The Air India Report
Press conference, with link to the report.
Pretty disgusting, the incompetence and dereliction of duty.
A black day in Canada, made even darker by the heartbreaking struggle by Indo-Canadians - far too great and far too long - to get this inquiry in first place.
Pretty disgusting, the incompetence and dereliction of duty.
A black day in Canada, made even darker by the heartbreaking struggle by Indo-Canadians - far too great and far too long - to get this inquiry in first place.
posted by Louise at 8:30 am
2 Comments:
I was living in Medicine Hat when Air India happened. A typical local coffee row response, when the casualty figure came up, was "Too bad it wasn't higher". Anyone who discounts racism as a leading cause for the fiasco of an investigation is delusional. Had the powers that be concentrated on the Canadian citizenship of the victims, instead of their ethnic origin, there would have been a different and speedier outcome.
I was living in Saskatoon. Right behind the backyard there was a mall with one of those bargain department stores (Zellers or something, I don't remember).
There was a young Indian girl working one of the tills in that store who was on that plane. I remember actually going through her check-out counter when she was on duty only a short while before the Air India incident.
To this day, I don't know how to describe what I felt when I learned that she was on that flight. I'm not sure why I even remembered it, because, after all, purchasing something insignificant at a low-scale department store is so mundane, but I think her customer service attitude must have just sparkled, because for some reason she left an impression on me. When the television newscast of the tragedy showed her picture, I knew instantly it was her.
To this day, I'm not sure how to describe the emotions I felt at that time. I really didn't know her from a hole in the ground, but I felt evil had extended its ugly finger and touched me.
She was such a bright young light, snuffed out for no reason. It still brings tears to my eyes, even as I sit here typing this.
And yes, I remember similar statements made about persons of Indian or Pakistani ancestry during that era, too. I hope we've moved on as a society since then, but maybe we haven't. I just tend not to hang out with people who would say such things.
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