[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 17, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


CONGRESSMAN RECEIVES LETTER FROM CHRISTIANS OF NAGALAND: AMERICA SHOULD 
                SUPPORT SELF-DETERMINATION IN SOUTH ASIA

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 17, 1999

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the 
Council of Khalistan, recently delivered to me a letter from the 
government-in-exile of Nagaland praising my previous statement of 
February 11 on the oppression of Christians in India. The letter also 
calls for self-determination for all the nations of South Asia.
  In the letter, the Prime Minister of Nagaland quotes Secretary of 
State Albright as a supporter of self-determination. On February 24, 
the Washington Post quoted the Secretary of State as saying, ``ethnic 
groups demanding independence should be allowed to have their own 
nations.'' Currently, there are 17 freedom movements within India's 
borders. Yet the government of India refuses even to allow the Sikhs of 
Khalistan, the Christians of Nagaland, the Muslims of Kashmir, and the 
people of the other nations they occupy to decide this issue in a free 
and fair vote, the way that democratic countries decide these things. 
Instead, they have resorted to state terrorism against the people in 
these occupied nations.
  Recently, there has been a wave of violence against Christians in 
India. Christians are merely the target of the moment. Sikhs, Muslims, 
Daltis (dark-skinned aboriginal people), and others have been subjected 
to similar violence.
  Numerous Christian churches and other religious facilities have been 
destroyed since Christmas by Hindu extremists affiliated with the 
ruling BJP. A missionary and his two young sons were burned to death. 
Nuns have been raped. Priests have been murdered. A Christian religious 
festival was broken up by gunfire. Is this Indian secularism?
  The Indian government has killed more than 200,000 Christians since 
1947 and the Christians of Nagaland, in the eastern part of India, are 
involved in one of 17 freedom movements within India's borders. India 
has murdered more than 250,000 Sikhs since 1984 and over 60,000 Muslims 
in Kashmir since 1988, as well as many thousands of other people.
  The holiest shrine in the Sikh religion, the Golden temple in 
Amritsar, was attacked by the Indian government. Gurdev Singh Kaunke, 
who was serving as Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the highest Sikh 
religious official, was killed in police custody by being torn in half. 
The police disposed of his body. He had been tortured before the Indian 
government decided to kill him. The very highly revered Babri mosque 
was destroyed by Hindu militants.
  Next month marks two occasions, falling on the same day, that should 
bring these issues into focus: the 300th anniversary of the Sikh Nation 
and the birthday of Thomas Jefferson. It is an ironic coincidence that 
these anniversaries fall at the same time.
  Thomas Jefferson was one of the leading voices for American 
independence and wrote the Declaration of Independence, which sets out 
the philosophical basis for the freedom that we built into our 
Constitution and that we enjoy today. In light of this religious 
oppression and the statements of Secretary Albright and others, I urge 
the Congress to take strong measures in support of self-determination 
in South Asia. We should put ourselves on record in support of a free 
and fair plebiscite in Punjab, Khalistan, in Kashmir, in Nagaland, and 
everywhere that people are demanding the right to determine their own 
future. We should impose the sanctions appropriate under the law for 
countries that practice religious oppression and violence. We should 
strongly urge the President to declare India a terrorist state. 
Finally, we should cut off U.S. aid to India until it begins to behave 
like a democracy and respects basic human rights, including the right 
to self-determination.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to place the letter from the Prime Minister 
of Nagaland in the Record.

         Prime Minister (Ato-Kilonser), Government of the People's 
           Republic of Nagaland,
                                                   March 12, 1999.
     Hon. Edolphus Towns,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       (Through our good friend Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, 
     President, Council of Khalistan, 1901 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 
     Suite 802, Washington, DC 20006)
       Respected Sir: Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh sent us the 
     proceedings and debates of the 106th Congress (First Session) 
     dated Washington 11 February 1999. We have gone through your 
     presentation, Hindu Nationalist Continue To Attack Christians 
     in ``Secular'' India, with much appreciation and love.
       In the light of the assertion of the truth made by U.S. 
     Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ``that ethnic groups 
     demanding independence should be allowed to have their own 
     nations'' (as told to the Washington Post in Paris on 24 
     February 1999), your statement that ``we should openly 
     declare U.S. support for self-determination for all the 
     peoples of the subcontinent. By these measures we can help 
     bring religious freedom and basic human rights to Christians, 
     Sikhs, Muslims, and everyone else in South Asia'' makes a lot 
     of sense. Indeed, this is what the Indian-suppressed peoples 
     have been wishing for all these years.
       That, Sir, the principled stand you and other policy-makers 
     of the U.S. have taken in this all-important matter has 
     inspired many nationalities and ethnic groups that continue 
     to languish in the merciless world of religious persecution 
     and political suppression. Kindly accept the heartfelt 
     gratitude of the Naga people.
       Even as the Naga people pray with renewed hearts for their 
     suffering brothers and sisters belonging to the Christian, 
     Dalit, Muslim and Sikh communities, it is our request that 
     you presevere in your fight for the rights of these oppressed 
     nations and peoples to freedom and justice. May God bless you 
     richly in your endeavor.
           Respectfully yours,
     Th. Muivah.

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