[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 138 (Tuesday, October 6, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN OBSERVES ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 6, 1998

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, October 7 is the eleventh anniversary of the 
Sikh Nation's declaration of an independent Khalistan and the founding 
of the Council of Khalistan to lead the independence movement. I 
congratulate the Council and its President, Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, on 
this important occasion.
  The Sikhs have a history of self-rule. They ruled Punjab from 1765 to 
1849 and were recognized by most of the world's major countries. They 
were promised an independent state at the time of India's independence 
but were given false promises to keep them within India's artificial 
borders. Not one single Sikh representative ever signed the Indian 
constitution to this day, 51 years later. Now the Sikhs seek to reclaim 
their national status. Dr. Aulakh and his organization have been 
tireless and effective leaders in that struggle.
  In our own Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that 
when governments become destructive of their obligation to protect 
liberty, `it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.'' 
The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, about 
60,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, more than 200,000 Christians in 
Nagaland, and tens of thousands of other minorities, including Dalits--
the aboriginal people of South Asia--Assamese, Tamils, and Manipuris, 
to name just a few. The Indian Supreme Court described the situation in 
Punjab as ``worse than a genocide.''
  When the Serbian dictator institutes a campaign of ``ethnic 
cleansing'' in Bosnia or Kosovo, we recognize that this is a clear 
example of a government which is destroying liberty, not upholding it, 
yet when India commits genocide against Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and 
others, many members of this House proudly defend it as ``as the 
world's largest democracy.''
  Mr. Speaker, the United States is the world's only superpower. It is 
the beacon of liberty for the world. We must support self-determination 
for all the occupied nations of South Asia. We must maintain sanctions 
against India, especially now that Prithvi and Agni missiles, some of 
which can reach Alaska, are deployed in Punjab.
  The time has come to stop all aid and trade to this corrupt 
government. And we must support free and fair votes and peaceful talks 
to bring freedom to South Asia by democratic means. Only when all the 
nations and peoples of South Asia live in freedom will peace and 
stability come to that region.
  I salute the Council of Khalistan for its work in this noble cause. I 
thank Dr. Aulakh for reminding us of our obligation to ensure the 
survival and the success of liberty. I call on my colleagues to listen 
to the information he brings us and to extend him and his people our 
full support.

                          ____________________