[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 150 (Tuesday, October 20, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 NEW REPORT EXPOSES GOVERNMENT'S SYSTEMATIC HUMAN-RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN 
                                 PUNJAB

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 20, 1998

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on October 1, Ram Narayan Kumar, the producer 
of the excellent video ``Disappearances in Punjab'', and Cynthia 
Mahmood, a professor at the University of Maine who has studied issues 
in Punjab, issued a detailed reported entitled ``Disappearances in 
Punjab and the Impunity of the Indian State.'' It exposes the brutal 
tyranny that has been imposed on the Sikhs of Punjab, Khalistan by 
``the world's largest democracy.''
  The report exposes India's ``war without quarter'' against the Sikh 
Nation that has resulted in the extrajudicial murders of over 250,000 
Sikhs since 1984. The authors describe this ``war without quarter'' as 
a ``dirty water.'' The authors note that ``the law in Punjab 
accommodated to, buttressed, and furthered the pattern of atrocities 
against Sikh citizens that had evolved against Sikh citizens. Minimal 
human rights were being abrogated in `the world's largest democracy.' 
''
  These abuses were carried out through mechanisms like the so-called 
``Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act'' (TADA), which permitted 
virtually unlimited detention of anyone without charge or trial. Even 
though this repressive law expired in March 1995, thousands of people 
continue to be held under it.
  The report contains extensive discussion of the case of Jaswant Singh 
Khalra, who was kidnapped and murdered by the police after he exposed 
the Indian government's brutal masscremation policy in Punjab. After 
his report, the Tarn Taran police chief, Ajit Sandhu, told Mr. Khalra, 
``We can make one more body disappear.'' It appears that this promise 
has been kept. Now the police have filed false charges against Jaspal 
Singh Dhillon, who assisted and continued Mr. Khalra's work. The Indian 
Supreme Court described this policy as ``worse than a genocide.'' It 
said that there have been ``flagrant violation of human rights on a 
mass scale.''
  The report also demonstrates the weakness of India's National Human 
Rights Commission, which cannot investigate abuses by the security 
forces and cannot investigate cases over a year old. The Commission is 
essentially impotent.
  As a result of these abuses, 18 human-rights organizations and 13 
individuals who have been active in human-rights work formed the 
Coordination Committee on Disappearances in Panjab, which then 
appointed the Peoples Commission on Human Rights Violations in Punjab. 
This commission has issued 90 citations and taken over 3,000 more 
cases. The government has taken action to close down the commission and 
tried to prevent its first meeting from taking place. The report shows 
that the government has worked to silence human-rights groups through 
intimidation and violence.
  Mr. Speaker, these events occurred in only one of India's 25 states. 
There are currently 17 freedom movements within India's borders. The 
United States is a bastion of freedom in the world. We should not be 
supporting such a repressive country. The sanctions we placed on India 
this spring must be maintained and we should also cut off its U.S. aid. 
It is now apparent that only when the people of Punjab, Khalistan and 
the other captive nations of the Indian subcontinent are allowed to 
claim their sovereignty will their people live in freedom, peace, 
prosperity, and stability. The United States Congress can help make 
that happen by declaring our support for free and fair plebiscites on 
independence in Punjab, Khalistan and in Kashmir. By these means we can 
help end these abuses and bring freedom to all the people of South 
Asia.
  I thank Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of 
Khalistan, for bringing this report to my attention and his continued 
effort to free his nation from the repression of the Indian government.

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