The bombing of Air India Flight 182, widely known as the Kanishka bombing, remains the single deadliest act of aviation terrorism in history before the September 11, 2001 attacks. On 23 June 1985, 329 people — including 24 Indian citizens and a large number of Canadians of Indian origin — perished when the aircraft was destroyed mid-air over the Atlantic Ocean. The attack, carried out in the name of Khalistani extremism, was not merely an assault on a passenger jet; it was, as observers have long noted, an assault on humanity itself.

The Attack and Its Aftermath

Decades after the tragedy, its full weight has been obscured by political disputes, investigative shortcomings, and delayed accountability. Canada's Commission of Inquiry, in its landmark 2010 report titled Air India Flight 182: A Canadian Tragedy, acknowledged grave institutional failures by Canadian security and intelligence agencies. The inquiry found that critical warnings had been missed, intelligence was poorly coordinated, and the threat posed by pro-Khalistani extremists was severely underestimated by the agencies responsible for preventing it.

Of all those implicated, only Inderjit Singh Reyat was ultimately convicted in connection with the bombing. The principal conspirators escaped criminal conviction, largely due to insufficient evidence that could meet the threshold for prosecution. As a result, many victims' families maintain that justice remains fundamentally incomplete — a wound that has never fully healed.

Why the Historical Record Matters

For years, proponents of the Khalistan movement have sought to present it as an entirely non-violent political campaign with no record of targeting civilians. The Kanishka bombing permanently and irreversibly dismantles that claim. Hundreds of passengers — women, children, and entire families — were killed in what stands as one of the worst terrorist attacks in the history of civil aviation.

A clear acknowledgment that Khalistani extremists were responsible for this atrocity serves a specific purpose: it separates legitimate democratic expression from terrorism carried out under the same banner. It also weakens the recurring tendency to attribute every act of civilian violence to shadowy state agencies, a narrative that has long sustained extremist propaganda. Recognising this historical reality is not about reopening old wounds — it is about preventing the distortion of history and shielding future generations from radicalisation.

The Cost Punjab Has Already Paid

Punjab bore an enormous human and economic toll during the years of militancy. Thousands of civilians, police personnel, public servants, journalists, and religious leaders lost their lives. Industrial investment declined, economic development stalled, and an atmosphere of fear settled across the state for years.

Today, Punjab confronts a different set of crises — rampant drug addiction, youth unemployment, large-scale migration, and organised crime. Against this backdrop, the revival of narratives that glorify violence or elevate convicted terrorists to the status of heroes poses a direct threat to the state's social fabric. An honest reckoning with the Kanishka tragedy, commentators argue, could yield several concrete benefits: it would erode the moral credibility of extremist propaganda, discourage the public glorification of those associated with terrorism, strengthen the resolve of ordinary Punjabis who rejected violence in the past and continue to do so, and help younger generations distinguish between Punjab's proud cultural identity and the ideologies that exploited religion for political ends.

The International Dimension

The Kanishka bombing also exposed how extremist movements can sustain themselves through networks operating well beyond India's borders. Diaspora funding, overseas propaganda infrastructure, and permissive political environments abroad allowed radical organisations to survive long after their domestic support had collapsed. When governments explicitly recognise the violent history of Khalistani extremism and act consistently against those who celebrate terrorism, it becomes significantly harder for such groups to recruit, fundraise, or portray themselves as victims of state persecution. International counterterrorism cooperation, experts note, depends on confronting historical facts rather than setting them aside for political convenience.

The Canadian government formally apologised for the institutional failures that contributed to the tragedy — an acknowledgment that reinforced the principle that governments must learn from their errors. Equally important, observers argue, is the sustained rejection of any attempt to romanticise the attack or those associated with it.

Punjab's Identity and the Path Forward

Punjab's historical identity has never been defined by hatred or separatism. It is the land of Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Gobind Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and Bhagat Singh — figures who embodied courage, sacrifice, and service to humanity. The overwhelming majority of Punjabis, as reflected in successive electoral and social outcomes, seek peace, education, economic opportunity, and the preservation of their rich cultural heritage.

Accepting the historical reality of the Kanishka bombing is therefore not an attack on Punjab or the Sikh community — on the contrary, it protects both from being unjustly associated with the actions of violent extremists. History, as independent commentators have argued, should neither be forgotten nor rewritten. It should be honestly remembered so that future generations understand the true human cost of terrorism. The most powerful answer to extremist ideology is not silence, but truth.