A British Columbia Supreme Court judge on Wednesday delivered the verdict in the Kanishka bombing case.
Nearly 20 years after all 329 passengers on board flight 182 were killed in a mid-air explosion on June 23, 1985, the verdict acquitted Ripudaman Singh Malik, 57, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, 55, of all charges.
rediff.com spoke to actor Vijayendra Ghatge, whose sister Sangeeta, was killed in the explosion:
When I heard the judgment, like most of the victims' relatives, I was very shocked because the Canadian judiciary's effort was very comprehensive and painstaking.
Certain undercover agents from the Canadian police had even infiltrated the terrorist organisations.
Also see: The families' agony
They had substantial proof and they provided the victims' families with a lot of data and notes.
They kept us updated through the trial. So, when this judgment came it was a very big shock.
I don't think any of the family members are happy with it.
The very blast is something from which my mother, who lives in Madhya Pradesh, has never been able to recover. That had ruined her health. She became a diabetic and a heart patient. Now, she knows about the verdict too. She is 75
Also see: Two men bound by faith
Obviously this judge thought that the way the case was presented against those two people was weak.
I think the Canadian government can appeal and they will appeal. But the question is, what has the Indian government done here. They could have launched their own investigation or they could have persuaded the Canadians to pursue the case.
They have done nothing.
We have to look beyond this, beyond Kanishka.
Also see: Justice Kirpal disappointed
If I have lost my sister in 1985, India's most powerful lady Sonia Gandhi also lost her husband [Rajiv Gandhi] to a terrorist incident.
There have been numerous terrorist attacks apart from that. After the Parliament attack, they have now secured the Parliament, but have they secured the lives of common citizens of the country.
Images of our foreign minister exchanging terrorists for the passengers of IA Flight 814 in Kandahar are still fresh in our minds.
The barter of Indian lives for the terrorist was all right. But what has the Indian government done after that?
Have they pursued those terrorists? Or for that matter, have we ever been proactive in our approach towards terrorism?
Why are we always the victims? Why can't we be the aggressors? We are the least security-conscious nation in the world. There is no awareness among people that terrorists can attack anywhere.
But still, the Indian government has not taken a comprehensive stand against this. We have just empty rhetoric from the leaders. There is no comprehensive plan.
At this hour, what we need most is a comprehensive national policy on terrorism.
