[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 15, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PUNJAB PEOPLE'S COMMISSION MUST BE PRESERVED

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 15, 1998

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, the effort by political leaders 
in Punjab to shut down the People's Commission is very disturbing. This 
commission was formed after the Akali Dal Government in Punjab, which 
promised to expose the genocide against the Sikhs, said that it would 
not appoint a commission to do so after all. In fact, the Chief 
Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, proudly boasts that his government has 
taken no action to punish any of the police officers responsible for 
this genocide.
  This commission is not solely a Sikh organization. It was established 
by the Coordination Committee on Disappearance in Punjab, led by a 
Hindu human-rights activist, Ram Narayan Kumar. The three commission 
members are respected former Justices of the Indian Supreme Court, and 
two of the three are Hindus. And you might recall Mr. Speaker, it was 
the Indian Supreme Court that described the situation in Punjab, 
Khalistan as ``worse than a genocide.''
  From August 8-10, 1998, the commission investigated 90 cases of 
genocide during its first meeting, and, as result, has requested those 
involved to bear the responsibility of their actions. Currently, the 
commission is investigating 3,000 more cases. In a country where over 
250,000 Sikhs have been extrajudicially murdered by the police and 
other agents of the government since 1984, it is no wonder that the 
authorizes don't want the truth to get out. They are afraid that when 
the light of truth shines on them, they will be exposed as 
collaborators in the genocide against the Sikhs.
  America is the moral conscience of the world. We must not let this 
effort to bury the genocide and evade responsibility for these crimes 
succeed. It is our solemn duty to do whatever we can to make sure that 
the People's Commission is able to complete its work, and that the 
people responsible for these murders, abductions, and other acts of 
torture are exposed and brought to justice. Mr. Speaker, I call on the 
President to instruct our Ambassador to India to intervene on behalf of 
the commission. I further urge my colleagues to impose tough sanctions 
on India until the commission has completed its efforts to expose the 
genocide; and I urge the United States of America to go on record for 
self-determination for the Sikhs of Punjab, Khalistan, so that they can 
decide their own fate in a free and fair election. That way, the 
repressive actions of the police can finally come to an end and real 
democracy can come once and for all to Punjab, Khalistan.
  On September 3, 1998, the Hindustan Times ran a very informative 
article on the effort to close the People's Commission. I am placing it 
in the Record for the information of my colleagues. I hope we all will 
read it and consider the information therein.

  The Hindustan Times 09/03 Govt's Disregard for People's Panel Irks 
                            Rights Activists

       NEW DELHI: Human rights activists are irked by the 
     Government's disregard bordering on disdain, for the People's 
     Commission that has been hearing complaints of human rights 
     violations in Punjab since the time when the State was in the 
     thick of terrorism.
       ``How can the Government ignore the necessity to determine 
     the facts,'' wondered Mr. Ram Narayan Kumar, convener of the 
     committee for Coordination on Disappearance in Punjab. He was 
     particularly livid that the commission was sought to be 
     branded as ``extra-judicial'' by official agencies.
       The commission is the brainchild of Justice (Retd) Kuldip 
     Singh, who is a member of the Coordination Committee that 
     functions as an umbrella organisation of Punjab-based human 
     rights groups. The People's Commission was constituted, as a 
     follow-up to the committee's first convention in December 
     last year, as a functional-forum to defend human rights 
     guaranteed under the Indian laws.
       The complaints the People's Commission has been hearing, 
     Mr. Kumar claimed, were based on facts revealing 
     disappearances, custodial deaths and police torture. ``The 
     truth must come out. The incidents cannot be dismissed as 
     forgotten past,'' he averred.
       Mr. Kumar has to his credit two books providing a 
     historical perspective to the human rights situation in the 
     border State.
       According to him, the political leaders, bureaucratic and 
     intellectuals were indifferent to the problem of civil 
     liberties and human rights.
       ``Nobody is interested in fact finding. But the facts 
     cannot be suppressed. Thousands of those whose kin have 
     disappeared are awaiting justice,'' Mr. Kumar said. Speaking 
     on behalf of the committee, he claimed that the cases under 
     scrutiny were based on extensive research work, ``We want to 
     propose reforms on the strength of facts and the existing 
     law. Any attempt to vitiate the atmosphere might prove to be 
     dangerous.''
       The Akali Dal had promised, before coming to power, that it 
     would have a detailed inquiry conducted into the human rights 
     violations. ``But now they want to forget the past,'' he 
     said.
       During its first three-day session starting Aug. 8, the 
     People's Commission heard complaints about alleged human 
     rights violations at the time when Punjab was in turmoil. The 
     ``Bench'' comprising three retired judges--Justices D.S. 
     Tewatia, Justice H. Suresh and Justice Jaspal Singh--took up 
     complaints of illegal abductions, custodial deaths, 
     disappearances, summary executions and en masse illegal 
     cremations.
       The programmes adopted by the committee are aimed at 
     countering, through an informed public opinion, the ongoing 
     campaign for immunity for policemen charged with human rights 
     violations; initiate a debate on vital issues of State power; 
     organise compensation for the victims, and bring about change 
     in domestic laws in conformity with the United Nations' 
     instruments on torture and enforced disappearances.
       Mr. Kumar dismissed the claims that the commission has been 
     acting on the basis of one-sided stories. ``We are willing to 
     go into cases presented by widows of policemen killed by 
     militants, we would be equally keen to study the instances 
     they have documented,'' he said.
       The commission's next sitting is scheduled from Oct. 23-25 
     in Ludhiana. However, the legal validity of its actions is 
     doubted by experts.

     

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