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A modest memorial at
Ahakista, Co.Cork, elegant in its simplicty, stands testimony to the tragedy of the crash of
Air India Kanishka on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the memorial site. The plane was blown up in mid-air not long after it took off from
Montreal en route to India on June 23rd 1985 in what was perhaps one of the first acts of
terrorism, killing all 329 passengers and crew members, a majority of them Canadian nationals
of Indian origin, on board.
The spirit with which
the people of Ahakista and the nearby areas rose to the occasion in solidarity with the families of
the victims is a saga but a story largely unknown. Apart from emergency assistance in identifying the bodies and locating and
collecting the debris, they opened their hearts and homes to complete strangers and generously put
them up in their hour of grief. They continue to do so to this day, over two decades later. Out of the ruins of a tragedy, there was thus born a unique, and most
beautiful, bond of friendship between the Irish and Indian peoples.
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The Air India Memorial at Ahakista in Co.Cork
( Photograph courtesy of ireland.ie )
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20th Anniversary Commemoration
on June 23, 2005 (attended by Minister of State in the Prime Minister's
Office, Shri Prithvi Raj Chavan, and the Punjab Minister for Public Works, Shri Partap Singh
Bajwa along with President Mary McAleese and the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Paul
Martin.)
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