[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1786-E1787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF KHALISTAN'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 27, 1996

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, on October 7, 1987, the Sikh Nation 
declared its independence from India, calling their new country 
Khalistan. Since we will be in recess on October 7, I would like to 
take this opportunity to salute the Sikhs of Khalistan on this 
important anniversary.
  The Sikhs have every reason to want freedom from oppression. Since 
1984, over 150,000 Sikhs have been murdered by the Indian regime. 
Another 70,000 or more languish in Indian prisons under the very 
repressive Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act, which expired in 
March 1995. According to respected Justice Ajit Singh Bains, who has 
testified before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus before the 
regime prohibited him from leaving the country, more than 50,000 Sikhs 
disappeared or were killed from 1992 to 1995. If this happened in any 
other country, we would call it repression. In India, however, it is 
called democracy.
  The Sikhs of Khalistan showed their clear demand for freedom in 
February 1992 when, according to India Abroad, only 4 percent of the 
Sikhs voted in the Punjab state elections held under the Indian 
Constitution, which no Sikh ever signed. The Sikhs have a history of 
freedom and independence. The Sikhs ruled Punjab from 1710 to 1716 and 
from 1765 to 1849. When India achieved independence, the Sikhs were one 
of three nations that were to

[[Page E1787]]

be granted sovereign power. They stayed with India on the promise that 
they would enjoy freedom and autonomy in Punjab. As India's record of 
repression shows, that promise has never been kept. Yet when the Sikhs 
embarked on a peaceful struggle to free themselves from the chains of 
repression, the Indian regime responded by increasing the reign of 
terror in Punjab and enforcing it with over 500,000 troops. The British 
colonists never stationed 500,000 troops in the entire subcontinent.
  Mr. Speaker, India is one of the most anti-American countries in the 
world. Although it is a major recipient of United States aid, India 
votes against the United States at the U.N. more than any other country 
except Cuba. I might add by the way, that this aid has been an economic 
debacle as well as having failed to buy any good faith from India. 
After 50 years on the international dole, India remains a highly 
impoverished land, shackled by a statist and corrupt government 
bureaucracy. Given India's anti-Americanism and its aggressive nuclear 
weapons drive, I must wonder out loud why we continue to drop our money 
into this black hole.
  As to the Sikhs, Mr. Speaker, all they are asking for is just a 
chance to determine their future, free from this severe repression. Is 
this too much too ask?

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