One of two men acquitted in the notorious 1985 Air India bombings was shot dead in Surrey, BC on Thursday, sparking mixed reactions in the community.
Ripudaman Singh Malik’s death was mourned by some who fondly remembered the 75-year-old as co-founder of Khalsa School and Khalsa Credit Union.
Others who lost loved ones in the attacks, and who continue to believe Malik was involved in the terror attack, which remains the worst mass murder in Canadian history, were stunned.
“Did we get closure on what happened today? Not really,” said Rob Alexander of the Air India Victims’ Families Association. “In the end, your loved one will not return. The damage will not be undone, physically, emotionally, or mentally.”
Alexander’s father, Dr. Matthew Alexander, was among the 329 people on board Air India Flight 182 when it exploded in mid-air en route from Canada to Mumbai.
“He was going to his house to see his mother,” Alexander said. “I never made it.”
Another bombing attempt on a second flight leaving Japan failed, but killed two baggage handlers. The families of the victims spent decades waiting for justice, but only saw one man, bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat, convicted in connection with the attack.
Reyat pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2003 and was later found guilty of perjury for repeatedly lying while testifying at the trial of Malik and his co-defendant, Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were charged with mass murder and conspiracy. Both men were acquitted.
A FLAWED INVESTIGATION
Alexander and other surviving relatives of the Air India victims continued to blame Malik for the attack until his unexpected death on Thursday, when he was shot in the Newton neighborhood of Surrey, near 82nd Avenue and 128th Street.
“He was acquitted because there were some mistakes during the investigation, the agencies made some mistakes, and the courts couldn’t find him guilty,” Alexander said.
The investigation into the bombings was long and complex, going on for 15 years before charges were brought. Two possible witnesses in the case were also killed.
Malik became an infamous figure within the Sikh community, spending decades under a cloud of suspicion and gossip, though he too had a following.
Speaking to CTV News hours after the shooting, Surrey resident Nerinder Kaur said he didn’t know Malik but was under the impression he had done a lot to promote education in the city.
In a Facebook post, the son of the deceased, Jaspreet Singh Malik, claimed that his father was falsely accused.
“My father’s commitment was to his community and his family, and his goal was to see the Sikh immigrant community prosper,” he wrote, adding that Malik was survived by his wife, five sons, four daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren.
NO MORE RISK, POLICE SAY
The motive for Malik’s murder is unclear, but authorities have said they believe he was targeted.
“We are aware of Mr. Malik’s background,” Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of the Homicide Integrated Investigation Team said in a statement. “There is not believed to be any further risk to the public.”
Gurpreet Singh Sahota, a journalist with CK News Group, noted that Malik found a new infamy in recent years by openly praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid massive farmer protests in that country.
Sahota stressed that it is too early to know whether politics or Malik’s past played a role in his murder.
“It could be a trade dispute,” he added.
A suspicious vehicle was found completely engulfed in flames not far from the scene of the shooting, near 82nd Avenue and 122nd Street, and is believed to be associated with the homicide.
Given the time and place of the murder, in the parking lot of a complex where Malik ran a business, IHIT investigators believe there are witnesses who have not spoken to police and asked anyone with information or video relevant to the case. That is present.
A witness, who did not want to be identified, told CTV News that he heard three shots and ran to find Malik slumped in the seat of a vehicle. The windshield was shattered.
“He was alive,” the witness said. “He Solo was shot in the neck, that’s all.”
He got Malik out of the car, called 911 and waited for emergency crews to arrive. Malik was pronounced dead at the scene.
REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS
Malik’s death prompted reflection from many Canadians, including BC Health Minister Adrian Dix, whose wife, Renée Sarojini Saklikar, lost relatives in the Air India attack.
“We are thinking of the families, of those who lost 82 children under the age of 12,” Dix said. “The flight was in June, a lot of people were coming back for vacations or to see family, so we thought of them today.”
At the Air India trial, prosecutors alleged that Malik was seeking revenge for the Indian government’s raid on the Golden Temple in 1984 while trying to drive out armed militants from Sikhism’s holiest place of worship in Amritsar.
Recalling the Air India tragedy, Alexander said the lasting lesson of the attacks is that Canadians cannot be complacent when it comes to extremism.
“You can’t think it will never happen in Canada because that was the attitude in 1985,” he said.
Archived by Bhinder Sajan and Meagan Gill of CTV News Vancouver, and Candy Chan of CTV National News