (9) and Parminder Kaur (12) were on board the doomed flight.
The children’s aunt, Gurdev Kaur, said her husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law died of shock. “In all, the crash claimed seven members of my family. The body of little Kuldip was never found,” she said. “A mere apology will not do. Those who lived to experience the tragedy have been devastated during the last two decades.”
With all male members of her family dead in the crash that killed 329 people, and the Indian and Canadian governments offering little help, Naseeb had to live in virtual penury.
Soon after the report’s release, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met the families and termed the document a “damning indictment of many things that occurred before and after the tragedy”.
Vancouver resident Mandeep Singh’s father Shingara Singh was on board the ill-fated flight. “It has been unbelievably handled by the Canadian government so far,” Mandeep said. “I would have appreciated if the Canadian government had accepted its failures a long time ago and compensated us accordingly.”
(with inputs from PTI)
