[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 122 (Monday, September 9, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   KHALRA KIDNAPING: 1 YEAR OF TERROR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 9, 1996

  Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, it has now been 1 full year 
since the Indian regime kidnaped Jaswant Singh Khalra, the general 
secretary of the Human Rights Wing, Shiromani Akali Dal. For 1 year, 
Mr. Khalra has been subjected to imprisonment and torture in the 
world's largest democracy.
  What did Mr. Khalra do to deserve such a fate? He exposed the brutal 
tyranny of the regime. Mr. Khalra published a report in which he 
exposed the fact that more than 25,000 Sikhs have been abducted by the 
regime, tortured, murdered, and then cremated after their bodies were 
declared unidentified. Many families are still waiting for some word on 
their loved ones. The cremations were to cover up the responsibility of 
the police.
  Mr. Khalra is in the custody of the intelligence bureau. An 
eyewitness has confirmed that he has been tortured severely. He was 
threatened by the Tarn Taran police chief, Ajit Sandhu, after 
publishing his report. ``We made 25,000 disappear,'' Mr. Sandhu told 
him. ``It would not be hard to make one more disappear.'' This is a 
clear threat to Mr. Khalra and all others who might expose the Indian 
regime. Is this how India defines freedom of speech?
  Mr. Speaker, the kidnaping of Jaswant Singh Khalra is just one of 
many examples of India's tyranny against the Sikhs and others who are 
outside the rigid caste system. Their national integrity and their 
basic human rights are violated on a daily basis. America is the 
conscience of the world. It is our responsibility to oppose this kind 
of oppression with everything we have. The United States Government 
must demand the immediate release of Jaswant Singh Khalra and we must 
support the Sikh Nation in achieving the full and complete independence 
of the Sikh homeland, Khalistan.

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