A Journalist's Break

Photo courtesy of Amazon.ca

I read a book recently called How the Air-India Bombers Got Away With Murder: Loss of Faith by Kim Bolan. It was, as expected, a riveting report, but also documented the struggles in which a journalist encounters in order to get that ‘great story.’

As students, we have found out that it can be quite a struggle when it comes to ethics - what to publish, what not to publish. This is a great example of a determined female journalist who went above and beyond to find the truth in the very public spectacle.

In 1985, Canada experienced it's first terrorist act with the Air-India bombings that killed 329 people aboard Flight 182 in an explosion off the coast of Ireland.

Bolan tells us about Sikhism, a religion from India that has a lengthy history of conflict in India for relentlessly fighting over a fully independent homeland in Punjab.

A group of ‘Sikh’ extremists called the Babbar Khalsa, are known for engaging in a 20-year dispute against Air-India and Indian diplomats over the takeover of the holy temple. Not only was this a dangerous story for Bolan herself to cover, but it turned out to be for the people around her as well.

The Holy Temple, courtesy of jewishmiracles.insightonthenews.net

I found this book a key example of the up's and down’s of journalism, and how sometimes being on a roll can lead to death threats, and even bodily harm. Bolan’s research launched several police investigations in the Air-India bombings, which resulted in charges of two men. In 1998, Bolan’s family home was victimized in a drive by shooting, which was meant to target her family. In her book, Bolan displays a hand written letter from somebody that advocates her death. She makes it clear that the deeper you dig as a journalist, and the more you uncover, the more people will try to use power to stop you from finding answers.

Although this book didn’t necessarily have a happy ending, it gave a great narrative account of how journalism was key to informing the rest of the world. A few men were tried for the murders, but only one of them, Inderjit Singh Reyat, was convicted to 15 years in prison for the bombing.
If it were not for Bolan’s investigations, the Justice system would not be under scrutiny the way it had, causing people to lose faith. 

This type of Journalism was much like muckraking, informing the public of a scandal in order to enlighten everyone of Canada's laws' and policies that failed to prosecute the others involved.

 

                                                  Photo courtesy of www.aerorise.com

Before this book, I wasn’t aware that Canada had even had such threats, and I feel inspired by Bolan’s investigations, especially because she is a woman journalist exploring an Islam world. At times, I found the book to be confusing, only because Bolan crams years of work into 600 pages or so. Interestingly, I learnt that Bolan was a journalist 'rookie,' at the Vancouver Sun when she first started investigating Flight 182, which helped me relate since I am starting out myself, as well.