[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 30, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
       PUNJAB FARM LEADER CHARGED UNDER TADA FOR SPEECH IN BRITAIN

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, on the very day that the voters here in the 
United States were going to our polling places to elect a new Congress, 
India's phony democracy once again reared its ugly head. Ajmer Singh 
Lakhowal, leader of the Bharatiya Kisan [Farmers] Union [BKU], was 
charged under India's repressive Terrorist and Disruptive Activities 
Act [TADA]. Mr. Lakhowal's crime was making a speech in Southall, 
England, in which he advocated independence for Khalistan, the Sikh 
homeland which was declared independent on October 7, 1987.
  The speech had been delivered in April, according to the report in 
the November 9 issue of the Tribune of Chandigarh, but the charges were 
filed in November because the speech was published in a leading local 
Punjabi daily. For this speech, Mr. Lakhowal was charged with 
``assertion prejudicial to national integration.'' What kind of country 
files criminal charges against someone for making a speech? Certainly 
not the world's largest democracy.
  According to the Tribune, Mr. Lakhowal was already in jail when the 
charge was filed. He had been arrested in October to prevent him from 
staging a protest outside the residence of Punjab Chief Minister Beant 
Singh against the lower government price for super-fine rice. You might 
say that Mr. Lakhowal is a repeat offender. Mr. Lakhowal's case is more 
evidence of India's disregard for democratic values. What could 
demonstrate more clearly why so many peoples want to be free from 
Indian tyranny?
  In addition, Jagmit Singh Brar, a Sikh member of Parliament who 
belongs to the ruling Congress Party, was not allowed to hold a 
peaceful protest march to protest the discrimination and genocide 
inflicted on the Sikhs in Punjab, Khalistan. If a member of Parliament 
can't have a peaceful demonstration, then how can India call itself a 
democracy?
  The United States of America is the beacon of democracy for the 
world. We should not be doing business with such a brutal country. As 
long as India demonstrates this kind of disrespect for basic human 
liberties, it does not deserve a penny of aid from the United States or 
the other free nations of the world. The people of Punjab, Khalistan, 
massively repudiated Indian rule when 96 percent of them boycotted the 
1992 state elections. Until India is willing to hold a free and fair 
vote in occupied Khalistan, all aid to that country should be ended. 
Until India is willing to allow individuals to make speeches and hold 
peaceful demonstrations, it should receive nothing from the hard-
working taxpayers of this country.
  Khalistan is the only solution to the Punjab problem. Real 
democracies do not support repression. We must stop aiding India's 
tyranny.
  I am placing the article from the November 9 Tribune in the Record, 
along with a release from the Council of Khalistan.

Ajmer Singh Lakhowal Charged Under Tada For Speaking Out For Khalistan 
                               in England

       Washington, DC, November 29--The Indian government has 
     charged Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, president of the Bharatiya 
     Kisan Union (BKU) under the draconian Terrorist and 
     Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) for making a speech in 
     Southall, England in which he advocated freedom for Khalistan 
     through peaceful means. Though he delivered the speech in 
     April of this year, Mr. Lakhowal was not charged until 
     earlier this month. He was charged after a transcript of his 
     speech was published in a leading local Punjabi daily.
       ``The TADA charges brought against Ajmer Singh Lakhowal 
     represent a complete denial of the fundamental freedom of 
     speech which should be openly permitted in all true 
     democracies,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the 
     Council of Khalistan. ``But of course, India is anything but 
     a true democracy.''
       That Mr. Lakhowal delivered his speech six months ago while 
     visiting the United Kingdom only serves to further highlight 
     the extent to which the Indian government goes out of its way 
     to deny Sikhs their basic rights. Human rights groups have 
     persistently criticized the TADA laws under which Mr. 
     Lakhowal was charged. Under TADA the presumption of innocence 
     is reversed to a presumption of guilt and the accused can be 
     held without trial for up to two years. Members of the United 
     Human Rights Commission have condemned TADA as ``disturbing'' 
     and ``completely unacceptable'' for falling far short of 
     international standards for the protection of human rights.
       The TADA charges were filed against Mr. Lakhowal while he 
     was already in jail. Mr. Lakhowal was arrested in October to 
     prevent his party affiliates from staging a ``dhrana'' or 
     protest march against low government prices for super-fine 
     varieties of rice produced in Punjab. Indian authorities 
     continue to hold him.
       ``India's intolerance for peaceful dissent comes of little 
     surprise,'' said Dr. Aulakh of Lakhowal's arrest and 
     imprisonment. ``But that in no way makes it right. India 
     should know that the world is watching its every move. When 
     peaceful dissent is encountered with imprisonment, when 
     speeches delivered in England get people arrested in India, 
     when the basic principles of democracy are violated at every 
     turn, India, quite frankly, looks foolish. It is quite clear 
     that India is afraid of what Sikhs have to say. It knows that 
     we have declared our independence and that we will not stop 
     until Khalistan is free. Perhaps it is time for India to face 
     the music, to sit down with the Sikh leader and demarcate the 
     boundaries between India and Khalistan. The Sikh nation will 
     settle for nothing less.''
                                  ____


                    Case Against Lakhowal Under TADA

       Jalandhar, Nov. 8 (UNI).--The city police registered a case 
     under TADA against Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) President 
     Ajmer Singh Lakhowal last night, basing it on the publication 
     in leading local Punjabi daily of his speech delivered in a 
     Southall gurdwara in Britain in April.
       The case under Section 4 of TADA and Section 153-B of IPC 
     (imputation, assertion prejudicial to national integration), 
     was registered by police station division No. 4.
       Mr. Lakhowal, who was taken into custody to prevent his 
     party men from staging a dharna outside the residence of the 
     Punjab Chief Minister at Chandirgarh last month on the issue 
     of `low price' of superfine variety of paddy, is already in 
     jail.
       He had been charged with having propagated the cause of 
     `Khalistan' and justified the killing of Indira Gandhi.

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