[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CHRISTIANS ATTACKED IN INDIA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN T. DOOLITTLE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 2, 1999

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, James Madison, the primary author of the 
U.S. Constitution, warned about ``the tyranny of the majority.'' The 
modern state of India is an example of what Madison warned us about. 
Between Christmas and New Year, several Christian churches, prayer 
halls, and missionary schools were attacked by extremist Hindu mobs 
affiliated with the parent organization of India's ruling Bharatiya 
Janata Party (BJP).
  The Washington Post reported on January 1 that ten such attacks 
occurred the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Six people were 
injured in one of these attacks. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or 
World Hindu Council, appears to be responsible for the attacks. The BJP 
is the political wing of the VHP.
  The Hindu militants are apparently upset that Christians are 
converting low-caste Hindus. Their frustration does not justify acts of 
violence.
  Christian activists report that there were more than 60 recorded 
cases of church and Bible-burning, rape, and other attacks in 1998 
alone, including the recent rape of four nuns. The VHP called the 
rapists ``patriotic youth.''
  In 1997 and 1998, four priests were murdered. In the fall of 1997, a 
Christian festival was stopped when the police opened fire. Clearly, 
there is a pattern here. However, Christians are not the only victims 
of India's tyrannical ``democracy.''
  Muslims have seen their most revered mosques destroyed; Sikhs have 
seen their most sacred shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, attacked 
and remain under occupation by plainclothes police. Their spiritual 
leader, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Gurdev Singh Kaunke, was 
tortured and killed in police custody. Although there is a witness to 
this murder, no action has been taken against those responsible. Is 
this the secular democracy that India is so proud of?
  The United States is the beacon of freedom to the world. As such, we 
cannot sit idly by and watch India trample on the religious freedom of 
its minorities. We should put this Congress on record in support of 
peaceful, democratic freedom movements in South Asia and throughout the 
world.
  The United States recently allowed Puerto Rico to vote on its status; 
our Canadian neighbors held a similar referendum in Quebec. When do the 
Sikhs of Khalistan, the Muslims of Kashmir, and the other peoples 
living under Indian rule get their chance to exercise this basic 
democratic right? Will we support democratic freedom for the people of 
South Asia, or will we look away while the tyranny of the majority 
continues to suppress fundamental rights like freedom of religion?

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