[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 55 (Wednesday, May 6, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E777-E778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SIKHS FORM CITIZENS COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE GENOCIDE IN PUNJAB

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 6, 1998

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, when the Akali government in Punjab was 
elected, they promised to appoint a commission to investigate the 
genocide against the Sikhs since 1984. They have not kept that promise. 
As a result, Justice Kuldip Singh, the President of the World Sikh 
Council, announced that he will be appointing a citizens' commission to 
conduct this investigation, according to an article that ran on April 
10 in the ``Times of India.''
  Justice Kuldip Singh said that the commission will be chaired by a 
retired Supreme Court justice, that it will begin work next month, and 
that it will submit its report by the end of the year. It will 
investigate atrocities by militants as well as those by the state and 
central governments. Since the Akali government took power in Punjab in 
March 1997, more than 100 atrocities by the state government have been 
documented.
  We should take this opportunity to congratulate Justice Kuldip Singh 
and all the human-rights activists who provided the impetus for this 
commission. It is well past time for the truth about Indian genocide in 
Punjab, Khalistan to come out. This commission is the beginning of that 
process. Just as the world has begun to learn the truth about the 
genocide in Armenia over eighty years ago and the Holocaust more than 
50 years ago, it is critically important that the world learn the truth 
about India's genocide against the Sikhs and the other minorities of 
South Asia, such as the Christians of Nagaland, the Muslims of Kashmir, 
the Dalit Untouchables, and others.
  Why has the Akali-BJP government in Punjab resisted this probe? The 
only people who resisted exposure of these other genocide campaigns 
were those who would be hurt by the revelation. One has to wonder why 
the Akali government would make itself part of the coverup. In that 
light, the Citizens Commission is a great step forward. We await their 
report so that the truth about the genocide in Punjab, Khalistan will 
come out. I urge the other minorities under Indian rule to create 
similar commissions to bring out the truth about India's treatment of 
them as well.
  I would like to submit the ``Times of India'' article as well as the 
excellent press release on the Commission from the Council of 
Khalistan. I urge my colleagues to read them.

                [From the Times of India, Apr. 10, 1998]

              Sikh Council Panel To Probe Punjab Violence

       Chandigarh. The World Sikh Council (WSC), headed by former 
     Supreme Court judge Kuldip Singh, has decided to set up a 
     ``people's commission'' to probe violence in Punjab during 
     the militancy period.
       Mr. Singh told reporters that the commission, to be headed 
     by a retired chief justice of the Supreme Court, would start 
     functioning from next month. It is expected to submit its 
     findings by the year end. He said the commission would probe 
     ``human rights violation by militants and also the state''.
       Mr. Singh said the people had the right to know the truth 
     and those who were oblivious to it were likely to repeat 
     history. A constitutional body could not probe this problem, 
     hence the need for setting up such a commission.
       Interestingly, the Akali Dal-BJP combine had promised to 
     set up a similar commission on the eve of the assembly 
     elections last year. After coming to power in the state, it 
     abandoned the plan saying such a commission would only open 
     old wounds.


     
                                  ____
      Citizens Commission Formed To Investigate Genocide in Punjab


       State Terrorism, Police Brutality Will Finally Be Exposed

       Washington, D.C.--The World Sikh Council will appoint a 
     Citizens' Commission to investigate the genocide in Punjab, 
     according to today's edition of The Times of India. Retired 
     Supreme Court Justice Kuldip Singh, President of the World 
     Sikh Council, announced the formation of the commission, 
     which will begin its work next month and is expected to 
     report on its findings by the end of the year, according to 
     the article.
       The Punjab state government under Akali Dal Chief Minister 
     Parkash Singh Badal had promised to set up a commission to 
     investigate the genocide, but it broke that promise and now 
     boasts that it has not prosecuted even a single police 
     officer. The Akali Dal is a political ally of the ruling 
     Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and currently has two positions 
     in India's central government.
       ``The Sikh Nation welcomes the formation of this 
     commission,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the 
     Council of Khalistan, the government pro tempore of 
     Khalistan. Khalistan is the sovereign, independent Sikh 
     homeland, which declared its independence on October 7, 1987. 
     The Council of Khalistan leads the peaceful, democratic, 
     nonviolent struggle to liberate Khalistan from Indian rule.
       ``I would like to congratulate Justice Kuldip Singh, as 
     well as General Narinder Singh, Inderjit Singh Jaijee, Dr. 
     Kharak Singh Mann, Dr. Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon, Dr. Sukhjit 
     Kaur Gill, Bibi Baljit Kaur Gill, the Movement Against State 
     Repression (MASR), the Punjab Human Rights Organization 
     (PHRO), and the entire human-rights community in Punjab, 
     Khalistan for maintaining the pressure that led to the 
     formation of this commission,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``I request 
     the blessing of the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Bhai Ranjit 
     Singh Ji, and his support for the work of this commission,'' 
     he said. ``The time has come for the full truth about Indian 
     genocide against the Sikh Nation to come out. It is time for 
     the Sikh Nation to unite in support of this effort,'' Dr. 
     Aulakh said.
       Since the Akali Dal government took over in March 1997, 
     over 100 atrocities by Punjab police have been documented, 
     including rape, torture, abductions, and murders. 
     ``Disappearances'' continue to occur. The state government's 
     own human-rights commission reported that it has received 
     over 200 complaints. Since 1984, the Indian regime has 
     murdered more than 250,000 Sikhs.
       ``The Armenian community is working hard to get the U.S. 
     Congress to recognize the genocide against the Armenians 80 
     years ago,'' Dr. Aulakh pointed out. ``The Jewish community 
     has made sure the world never forgets the Holocaust over 50 
     years ago. The

[[Page E778]]

     Cambodian genocide in the 1970s is still remembered,'' he 
     noted. ``The only people who resisted exposure of these 
     brutal events were the people who were involved,'' he said. 
     ``The resistance of the Akali government to exposure of the 
     genocide against the Sikh Nation on the flimsy excuse that it 
     would reopen old wounds raises the question of whether they 
     are hiding their own culpability.''

     

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