[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 138 (Tuesday, October 6, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1913-E1914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               INDIA SHOULD BE DECLARED A TERRORIST STATE

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 6, 1998

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, the August 14 issue of News India-Times 
carried a very interesting story. Kuldip Nayar, a veteran journalist 
and former Indian Ambassador to the United Kingdom who is now a member 
of the upper house of India's Parliament, admitted that India is a 
terrorist state. How long will it take for America to admit it?

[[Page E1914]]

  Mr. Nayar was quoted as saying that Pakistan's attack on the village 
of Doda was an act of retaliation for Indian massacres in the Pakistani 
state of Sindh. Nayar has been a vocal opponent of the Indian 
government's nuclear tests, according to the story. Now he is admitting 
that India has undertaken activities designed to destabilize Pakistan. 
This is part of India's drive for total hegemony in South Asia.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Nayar's remarks ignore another aspect of Indian 
state terrorism: the tyranny it has inflicted on the Sikhs, the 
Christians of Nagaland, the Muslims of Kashmir and others. According to 
very credible numbers published by human-rights groups and the Punjab 
judiciary, the government of India has murdered more than 250,000 Sikhs 
since 1984, in excess of 200,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, 
almost 60,000 Kashmiri Muslims since 1988, and tens of thousands of 
Assamese, Tamils, Manipuris, Dalits, and others.
  The State Department reported that between 1992 and 1994 the Indian 
government paid over 41,000 cash bounties to police officers for 
murdering Sikhs. Two Canadian journalists published a book called Soft 
Target in which they proved that the Indian government blew up its own 
airliner in 1985 just to blame the Sikhs.
  In this light, the United States must declare India a terrorist 
state. We must then impose all the sanctions that we impose on any 
other terrorist state. This will be a good step towards ending the 
terrorism and restoring freedom to all the people of South Asia.
  I submit the News India-Times article for the Record.

               [From the News India-Times, Aug. 14, 1998]

              Kuldip Nayar Flayed For `Anti-India' Remarks

       New Delhi.--The recent statement allegedly made by Kuldip 
     Nayar, veteran journalist and nominated member of the Rajya 
     Sabha on the Doda massacre has created a furor in the 
     country.
       Nayar is now looked upon as a ``treacherous, anti-national 
     element'' for suggesting that the massacre at Doda is only a 
     retaliation by Pakistan for similar actions by Indian agents 
     in Sindh.
       The comment which has been so strong has even taken up 
     editorial columns of the country's leading newspapers and 
     magazines.
       One such editorial piece has even called it a blasphemous 
     statement and that patriotism has been turned into a dirty 
     word by a ``coterie of influential so-called intellectual.''
       It added that such a statement would not have been made 
     even by a spokesperson of Pakistan's notorious Inter-Services 
     intelligence as that would have indicated its involvement in 
     the Doda massacres.
       Meanwhile, American Friends of India condemning Kuldip 
     Nayar have circulated a release questioning Nayar's 
     credibility as a representative of the nation. ``This 
     preposterous action by Kuldip Nayar brings several issues 
     into question. Can he be trusted to be our representative in 
     the Upper House of the Indian Parliament? Isn't his 
     allegiance undoubtedly toward Pakistan? How can he support 
     this inhuman brutality against his own countrymen? Is his 
     representation of the Indian people justified?
       It may be noted here that Nayar represents a lobby of so-
     called intellectuals that blames the Indian government for 
     Pakistan-sponsored massacres in Kashmir, and vehemently 
     supports the US Government protests against the Indian 
     nuclear tests. Does this lobby stand for India's unity or 
     does it wish for its dismemberment?
       Nayar and his fellow co-conspirators will do well to note 
     that Kashmir is not about religion. It is about freedom of 
     religion. We urge the government of India and the Indian 
     National Human Rights Commission to treat the Kashmiri 
     Pandits as ``internally displaced people'' and stress the 
     importance of providing conditions for their safe return to 
     the valley.
       In light of such terrible tragedy of fellow Indians in 
     Kashmir, Nayar should be expelled from the Rajya Sabha. We 
     also urge the patriotic parliamentarians to take immediate 
     action against Nayar for his treacherous and anti-national 
     actions in the Rajya Sabha,'' the organization stated.

     

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