[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 20, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E77]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             SIKH LEADER WRITES ON REPRESSION OF CHRISTIANS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 19, 1999

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, as you know, there has been a recent wave of 
attacks by Hindu Nationalists on Christian churches, prayer halls, and 
schools. This has followed the killings of priests, the raping of four 
nuns by a Hindu mob described by the Hindu Nationalist VHP as 
``patriotic youth.'' Just this week, more churches have been attacked. 
No action has been taken to stop the religious violence. This situation 
has made it clear to the world that India's claims of democracy and 
secularism are fraudulent.
  In this light, it was encouraging to see a letter in the January 18 
issue of the Washington Times by Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of 
the council of Khalistan, that addresses this issue. We all know Dr. 
Aulakh to be a tough and fair advocate of independence for the Sikhs in 
Khalistan, who have also come under the tyranny of Indian 
``secularism.'' I would recommend to my colleagues that they read Dr. 
Aulakh's letter. It will give them a lot of information on the reality 
of religious repression in India. As Dr. Aulakh wrote, ``These attacks 
show that religious freedom in India is a myth.''
  Christians, Sikhs, and Muslims have suffered at the hands of India's 
ruling elite. As the letter shows, they are all being murdered by the 
Indian government. That government has paid more than 41,000 cash 
bounties to police officers for killing Sikhs. Meanwhile, Amnesty 
International and other independent human-rights monitors have been 
kept out of India since 1978, even longer than Communist Cuba has kept 
them out.
  A country that kills its minorities for their ethnic or religious 
identity is not a fit recipient of American support. As the only 
superpower and the leader of the world, we have a duty to do whatever 
we can to support the cause of freedom in South Asia.
  We should cut off American aid and trade to India until human rights, 
including religious liberty, are secure and regularly practiced. We 
should declare India a violator of religious freedom and impose the 
sanctions appropriate to that status. And to ensure the safety of 
religious and political freedom in South Asia, we should declare our 
support for the 17 freedom movements within India's borders. We can 
start by calling for full self-determination for the Sikhs of 
Khalistan, the Muslims of Kashmir, and the Christians of Nagaland. 
These steps will help bring the people of South Asia the kind of 
freedom that we in America enjoy.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce Dr. Aulakh's letter in the 
January 18 Washington Times into the Record.

               [From the Washington Times, Jan. 18, 1999]

             India Continues to Restrict Religious Freedom

                        (By Gurmit Singh Aulakh)

       Thank you for your editorial (``Mother Teresa's children,'' 
     Jan. 10) exposing more than 90 attacks on Christians since 
     the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power last year. 
     These attacks show that religious freedom in India is a myth.
       Just when we thought the recent wave of attacks on 
     Christians in India was over, your editorial exposed the 
     burning of two more churches by Hindu mobs affiliated with 
     the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak 
     Sangh, a militant Hindu nationalist organization that is also 
     the parent organization of the ruling (BJP).
       It is not just Christians who have suffered from 
     persecution and violence in the hands of the Indian 
     government. Sikhs and Muslims, among others, have been 
     victimized as well. In August 1997, Narinder Singh, a 
     spokesman for the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the center and 
     seat of the Sikh religion, told National Public Radio: ``The 
     Indian government, all the time they boast that they're 
     democratic, they're secular, but they have nothing to do with 
     a democracy, they have nothing to do with secularism. They 
     try to crush Sikhs just to please the majority.''
       The Indian government has killed more than 200,000 
     Christians since 1947. It has also murdered more than 250,000 
     Sikhs since 1984, over 60,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988 
     and tens of thousands of other religious and ethnic 
     minorities. The most revered mosque in India has been 
     destroyed to build a Hindu temple. Police murdered the 
     highest Sikh spiritual and religious leader, Akal Takht 
     Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke, and human rights activist 
     Jaswant Singh Khalra. There are police witnesses to both of 
     these crimes. The U.S. State Department reported that between 
     1992 and 1994 the Indian government paid more than 41,000 
     cash bounties to police for killing Sikhs. Plainclothes 
     police continue to occupy the Golden Temple. There have been 
     more than 200 reported atrocities against Sikhs since the 
     Akali/Dal/BJP government took power in March 1997.
       It is not just the BJP that has practiced religious tyranny 
     in pursuit of a Hindu theocracy in India. Many of these 
     incidents came under the rule of the Congress Party. No 
     matter who is in power, the minorities in India suffer from 
     severe oppression. The only solution is to support self-
     determination for the peoples and nations of South Asia, so 
     they can live in freedom, peace, prosperity and security.
       India is not a single country; it is a polyglot empire that 
     was thrown together by the British for their political 
     convenience. Its breakup is inevitable. As the world's only 
     superpower, the United States has a responsibility to make 
     sure this process is peaceful, as it was for the Soviet Union 
     and Czechoslovakia. Otherwise, a Bosnia will be created in 
     South Asia.
       Thank you for exposing the true nature of India's ``secular 
     democracy.'' Exposing these brutal practices will help bring 
     true freedom to South Asia.

     

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