[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 62 (Wednesday, May 18, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: May 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
CALLING FOR THE RECOGNITION OF TRUE FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN
RIGHTS IN INDIA
(Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to address the
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of India spoke
very eloquently from this lectern just a few minutes ago, but some of
the things he did not talk about need to be illuminated.
He talked about Martin Luther King, but he did not mention that in
India, if you are black, you will never be able to rise above cleaning
streets or cleaning toilets, and if you talk to anybody in a higher
caste or even touch them, they can kill you.
He talked about freedom and democracy and human rights. He even
quoted Thomas Jefferson, but he did not comment about the T.A.D.A. law,
which allows the government to take people our of their homes in the
middle of the night and throw them into jail without any due process of
law for up to 2 years.
He did not talk about the 1.2 million Indian troops in Kashmir and
Punjab and Jagaland and elsewhere persecuting Moslems, Sikhs, and
Christians.
He did not talk about the torture and the gang rapes that are taking
place at the hands of the Indian troops in those areas. He did not talk
about the disemboweling that is taking place, this kind of torture that
is taking place, under the guise of freedom, democracy, and human
rights.
Mr. Speaker, we must tell the world the truth about what the Indian
Government is sanctioning, and we must make sure that the world makes
them change their policies, because freedom, democracy, and human
rights truly should be recognized in India.
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