British Sikhs call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry and point the finger of blame at the Indian Government and its intelligence agents for the murder of 329 innocents on Air India Flight 182 The Sikh Federation (UK) welcomes today's acquittal of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri of all charges in the Air India bombing case, at the end of a gruelling 233-day trial. We demand a Royal Commission of Inquiry that examines all the facts relating to the investigation of the tragedy that killed 329 innocent citizens in 1985. The Royal Commission should pay particular attention to the role of the Indian Government and its intelligence agents who had most to gain from this tragedy by trying to discredit Sikhs calling for the establishment of an independent sovereign Sikh State. A Federation spokesman said: "We believe the Indian Government was directly responsible for the murder of 329 innocents on Flight 182 and this most heinous crime was committed to divert attention away from the Indian Government's massacre of tens of thousands of innocent Sikhs in 1984 and the Sikhs legitimate demands for an independent sovereign Sikh State." The Commission should have the opportunity to examine the facts that explain why important illegal tape recordings were erased, why documents were lost, and why millions of Canadian taxpayer dollars have been wasted. We note that the judge has described the destruction of evidence by the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service as "unacceptable negligence" - we must find the truth behind this statement. The Air India case should have been quickly and efficiently prosecuted and brought to a resolution that afforded survivors, and their families, some measure of peace and dignity. The investigation has been an unmitigated disaster. It will take many years to overcome the negative image of Sikhs that has been unfairly portrayed by the media in this case. The Canadian Government and media bosses should do all they can to ensure heads roll for allowing the worldwide Sikh community to be unfairly targeted over the last 20 years. A small measure of justice has been done for Sikhs through this acquittal however we expect the world media to rise to the challenge and expose the Indian Government through proper investigative journalism. An excellent place to start is the book Soft Target by Canadian journalists Zuhair Kashmeri of the Toronto Globe and Mail and Brian McAndrew of the Toronto Star who exposed India's responsibility for the Air India bombing. In the book, Kashmeri and McAndrew quoted a Canadian Security Investigative Service (CSIS) investigator as saying, "If you really want to clear the incidents quickly take vans down to the Indian High Commission and the consulates in Toronto and Vancouver, load up everybody and take them down for questioning. We know it and they know it that they are involved." A Federation spokesman said "journalists should be asking the Canadian authorities why three Indian consuls general were asked to leave the country after the bombing."