The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is a foreign intelligence service and security agency of the federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world and conducting covert action within Canada and abroad. CSIS reports to the Minister of Public Safety, and is subject to review by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
Air India Flight 182 was a passenger flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route, that on 23 June 1985, disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean as a result of an explosion from a bomb planted by Canadian Sikh terrorists. It was operated using a Boeing 747-237B registered VT-EFO. The incident happened en route from Montreal to London at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 m). The remnants of the aircraft fell into the sea approximately 190 kilometres off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people on board, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens, and 24 Indian citizens. The bombing of Air India Flight 182 is the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history, the deadliest aviation incident in the history of Air India and was the world's deadliest act of aviation terrorism until the September 11 attacks in 2001. The mastermind behind the bombing was believed to be Inderjit Singh Reyat, a dual British-Canadian national, who pleaded guilty in 2003 and Talwinder Singh Parmar, a Canadian Sikh separatist leader, who was one of the key individuals associated with the militant group Babbar Khalsa.
Babbar Khalsa also known as Babbar Khalsa International, better known as Babbar Khalsa, is a Sikh militant organisation that aims to create an independent Sikh nation of Khalistan in the Indian and Pakistani states of Punjab. It has used armed attacks, assassinations and bombings in aid of that goal, and is deemed to be a terrorist entity by various governments. Besides India, it operates in North America and Europe, including Scandinavia.
The 1985 Narita International Airport bombing was the attempted terrorist bombing of Air India Flight 301, which took place on June 23, 1985. A bomb hidden in a suitcase transiting through New Tokyo International Airport exploded at 06:19 23 June 1985 in a baggage handling room, killing two baggage handlers and injuring another four. The bomb exploded prematurely while the plane was still grounded. The attack at Narita was part of an attempted double-bombing orchestrated by Talwinder Singh Parmar, a Canadian national, and the Sikh terrorist organization, Babbar Khalsa. The bombs were made by Inderjit Singh Reyat.
Talwinder Singh Parmar or Hardev Singh Parmar was a Sikh militant accused by Indian government of masterminding the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing, which killed 329 people. It was the worst single incident of aviation terrorism in history until the September 11 attacks in the United States. In addition, another bomb was meant to explode aboard Air India Flight 301 in Japan the same day, but it exploded while the plane was still grounded, killing two people. Parmar was also the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), better known as Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant group involved in the Khalistan movement.
The Security Intelligence Review Committee was a committee of Privy Councillors that was empowered to serve as an independent oversight and review body for the operations of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). The SIRC was established in 1984 as a result of the reorganization of Canadian intelligence agencies recommended by the McDonald Commission investigating the illegal activities of the former RCMP Security Service.
Judi Ann T. McLeod is a Canadian journalist. Formerly a reporter for a series of newspapers in Ontario, she now operates the conservative website, Canada Free Press (CFP).
Tara Singh Hayer was an Indian-Canadian newspaper publisher and editor who was murdered after his outspoken criticism of fundamentalist violence and terrorism. In particular, he was a key witness in the trial of the Air India Flight 182 bombing.
Santokh Singh Bagga was a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) informant who helped with the investigation of the 1985 Air India bombing.
Mel Deschenes was the director-general of the counter-terrorism branch of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in 1985 at the time of the Air India bombing. James S. Warren is alternatingly referred to as having held the position of director-general at the same time.
The Dashmesh Regiment is a militant group, and is part of the Khalistan movement to create a Sikh homeland called Khalistan via armed struggle.
The International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) is a proscribed organisation that aims to establish an independent homeland for the Sikhs called Khalistan. It is banned as a terrorist organisation under Australian, Japanese, Indian, Canadian and American counter-terrorism legislation. The Government of India has declared it a terrorist organisation. While banned, the organization continues to receive financial support from many Sikh people based in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Canada–India relations also referred to as Indo-Canadian relations, are the bilateral relations between Canada and India. Canada and India have had longstanding bilateral relations, with shared traditions such as democracy. India has become one of the top source countries for immigration to Canada with Indian diaspora increasing to over one million as of 2022. According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data, of the more than 800,000 international students in Canada in 2022, 40 percent were from India, constituting the largest international student group in Canada. Bilateral trade between India and Canada has seen significant growth in recent years, reaching $8.16 billion in 2023. Both Canada and India are member nations of the Commonwealth association, and also part of G20, a group of world's largest economies.
A chief engineer for the Vancouver School Board, Hardial Singh Johal was an avid follower of Talwinder Singh Parmar, and thus closely eyed in the investigation following the bombing of Air India Flight 182. He was alleged to have stored the suitcase explosives in the basement of a Vancouver school, and to have purchased the tickets for the flights on which the bombs were placed.
Syed Wajid Hussain Rizvi, better known by his film screen name, Agha Jani Kashmiri, was an Indian screenwriter, former actor and Urdu poet.
In May 1986, five Canadian Sikhs were charged with plotting to blow up Air India Flight 112 in New York City. Ostensibly members of Babbar Khalsa, two were convicted and given life sentences, while three others were released. However, years later, the courts overturned the sentences and freed the remaining two men noting that the government had failed to disclose "crucial evidence" about the alleged plot, and defence lawyers argued that the men had been entrapped by police agents who invited them to a meeting, then suggested the crime, and arrested them for showing signs of agreement.
Malkiat Singh Sidhu was the former Planning Minister of Punjab, India. He was a member of the Akali Dal political party. In 1986, he was named Minister of State.
The bombings of Air India Flight 182 and the Narita Airport launched several investigations, inquiries and trials. The trial of Malik and Bagri is known as the Air India Trial; events relating to the incident are listed below in chronological order.
I began by describing the horrific nature of these cruel acts of terrorism, acts which cry out for justice. Justice is not achieved, however, if persons are convicted on anything less than the requisite standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Despite what appear to have been the best and most earnest of efforts by the police and the Crown, the evidence has fallen markedly short of that standard.
South Asian Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area form 19% of the region's population, numbering 1.2 million as of 2021. Comprising the largest visible minority group in the region, Toronto is the destination of over half of the immigrants coming from India to Canada, and India is the single largest source of immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area. South Asian Canadians in the region also include significant Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, and Nepalis, all representing several different ethnolinguistic backgrounds.
The Sorrow and the Terror: The Haunting Legacy of the Air India Tragedy is a 1987 book by Clark Blaise and Bharati Mukherjee about the Air India Flight 182 bombing in 1985. It was published by Viking Books. Both authors are naturalized Canadians; Mukherjee is an Indo-Canadian Hindu who was born an Indian citizen while Blaise was born an American citizen.
