Still 'no closure' since Air India disaster off Cork coast, 40 years on
Babu and Padmini Turlapati at the Memorial Garden at Ahakista, West Cork. They lost both their sons Sanjay and Deepak in the Air India flight 182 disaster. Picture: Dan Linehan.
THE support of the Irish people in the aftermath of the horrific Air India disaster 40 years ago this year, has been a source of strength to the families of those who perished, a father of two child victims has said.
At 8.12am on June 23rd 1985, a bomb exploded on Flight 182, travelling from Toronto to Delhi, killing all 329 men, women and children on board.
The plane plunged into the sea off the West Cork coast.
As it was the beginning of the summer school holidays in Canada, the plane was packed with families making return journeys home to their loved ones in India, and many Canadian tourists innocently adventuring across to the other side of the world.
Babu and Padmini Turlapati’s two young boys had finished school for the summer and were travelling back to visit their grandparents in India, ready to proudly show them the various trophies they had won during the year, which were safely packed into their little bags.
She said she also had a “transient sense of foreboding” about the flight.
The next morning, at 6am in Toronto, she woke to the news that the plane had exploded over the Irish sea, with bodies taken to Cork. Deepak was never found.
Now, forty years later, she has once more made the annual pilgrimage to West Cork with her husband Babu, to remember their children, and all the others who perished on that day.
Speaking to , Babu noted that the mid-air explosion caused by bombs placed by Sikh extremists resulted in the deaths of 82 children under the age of 13.
"It cut short the lives of promising young innocent victims and shattered the lives of the families of victims. In this senseless tragedy there were families that had entirely perished, children left without their father or mother, parents losing all their children and spouses losing their partners and children," according to Babu.
But, he noted, there was one small light of positivity.
"In all this doom and gloom, there entered the Irish people with their kind-hearted help,” he said.
The couple travel annually to the commemoration but also to spend time at the peaceful memorial garden, on the coast road near the tiny village of Ahakista on Sheep’s Head in West Cork.
“We lost our only children Sanjay and Deepak in this horrific crime,” explained their mother, Padmini.
“Sanjay would have been 54 and Deepak would have been 51 years now. Only Sanjay’s body was recovered, but Deepak is still there in Irish waters. We find peace at the memorial site thinking of Deepak. We also feel that we come to the memorial site to be with Deepak.”
Babu added that he feels the love of the Irish ever since that horrific day in 1985.
Padmini remembers her beautiful 14-year-old boy Sanjay who showed so much promise for the future. "Our first-born Sanjay was aptly named by my sister Sujatha, meaning foresight and wisdom. Looking back I recall the gentle giant of a boy at 5’10.
"After his demise, his school teacher brought his work. In it was the poem ‘Death be not proud’ – written by him when he was 11 years old."
She also tells the story of little Deepak, a "happy go lucky" mischievous boy, but after his death, she got a call from a 80-year-old woman who said that Deepak used to go to her apartment and check on her.
He would help the elderly lady by getting things like milk for her and she gave him a dollar in return.
“When he told us, his father scolded him for taking money. He went to return it,” Padmini said.
Babu says all the families are very united and in regular contact as a group, as part of the Air India Flight 182 Families Association in Canada.
There are four memorials built in Canada by the government to enable the families who can’t travel to Ireland to meet and attend the annual memorial service in different cities in Canada.
Sadly, Babu doesn’t think they will ever get “closure”.
“The culprits responsible for bombing the plane were charged and tried. One who was accused of making the bomb was convicted, and released after serving 25 years in prison.
"Two more men were acquitted due to lack of evidence. This mass murder was well planned, conspired and committed. The persons responsible were well known but escaped conviction.
The annual commemoration will take place next week at the memorial at Ahakista on Monday June 23rd at 8.12am – the exact time Air India Flight 182 went down where representatives from both countries' governments will be in attendance, along with members of the remaining families though, sadly, many have since passed.
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