[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 148 (Thursday, September 21, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1830]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SIKH MILITANTS ASSASSINATE CHIEF MINISTER IN PUNJAB

                                 ______


                           HON. SHERROD BROWN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 1995

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I wish to call our colleagues' 
attention to the latest in the tragic series of events that have 
plagued the Punjab region of India for more than a decade. On August 
31, 1995, Chief Minister Beant Singh, a leading advocate of peace in 
the Punjab region, was viciously assassinated by Sikh terrorists.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come for every Member of this House to 
condemn these violent acts perpetrated by Sikh militant factions. 
Unfortunately, some of our colleagues have chosen to carry the banner 
for the Sikh militants in Punjab by working closely with the so-called 
Council of Khalistan. Perhaps this latest tragic act will be enough to 
convince those Members that support for groups that promote violence 
only begets further violence.
  Responsible Members of this House must condemn each and every 
terrorist act perpetrated by these militants. We must also challenge 
our colleagues who support the Council of Khalistan because it benefits 
their own domestic political needs to realize that their support for 
the council is furthering a terrorist agenda in India.
  While fighting terrorist, Chief Minister Singh also worked 
simultaneously to bring the people of Punjab back into the mainstream 
political democracy upon which the nation of India prides itself.
  Mr. Singh was duly elected by the people of Punjab in 1992 and he 
dedicated his life to maintaining democracy.
  Mr. Speaker, as the relationship between our country, the world's 
oldest democracy, and India, the world's democracy, continues to 
flourish and expand, let us support unequivocally the advocates of 
peace in Punjab. And, without fear or hesitation, I would hope that 
every Member, regardless of political persuasion or ideology, would 
join me in condemning those enemies of peace who assassinated the Chief 
Minister and his staff.

                          ____________________