THE FAMILIES REMEMBER the FAMILIES REMEMBER ©Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, Represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, 2008
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Time Flies - Suns Rise and Shadows Fall Let it Pass By - Love Reigns Forever Over All Memorial Inscription at Ahakista, Ireland THE FAMILIES REMEMBER THE FAMILIES THE FAMILIES REMEMBER THE FAMILIES REMEMBER ©Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, 2008 Cat. No: CP32-89/1-2008E ISBN: 978-0-660-19779-1 Available through your local bookseller or through Publishing and Depository Services Public Works and Government Services Canada Ottawa, Ontario KIA OS5 Telephone: (613) 941-5995 or 1 800 635-7943 Fax: (613) 954-5779 or 1 800 565-7757 [email protected] Internet: www.publications.gc.ca Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................. 1 Outline ...................................................................................... 7 Notes ........................................................................................8 I. THE HUMAN LOSS ...........................................................9 A. Unfulfilled Potential .......................................................9 Shakuntala, Uma, Sandhya and Swati Sharma ................................... 11 Chandra and Manju Khandelwal .................................................... 13 Barsa Kelly ................................................................................ 15 Dr. Anchanatt Alexander.............................................................. 17 Nagasundara, Jyothi and Thejus Radhakrishna ................................. 19 Syed Qutubuddin, Shaiesta, Rubina, Arishiya and Atif Quadri ................21 Sanjay and Deepak Turlapati ........................................................ 23 Muktha and Deepak Bhat ............................................................ 25 B. Broken Dreams ............................................................ 27 Vinubhai, Chandrabala, Bina and Tina Bhatt ..................................... 29 Rachelle Castonguay .................................................................. 31 Dara D. Dumasia ........................................................................ 33 Krishnakumar Gopalan ................................................................ 35 Satwinder Singh Bhinder ............................................................. 37 Gaston Beauchesne .................................................................... 39 Indira Kalsi ............................................................................... 41 Meghana Sabharwal ................................................................... 43 Lakshmi and Veena Subramanian .................................................. 45 Ardeshir K. Enayati ..................................................................... 47 C. Great Leaders, High Achievers and Role Models ................ 49 Dr. Sugra Sadiq .......................................................................... 51 Dr. Nayudamma Yelevarthy .......................................................... 53 Drs. Zebunnisa and Umar Jethwa .................................................. 55 Captain Narendra Singh Hanse ..................................................... 57 Sam Madon .............................................................................. 59 Bhagwanti Gogia ........................................................................61 Mohan Kachroo ......................................................................... 63 Om Prakash Sharma ................................................................... 67 II. HEROIC EFFORTS ........................................................ 71 A. Responding to the Emergency ...................................... 71 Seanie Murphy ........................................................................ 73 Mark Stagg ............................................................................. 77 Daniel Brown .......................................................................... 81 Captain Roddy McDougall ......................................................... 85 Mark Tait ................................................................................ 87 Thomas Hayes ......................................................................... 89 B. Gratitude for the Acts of Kindness in Cork, Ireland .......... 93 III. THE CANADIAN RESPONSE .......................................... 99 A. Perceived Lack of Support from the Canadian Government ...... 99 B. Canadian Officials .....................................................107 IV. THE AFTERMATH .......................................................113 A. Continuing Grief .......................................................113 Donna Ramah Paul, Upendrakumar Narainji Abda and Laxmansinh Abda ................................................................................. 115 Parkash Bedi ......................................................................... 117 Mandip Singh Grewal ............................................................. 119 Shailendra Gupta, Gaurav Gupta, Mansi Kinworthy and Shobha Dewan ............................................................................... 121 Shipra Rana .......................................................................... 125 Chandar Sain Malhotra ............................................................ 127 Rama Bhardwaj ..................................................................... 129 Sanjay Lazar ......................................................................... 131 Satrajpal (Fred) Rai ................................................................. 133 Zerina Pai ............................................................................. 135 Ann and Esther Venketeswaran ................................................. 137 B. Preserving the Memory ..............................................139 Memorial Sites ...................................................................... 140 Tributes and Memorial Services ................................................. 142 Memorial Books .................................................................... 142 National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism .................143 Scholarships .......................................................................144 Dedicated Careers ................................................................145 Special Events .....................................................................146 V. RECONCILIATION AND HOPE .................................... 149 A. Rallying the Families: Seeking Justice ..........................149 Dr. Bal Gupta ......................................................................151 Sundaram Ramakasavan .......................................................155 B. Overcoming Grief to Create a Better World ................. 157 Dr. Chandra Sankurathri ........................................................159 Lata Pada ...........................................................................163 Susheel Gupta.....................................................................167 Kalwant Mamak...................................................................171 Jayashree Thampi ................................................................173 Anita Gupta ........................................................................175 VI. CONCLUDING STATEMENT ....................................... 177 In Memoriam ...................................................................180 ANNEXES ..........................................................................187 ANNEX A TERMS OF REFERENCE ........................................................189 ANNEX B WITNESS LIST ....................................................................196 ANNEX C TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS ....................................................203 ANNEX D PHOTO CAPTIONS ..............................................................207 ANNEX E COMMISSION STAFF ...........................................................209 1 Introduction In the evening of June 22, 1985, Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747 named Kanishka took off from Montreal bound for London and later New Delhi. In the early morning of June 23rd it was blown apart from a bomb planted by terrorists in Canada, killing all on board. Three hundred and twenty-nine passengers and crew died. Of these people, 137 were under 18 and 82 were under 13. This remains the greatest loss of Canadians at the hands of terrorists. The grief to the families and friends was instant, profound and enduring. Grief is paralyzing in its effect and a challenge to convey in print or speech. Mark Stagg met that challenge. He was an officer on the Laurentian Forest, among the first ships to arrive at the scene. Mark Stagg described to the Commission the carnage encountered. The oil-slicked waters of the North Atlantic circled the scene of destruction. Wreckage and broken bodies were scattered over a wide area. He recovered some bodies and parts of others and held the hope that some passengers might have survived. That hope was dashed when he lifted a child fully clothed and unmarked from the sea. He hoped for life but knew at once the child was dead. He described pressing the body to his own cheek and feeling the cold confirmation of death. He never forgot that moment; he lives with it still: The boy in me died that day. I don’t recognize this until years later, but I feel the passing. I felt it then and I feel it now, and every day my mind is drawn there. My faith in goodness, and God, and sense and normality