VANCOUVER, Jun 2004
CBC News
A Sikh separatist will face cross-examination Wednesday
at the Air India trial in Vancouver.
Gurmit Singh Aulakh, the president of the Council
of Khalistan, a group seeking an independent Sikh state, was one of
two witnesses who testified Tuesday that Sikhs were shocked after the
Indian government raided the Golden Temple in 1984. But that didn't
mean people were advocating violent retaliation.
Crown prosecutors contend the raid on the temple, the
holiest shrine in Sikhism, was the impetus for two bombings the next
year which targetted India's national airline.
Both witnesses are from the United States and both attended
a New York convention held a few weeks after the Golden Temple raid.
Co-accused Air India bomber Ajaib Singh Bagri delivered
an emotional speech at the gathering.
The Crown contends Bagri called for the killing of thousands
of Hindus. But Aulakh testified the raid left Sikh's is a state of shock
and looking for ways to respond. But he said that didn't mean people
were planning to fight back using violence.
Earlier, the Crown questioned another Sikh separatist,
Amarjit Singh Buttar. He revealed he was pleased that Indian prime minister
Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikhs after the raid.
Buttar also testified he attending meetings of the Babbar
Khalsa, a Sikh militant group that's on Canada's list of terrorists
organizations.