When I speak or write about the Air India tragedy, I tend to get very passionate (even preachy) about how we failed the victims through a botched investigation and a collective, national indifference to what happened. I realize that this isn’t entirely fair to the people who did respond appropriately to the tragedy from the eighties to the present.
While passion and anger are appropriate at times, I have been counselled (sometimes overtly and sometimes through passive suggestion) that there are times when a more subdued tone needs to be employed. Speaking in sweeping indictments is often not helpful. This has been revealed to me over the years through a few key encounters and reflection on the entirety of the Air India story.
This is why I need to be mindful to watch my tone at times. There are plenty of people who have given their all to understanding what happened in 1985. There are many who have used their broken hearts to appropriately mourn the lives lost. And there are many who will not let our nation forget what happened on June 23, 1985.
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1/24/2022 07:34:09 am
Canada is a great "multiculti" country, yet most of the people from different background/cultures live in close neighbourhoods, socialize mostly among themselves, follow strictly their traditions etc. In my opinion that creates a mild response among the general population to a tragedy that happens within one diaspora. I agree that the approach of explaining without blame or anger is more productive to having a dialog vs turning a blind eye to such tragedies. Education and understanding could be the key to ease many problems in the world. Although, I try to "excuse" the mild reaction of Canadians to the India bombing tragedy, the government institutions such as RCMP, CISIS and the Police should have been more active and seeing it as a domestic tragedy despite the colour of the skin.
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Sean Patrick Dolan's BlogSean Patrick Dolan is the author of the thriller, My Father's Secret, inspired by the Air India Bombing. Archives
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