• Print friendly
• E-mail a friend
• Contact Us
• Social Networks
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
• Stock Market
  • Weather
  • Gas Prices
  • Flight Info
  • Lottery
  • Recipes
  • Soccer

Politically Incorrect

Air India bombing, racism and multiculturalism

On March 16, Ripudaman Singh Malek and Ajaib Singh Bagri were found not guilty by a British Columbia court of their alleged participation in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985.

It didn’t take long for the word "racism" to be brought out to describe the 20-year history of the downed aircraft that included botched investigations by the RCMP and CSIS. The day after the verdict was announced, the CBC quoted Lata Pada who lost her husband and two children in the crash as saying, "Had this been a tragedy that affected mainstream Anglo-Saxon Canadians, I think the response would have been very different".

In fairness to Ms. Pada, she merely states her opinion; it is the CBC that applied the term "racism" to it. Yes, there are some people who will say that the entire investigation and trial was nothing more than an exercise in racism. They undoubtedly represent a small minority of people, probably no larger than those who believe that the government of India was responsible for the terrorist act and would have made allegations of racism if Malek and Bagri, both Sikhs, would have been convicted. Most people of Indian descent feel as most other Canadians do; the bungling of the then new CSIS and the RCMP was responsible for what later transpired rather than any overt racism.

Racism is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the belief in the superiority of a particular race and prejudice that results from this belief. Unfortunately the "r" word is thrown around much too much, especially by the politically correct such as those at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The fact that racism was not involved in the investigation and the subsequent trial of Malek and Bagri does not mean that Lata Pada was wrong in what she said. She was correct when she said that the explosion that cost 329 people their lives during the summer of 1985 would have been viewed differently had the plane contained mainly "white Anglo-Saxon Canadians".

But the way the bombing wasn’t racism; it had to do with the way that we view multiculturalism in this country.

Canadian multiculturalism consists of a lot more than merely encouraging people of different races, religions and ethnic groups to come to this country and welcoming them when they arrive. Once they get here, they are not "allowed" to retain their own practices and way of life; they are "encouraged" to do so. People who come to Canada and try and find out how they can become good Canadians are told only to retain their own culture. Their culture is our culture. Their children who are born after their arrival, Canadian citizens by birth, are taught from an early age that Canada is not as important as the country that their parents come from. Multicultural festivities are deemed more important than learning the history of Canada, as Eurocentric as it was. Hyphenated Canadians are not only tolerated; they are encouraged. A Canadian is nothing more than a person who is living in Canada on a permanent basis.

Given our views regarding immigrants who come to Canada and the way we practice multiculturalism, it is not surprising that immediately after Air India Flight 182 went down, then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney called then- Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to express his condolences. India lost one of its national airline’s planes to the terrorist act, but it was only sheets of metal, nuts and bolts. The flight originated in Canada and most of the 329 people who lost their lives were Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada who had homes, loved ones and lives in this country. Whoever planned to take down the plane knew that the plane would contain a large number of Canadians. They wanted to attack India by destroying one of its aircraft; they didn’t care about the nationality of its passengers.

The way that Canada responded to the bombing of the Air India plane was not racism. But given the way that we view multiculturalism, it is no wonder that Mulroney and many other Canadians viewed the bombing of Flight 182 as a tragedy that befell people of another country. It was treated in the same way as a terrorist act committed in India would have been treated. As long as we keep our current policies, those who come from other countries will always be considered "different" than the "white Anglo-Saxon Canadians" that Lata Pada spoke about.

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men's News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and The Rant. Arthur can be reached at: aweinreb@rogers.com

Other articles by Arthur Weinreb