[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 27 (Wednesday, March 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E385-E386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INDIA DETAINS HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST KUMAR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GARY A. CONDIT

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 5, 1997

  Mr. CONDIT. Mr. Speaker, last year Members received from the Council 
of Khalistan an excellent video entitled ``Disappearances in Punjab,'' 
an expose of the massive human rights abuse in Punjab, Khalistan under 
Indian rule. Now I have been informed that last month the Indian regime 
briefly detained the maker of that film, Ram Narayan Kumar. Mr. Kumar 
is a Hindu and a human rights activist.
  According to a letter Mr. Kumar wrote to the Indian Home Minister, he 
was illegally detained and interrogated at the Delhi airport on the 
night of January 19-20 as he was leaving the country to return to his 
home in Austria. Mr. Kumar has written a book on the situation in 
Punjab, Khalistan which the regime apparently does not like.
  Mr. Kumar was detained for 19 months in the 1970's because he 
criticized the dictatorial measures of Indira Gandhi. He was 
incarcerated again in 1982 for leading a strike. As a member of the 
Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab, Mr. Kumar has been 
actively involved in documenting and exposing human rights violations 
in Punjab, Khalistan.
  Like Jaswant Singh Khalra, who remains in the bowels of the Indian 
system after 17 months, Mr. Kumar ran afoul of the Indian state for 
exposing the truth about Indian ``democracy.'' Clearly, the regime's 
fear of exposure is growing. Why would a Democratic country be afraid 
of the truth?
  Maybe it's because they are afraid that the inevitable collapse of 
India is on the horizon. With a 13-party coalition running the central 
government, it is inherently unstable. According to a letter that 
appeared in the Washington Post on January 26, there are 17 
insurgencies going on in India. That is no surprise. The regime has 
murdered tens of thousands of Sikhs, Christians in Nagaland, Muslims in 
Kashmir, Assamese, Manipuris, Dalits--black untouchables, and others. 
In this light, is it any wonder that so many countries are trying to 
free themselves from Indian rule?
  The illegal detention of Mr. Kumar merely advertises to the world the 
fact that India is

[[Page E386]]

not a Democratic state in any real sense. This leads me to ask why the 
overburdened taxpayers of the United States should be taxed to support 
this brutal, tyrannical regime. As the world's only superpower and the 
leader of the worldwide movement to freedom, it is America's obligation 
to support those who struggle peacefully for freedom.
  We should demand that India apologize to Mr. Kumar for violating his 
rights and that it stop violating the basic liberties of those under 
its control. If India cannot meet even the most basic standards of 
human rights, it is not worthy of our support. We should impose an 
embargo on Indian and cut off its aid from this country. We should also 
speak out strongly in support of the freedom movements in Khalistan, 
Kasmir, Nagaland, and all over South Asia. This is the best way to 
protect American values and interests in that part of the world.
  I am introducing Mr. Kumar's letter into the Record.

                                            Ram Narayan Kumar,

                             Klagenfurt, Austria, 2 February 1997.
     Union Minister for Home Affairs,
     The Govt. of India, South Block, New Delhi.
     Sub: My illegal detention and interrogation about my 
       forthcoming book on Punjab at Delhi's airport on 19-20th 
       night of January 1997.
       Sir: I am writing this letter to protest against my illegal 
     detention and interrogation at Delhi's international airport 
     on January 19-20th night, when I was leaving the country with 
     the British Airways flight BA 142 to join my wife in Austria. 
     Before elucidating, I will introduce myself and my work to 
     the extent it seems to bear on the incident.
       My name is Ram Narayan Kumar. I am a writer by profession, 
     and have published three books. My last book titled ``The 
     Sikh Unrest and the Indian State: Politics, personalities and 
     historical retrospective'' is due to be released early next 
     month by Ajanta Publications of Delhi. In India I live at 
     ``Srinivas'', Krawal Nagar, Delhi 94. My telephone number 
     there is: 2262421. My wife, a doctor, is an Austrian 
     national. Our address in Austria is: 60/7 Muhlgasse, 9020 
     Klagenfurt.
       I remain an Indian citizen, and travel on passport number S 
     647894, issued by the Indian Embassy at Vienna on 24 June 
     1996.
       I have been engaged in documenting and disseminating 
     information on human rights violations by the State 
     authorities from the time Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency 
     in June 1975. During that period, I was detained without 
     trial for nineteen months for criticizing the dictatorial 
     measures she had employed to conserve her regime. I was again 
     incarcerated for leading a strike of colliery workers in 
     Madhya Pradesh, culminating in the hostage case of New Delhi 
     in April 1982. The experiences and considerations that guide 
     my public life, and the chronology of my involvements until 
     1988, are part of a book--``Confronting the Hindu Spinx''--
     published in 1992.
       For the last eight years, I have been involved in 
     documenting reports of State atrocities in Punjab. As a 
     member of the Committee for Information and Initiative on 
     Punjab, I have taken active part in collating and verifying 
     the evidence, also by way of video recording, which forms the 
     basis of a petition that is pending before the Supreme Court. 
     The petition shows that in the period from 1992 to 1994 the 
     Punjab police have illegally cremated thousands of dead 
     bodies by labelling them as unidentified. The petition also 
     supplies evidence to establish that many persons so cremated 
     had earlier been picked up by the security forces. The facts 
     regarding the illegal cremations, as shown in our petition, 
     have been authenticated by the Central Bureau of 
     Investigation which has investigated the allegations at the 
     order of the Supreme Court. The matter is now pending before 
     the National Human Rights Commission for the examination of 
     all the issues that attend on the establishment of these 
     facts. Jaswant Singh Khalra, General Secretary of the Akali 
     Dal's Human Rights Wing and a resident of Amritsar, had 
     helped me in this work of documentation. In early September 
     1995, Khalra got kidnapped by armed commandos of the Punjab 
     police. Khalra's whereabouts remain unknown, and I suspect 
     that he has been done away with. After Khalra's abduction, I 
     put together a short documentary film from the video material 
     he had helped me to gather. This film has been used by 
     several human rights groups in India and abroad to campaign 
     for Khalra's release. Clearly, the film upset the Indian 
     authorities. In fact, one Mr. Bedi of the Indian Embassy in 
     Vienna rebuked me for defaming India. This row about defaming 
     India, which divides the protagonists of the establishment 
     and their critics, follows from divergent positions of 
     empathy. From my position, to defame the abuse of power is to 
     extol the humanity of those who, otherwise, become its mute 
     victims. This same Mr. Bedi telephoned me, in early September 
     1996, to ask when I planned to return to India next. I was 
     surprised that the Indian Embassy should count on me to 
     support its snooping about my activities. Later in Delhi, 
     some officers who would not identify themselves called on me 
     to ask ``some questions''. I told them to come back with 
     their identification cards. They never returned.
       On 20 January 1997, I was going to return to Austria after 
     spending four months in India. After checking in with the 
     British Airways around 10 p.m. of 19 January 1997, I went to 
     the immigration counter. The officer there took my passport, 
     looked in his computer, and asked me if I had produced a 
     video film on Punjab. I acknowledged having done a 
     documentary. After scanning his computer for a while, the 
     officer asked me to step aside and to take a chair within the 
     enclosure of his superior who was overseeing the movement at 
     all the counters: ``It will take some time to clear you,'' he 
     told me. Soon after midnight, one person appeared at my side 
     to ask if I had authored a book titled ``The Sikh Unrest in 
     Punjab and the Indian State''. As he seemed all prepared to 
     interrogate, I asked him to identify himself. ``My senior 
     officers would soon arrive'', he said to skip my question. I 
     wished to telephone a lawyer friend. But this he would not 
     allow: ``You are under detention. Forget your flight and 
     about contacting anyone,'' he told me.
       After midnight, I was led to a room for interrogation. I 
     found myself surrounded by almost twenty-five officers. I 
     asked them to identify themselves, and to spell out the legal 
     basis on which I was being detained and interrogated. Their 
     response: ``Don't waste time on legal etiquettes. This is a 
     joint interrogation. We would not tell you more. You would 
     complicate matters for yourself by insisting on legal 
     formalities.'' I was asked to explain what my forthcoming 
     book on Punjab contained. I told them that it was a long work 
     which took me years to complete. I could not give its 
     substance to them in choice morsels, as they were demanding. 
     ``Give us the gist in a nutshell'', my interrogators 
     insisted. I had no option but to try. My interrogators kept 
     taking notes, interrupting me intermittently to help them 
     formulate sentences for their report.
       After settling their report on the book, they compelled me 
     to narrate the chronology of my own political and person 
     background. I told them to consult the book ``Confronting the 
     Hindu Sphinx'', which is partly autobiographical and covers 
     the main events of my life till 1988. But the would not be 
     deterred from having the story from the horse's mouth. They 
     also forced me to pose for a photograph, and went on to 
     compel me to give information on my relatives and close 
     associates.
       My interrogation lasted till five in the morning of 20 
     January. I was able to leave the next day due to the courtesy 
     of the British Airways. They confirmed my reservation 
     although the validity of my return ticket, which I had 
     purchased in Austria, had already expired. I had mentioned 
     the expiry of my ticket to my interrogators: It would become 
     their responsibility to arrange my flight if I should lose my 
     ticket because of their illegal action. Their answer: They 
     could not bother how and when I fly again.
       At the end of it all, I remain baffled about the 
     significance of this episode. Why did not my interrogators 
     identify themselves if they were acting under the law? It was 
     a joint interrogation, and a large number of senior officers 
     took part. Which organizations did they represent? Whose 
     orders were they carrying out? The interrogation concerned 
     mainly the forthcoming book. What was the idea? The 
     interrogation makes no sense even if I assume that the 
     authorities might be contemplating a ban on the book. This 
     could not be done until someone carefully reads it. Or, was 
     the aim to demonstrate the coercive powers of the Indian 
     State, to suggest that unless I taper down my human rights 
     work and begin to cooperate with the authorities, my life 
     would become difficult?
       I have no intention to give up my commitments, no matter 
     what the circumstances and pressures. I do not expect any 
     regard from the authorities but on the basis of fairness and 
     legality, common to all. I complain because the tactics 
     adopted by the Indian Embassy in Austria, the officers who 
     visited me at my house in Delhi and finally my interrogators 
     at Delhi's airport are illegal, intimidating and constitute 
     direct violation of my fundamental rights. I also fear that 
     the agencies that have orchestrated my interrogation may 
     further try to damage the circulation of my book by 
     intimidating the publisher and by taking recourse to other 
     unlawful ways.
       I sincerely hope that you will act on my complaint. Please, 
     initiate suitable action against the agencies responsible for 
     infringing my rights as a citizen and a writer. Please, also 
     ensure that they do not persist in harassing me, my relatives 
     and associates in unlawful ways.
           Sincerely yours,
     Ram Narayan Kumar.

                          ____________________