Canada- your
follies will come back to haunt you!
Canada has made
serious mistakes about India’s security concerns in the past- and Canadians
have paid the price for it. What is perplexing is that Canada continues to do
so.
(This is from a thread by Bhai Harpeet. It was a passionate thread and we are reproducing it here with only the minimum of editing to give you a sense of the raw emotion it carries. You can follow him on Twitter where he goes by the nom de plume @CestMoiz or catch his blog posts here. )
So the 'Liberal' Dynast who
is the current Prime Minister of Canada just jumped in the midst of an internal
affair of the Union of India at the behest of his Khalistani votebank.
So let me refresh Shri Justin Ji's memory
regarding the biggest terror attack perpetrated by these same voters of his
from the very soil he governs. Canada, this one will haunt you till time's end.
Setting out some thoughts and some facts when
it came to Western nations not merely looking away at terrorism aimed at India
in the 70s, 80s and the 90s, but in cases, actually encouraging it. This state
sponsored terror cost us dearly then & costs us dearly even now.
70s - 90s were not very popular years for Govt
of India in Western capitals. At best, they looked away when it came to matters
that were detrimental to Indian interests and at worst, they actively fomented
trouble within Indian borders. Primary reason was that the geopolitical
interests of the US and UK were not aligned with Indian ones. Germination and
nurturing of the Khalistani terrorism was but one manifestation of this ill
will. Two quick examples:
1. After the Khalistani terrorists hijacked an Indian aircraft on 24 Aug 1984 to Lahore (5th such incident, btw), the Paakis found out that the hijacking was done with a toy pistol and in order to help them out, gave them a revolver. Then they asked the hijackers to take the plane to Dubai. Over there, the hijackers demanded that they be handed over to US authorities instead of India. However, they were tricked by the Indian and UAE security agencies and brought to India. Upon investigation, it was found that the revolver was of German origin. Germany confirmed that that particular piece was part of a consignment delivered to Pak Army. This was promptly shared with the US. Unsurprisingly, the US refused to believe this due to 'lack of evidence', despite eyewitness accounts by the hijacked passengers having seen the revolver handed over in Lahore!
2. In the second instance, Talwinder Singh Parmar, a known terrorist, was arrested in West Germany in 1983 as he travelled by train from Zurich, thanks to an Interpol lock-out notice. CBI was informed by the Germans thru the Interpol who asked for his custody for trial in cases against him in India. Germany asked for details and was informed that a CBI team would be flying to Bonn with the same. However, even before the CBI team took off, the Indian consul general in Vancouver messaged that Talwinder Singh had been released and had even addressed a religious congregation in a local Gurudwara wherein he'd threatened violence against India. Upon being asked as to why they released him, the Germans claimed it was due to delay on Indian part; a patently false statement since the Indian authorities had been prompt in their actions. Talwinder Singh would get back to Canada and play a major part in the Kanishka bombing, an act for which the Canadian Govt's role is still under a cloud.
Ok, now coming to the shameful 'Kanishka'
episode. Talwinder Singh Parmar had been on the run from Indian authorities
since 1981 and had found refuge in Canada. In 1982, India issued a warrant for
Parmar's arrest for six charges of murder stemming from the killing of men of
Punjab Police in Ludhiana & notified Canada that he was a wanted terrorist.
However, Canada refused to extradite him. Soon thereafter, BlueStar and
subsequent massacre of Sikhs in Delhi followed.
The Khalistanis in Canada started plotting
revenge. In late 1984, at least two informers reported to authorities on
the first abortive plot to bomb Air India Flight 182, which flew out of
Montreal's Mirabel International Airport at that time. In August 1984, the
known criminal Gerry Boudreault claimed that Talwinder Parmar showed him a
suitcase stuffed with $200,000, payment to plant a bomb. He refused to do so.
Then in September, in an attempt to get his sentence for theft and fraud
reduced, Harmail Singh Grewal of Vancouver told the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) of the
plot to bomb the flight from Montreal. And what did the Canadians do?
They fcuking DISMISSED these two reports
pointing to the SAME plot from two UNRELATED sources as UNRELIABLE. Finally, in
early 1985, the CSIS obtained a court order to place Parmar under surveillance
for one year. On 9 June 1985, a police informer in Hamilton reported that
Parmar and Bagri had visited the Malton Sikh Gurudwara, warning the faithful
that "it would be unsafe" to fly Air India. The CSIS / RCMP couldn't
have asked for any more red flags pointing towards a plot to bomb an Air India
flight out of Canada. But nope, nothing was done. Ultimately, the Kanishka
(pictured below) would get blown apart near Ireland, taking 329 souls with it,
at the hands of terrorists based out of Canada, with bombs assembled in Canada.
268 of the victims were Canadian citizens.
What followed was an investigation that still
continues to this day in some respects, uncovering utter incompetence on part
of Canadian authorities at best, and willful / malicious oversight at worst.
Much has been written about that, so I'll cover only some basic, glaring
lacunae. As has been mentioned earlier, Parmar was under surveillance since
early 1985. Late in the afternoon of June 4, 1985, CSIS surveillance teams
followed Parmar's maroon car as he drove to pick up his friend Inderjit Singh
Reyat from his home in Duncan. From Reyat's home, 3 men, one of whom has never
been identified, drove to a clearing in the woods around the town. CSIS agents
Larry Lowe & Lynne Jarrett soon heard a loud blast. It was the terrorists
testing the detonation system for the bombs. The agents reported it as a
shotgun blast. Then happened the most incredible thing in this entire dirty
saga - On 16 Jun 1985, surveillance over Parmar was lifted! This was the time
when preparations for the bombing would've been at their peak! Funny, no? Esp
since this blast was NOT the only sign of trouble. But it gets even more
'funnier'. Apparently, James Bartleman, then DG of the Intel & Security
Bureau of the CSIS external affairs div, told the Air India Commission that he
had seen secret info which "indicated that Flight 182 would be targeted."
Now intelligence cannot get any more pointed
than this. But when he brought this same info to the notice of an RCMP
official, Bartleman testified that 'he was met with a hostile reception'. Mind
you, he was a DG in the CSIS! And then we are to believe it was mere inter
agency turf wars at play. Sorry, I refuse to believe that. And I suspect, the
329 departed souls would refuse too. What is even more glaring is that based on
Indian agencies' inputs, on 01 Jun 1985 Air India's Mumbai office sent a telex
message to the airline's offices worldwide warning of "the likelihood of
sabotage attempts being undertaken by Sikh extremists by placing time/delay
devices, etc., in the aircraft or registered baggage." This was further
corroboration of info already held with the Canadians, if only they were
looking. Air India's Montreal office passed on the information to the RCMP.
A good, PROFESSIONAL agency would have
reconciled it with inputs it already had, and upped its vigil. But then it was
the RCMP. They chose to not only NOT forward the input to CSIS, but not even to
THEIR OWN internal department responsible for preparing threat assessments. The
RCMP were already aware of possible plots to target Air India aircraft, yet
they dismissed even this input from Air India itself as a 'ploy' by the
national carrier of a third world, commie aligned nation (remember, Afghan
'Jihad' was then underway) to secure additional security FOR FREE!
To be charitable, I'll say the RCMP were not an
intentional party to this terror attack, but merely incompetent. In the words
of Justice John Major of Canadian Supreme Court, "Time and again in the
Air India investigation, RCMP came down on the side of skepticism based on a
superficial assessment of credibility, which led them to dismiss info long
before its truth could reasonably be assessed." But this 'incompetence'
carried on even AFTER the attack actually happened. Once again, not
going into the nitty gritties of the trial as such. Just listing out a couple
of facts over here. In his verdict, Justice Josephson cited "unacceptable
negligence" by CSIS when hundreds of wiretaps of the suspects were
destroyed. Of the 210 wiretaps that were recorded during the months
before and after the bombing, 156 were ERASED.
Amazingly, nay, 'Funnily', these tapes
continued to be erased even AFTER the terrorists had become the primary
suspects in the bombing! Because the original wiretap records were
erased, they were inadmissible as evidence in court In a lame excuse, CSIS
claimed the wiretap recordings contained no relevant information, but an RCMP
memo stated that "There is a strong likelihood that had CSIS retained the
tapes between March and August 1985, that a successful prosecution of at least
some of principals in both bombings could have been undertaken. Then there was
the case of Tara Singh Hayer, the publisher of the Indo-Canadian Times & a
member of the Order of .. .. British Columbia who gave an affidavit to
the RCMP in 1995 that he was present during a conversation in which Bagri
admitted his involvement in the bombings. Hayer was, however, shot dead in 1998
in Surrey, consequent to which his affidavit was inadmissible as evidence in court.
Ok, so this murder happened in England - Another stronghold of Khalistanis. But
in Canada itself, many refused to testify since the Canadian Govt couldn't
provide sufficient guarantees of their safety. Of two witnesses, one cited
memory loss in refusing to testify, and another was forced to enter the Witness
Protection Program two years earlier than planned, due to the RCMP's
'inadvertent' disclosure of her identity. So professional of them, no? But the
'funny' doesn't end here. Justice John Major noted in amazement as to how could
the RCMP not share the telex from Air India with the CSIS.
On the contrary, RCMP provided 'erroneous
information' to former Ontario Premier Bob Rae during his 2005 investigation.
Yup. The RCMP didn't lie or hide facts. They merely provided 'ERRONEOUS'
information! This was not the only part of the aviation security lapses by the
Canadian law enforcement agencies, Justice Major stated. He referred to one
summer employee, Brian Simpson, who 'boarded Flight 182 at Pearson
International Airport in Toronto without detection on the afternoon of June 22,
1985 and this person 'had complete access to the aircraft from the cockpit to
the equipment at the rear.' Tragic? NO. The saddest part according to Major was
that during testimonies the 'government counsel' tried 'to discredit this
witness.' Simpson's evidence, he said, 'revealed numerous weaknesses in
security.
I think I've said enough. Time to stop now, since my blood is
still boiling at this willful murder. Yes, that's how I look at it - WILLFUL.
WILLFUL, because it could have easily been prevented.
WILLFUL, because the perps could easily have been convicted.
WILLFUL, because petty egos, masquerading as 'turf wars' caused
the loss of 329 souls.
At the most charitable, I'll say it was an 'innocent oversight'
that nurtured, and continues to nurture anti-India terrorists over Canadian
soil. On the other hand, someone can just as easily call out Canada for
willfully nurturing them for their own reasons. How else can a visa denial to
an ex CRPF officer over assumed human rights abuses be justified? Btw,
the Canadian Govt was forced to apologize for this act by an employee of
theirs. Fair enough, but it does show the mindset nurtured over decades, just
coming to the foreground - Selective Amnesia, I'd say.
And it is only getting more and more mainstream each passing day. Here's a piece by Tarek Fatah that brings this to the fore. Do read it-
Jagmeet Singh fails his first test of leadership
And then read this piece too. A bit long, but a MUST read-
Khalistan’s Deadly Shadow
Trudeau Saheb, you are playing with fire. Don't
be crying if it burns you, or worse, your own country. I'll just leave this
tweet by a former Navy Chief in his personal capacity here.
But no, the GOI and those that represent it,
are mature enough not to stoke fires inside others' houses. We have already
suffered enough, and PREVAILED. We know the costs involved and we don't wish
them upon others.
I'll sign off on this thread with what I said
in the beginning - Canada, this will haunt you till time's end. Mark this.
Fin