The Air India Bombing was conspired and executed to avenge the wounded honour of the Golden Temple, a respected seat of worship and devotion and a place of harmony. This temple assault, euphemistically known as, “Operation Blue Star,” had the approval of the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and was no less evil than the bombing of the Air India flights that followed.
By Dr. Suresh Kurl
Time passes, sometimes leaving behind only clusters of hurtful memories. Believe me, or ask those whom destiny left behind only to mourn the loved ones they lost on June 23, 1985.
30 years have gone by waiting to hear the news that might offer the living victims of the Air India tragedy a reason to spend the rest of their days with some sense of justice. It now seems that they will never realise their hopes.
The Air-India Bombing was not a car accident caused by a drunken driver, or a miscalculation of his driving skills on an icy Canadian road. Rather, it was a well schemed, well financed and well executed mass murder of 331 individuals and aviation first. They had no idea before and after they boarded the plane that they were being taken to meet not their relatives but the end of their lives –sort of reminder of the Holocaust victims on a smaller scale. Eyes still get moist and tears still roll down cheeks when someone or something reminds us of that day.
Mr. Reyat, the designated technician-cum-schemer of the 331 murders made the bomb, tested the device and then, with full knowledge and understanding of his role and the role of the explosive device he designed, handed it over to his associate master-minds. His associates then executed the rest of the plot by loading the device onto the plane causing it to shatter over the Atlantic Ocean. All of them fulfilled their roles rather effectively, leaving the Irish authorities scooping dead babies, dead adults, the contents of packed suitcases, including floating dolls and pieces of the broken airplane for evidence.
The Air India Bombing was conspired and executed to avenge the wounded honour of the Golden Temple, a respected seat of worship and devotion and a place of harmony. This temple assault, euphemistically known as, “Operation Blue Star,” had the approval of the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and was no less evil than the bombing of the Air India flights that followed.
Mrs. Gandhi with so many resources and creative minds at her disposal could have chosen some other political and peaceful solution to resolve the national crisis, but she did not. Similarly, Mr. Reyat and his associates could have adopted some other peaceful path to resolve their agenda, but they did not, because they must have believed that these two horrible wrongs equalled one right.
Co-incidentally and ironically, there are a few similarities between their names, Indira and Inderjit. Firstly, their names “Indira” and “Inder” both have the same derivative Sanskrit root, “in-” meaning, stubborn and determined.
Second, both of them suffered the consequences of their Karma (behaviour). PM Gandhi lost her life through the hands of her trusted body guards and Inderjit lost his freedom because of his contribution to an evil scheme, his trusted associates and through the Canadian judicial system.
In fact, Mr. Reyat chose to go an extra mile and ended up protecting and insulating his criminal associates through his own perjury. I call it destiny.
Third, their actions were connected and related — against and for — to the creation of a separate nation, “Khalistan’.
Fourth, no one seems to admire them for the violence soaked “sacrifices” they made and sought to attain their objectives.
In another twisted irony, Mr. Reyat was released from a half-way house, on Valentine’s Day, the day that millions around the world celebrate love.
We may never know, but potentially of equal significance is that he may never be free from a mental and emotional prison of guilt. He might not be able to sleep soundly, and may even suffer vivid anxiety-laden dreams of exploding planes and falling dead babies from the sky. All of this may happen because he is unwilling to reconcile with and admit the truth, and show that compassion, honesty and universal love, which are the tenets of every religion, including Sikhism, his own religion.
None of us mere mortals can know if Mr. Reyat is worthy of deliverance but his enabling salvation factors — true remorse and spiritual insight into his deeds – are likely to remain buried deep between the titanic layers of his inability to face the truth until he starts peeling off those layers apart.
Spiritually speaking, if Mr. Reyat has any hope of redemption, he alone can bring this about. Only he can redeem himself of his portion of sins by disclosing the names of those who were involved in plotting, financing and executing the crime which decimated 331 families and put him, and him alone, in prison.
Mr. Reyat is a Sikh. If he believes in God, he must also believe in karma, its consequences and rebirth. If all this is true then the only option Mr. Reyat has is to pray for peace and the strength to tell truth and cleanse his conscience. Truth sets us free. Truth prepares us to face our Creator.
It is clear to us that neither his lengthy confinement and nor the judicial system have fully converted Mr. Reyat, but there is another path, a spiritual path. He can still do the right thing for his soul, for his children and their children. He alone has the power to take the actions that may free him from a condemned karmic cycle. He still has reasons and opportunities to offer the gift of justice and peace to those he has victimised. If he chooses, Mr. Reyat could leave this world free of the burden of the weight of lies.
Dr. Suresh Kurl is a South Asian Community Activist, a former university professor, retired Registrar of the BC Benefits Appeal Board (Govt. of B.C.) a former-Member of the National Parole Board (Govt. of Canada), a writer and public speaker.
