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B.C. continues to fund schools run by suspect By Kim Lunman VICTORIA -- British Columbia will continue to fund two private Sikh schools in Vancouver and Surrey started by alleged terrorist Ripudaman Singh Malik. Education Ministry officials are to meet with the school's superintendent today for informal discussions about the operation of the two institutions after Mr. Malik's arrest, a department spokeswoman said yesterday. "The funding will continue," Moira McDermott said. "Investigations into the schools in the past have determined that they're meeting the requirements they need to under the Independent Schools Act." Mr. Malik is one of two B.C. men charged in connection with the 1985 Air-India bombings that killed 331 people. He is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 329 people aboard an Air-India jumbo that crashed into the ocean near Ireland in 1985. He is also charged with the first-degree murder of two baggage handlers in Tokyo, killed in an explosion while loading luggage for a connecting Air-India flight the same day. Ajaib Singh Bagri, 51, of Kamloops is also charged. RCMP say more arrests and charges against other people are expected. The Khalsa schools in Surrey and Vancouver were both started by Mr. Malik, a prominent Vancouver businessman, and get about $3-million a year from the province. The Surrey school, which opened in 1986, has about 1,100 students enrolled from kindergarten to Grade 10, while the Vancouver school, which opened in 1989, has about 200 students enrolled in kindergarten to Grade 7. Mr. Malik is director of the schools and president of the two charitable societies -- the Satnam Education Society and the Satnam Trust -- that operate out of the Surrey school, where he was arrested last Friday. The arrest has not had a negative impact on school staff and students, superintendent Terry McBurney said yesterday. "The school is carrying on quite normally," he said. "The sun is shining outside. The children are very happy. They're having a regular day at school." It's not the first time the school -- which receives half its money from the province and the remaining amount from tuition fees -- has been at the centre of controversy. An investigation was called in 1997 into allegations of misuse of government funds and links to Sikh terrorists after a convicted hijacker was found living in the school's basement and deported. No criminal charges were laid. B.C. Premier Ujjal Dosanjh has said the government handled any previous concerns about the Khalsa schools properly. "I think it is appropriate that we separate the individuals from the institution and if the institution isn't running appropriately, I'd like to know and I'd be happy to take the steps that are deemed necessary upon proper study." Source: The Globe and Mail October 31, 2000, Tuesday.
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