[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 30, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          INDIA CELEBRATES NUKES AND DEMONSTRATES INTOLERANCE

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                         HON. JOHN T. DOOLITTLE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 30, 1999

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, while our attention has been grabbed by 
Kosovo and China, the situation in India has dropped off our radar 
screen. While we weren't looking, India has been very busy.
  The Indian election campaign began with the ruling party celebrating 
the anniversary of its nuclear weapons tests last year. These weapons 
were built out of India's development budget, as the people's health 
and education continue to decline and the population outside of the 
Brahmin caste lives in abject poverty.
  Meanwhile, the Indian Defense Minister held a meeting looking to find 
ways to ``stop the U.S.,'' which he called ``vulgarly arrogant.'' 
Remember that we provide millions of dollars each year to help India 
pay its bills. How ``vulgarly arrogant.'' of us! Other countries whose 
representatives attended this meeting included Serbia, China, Cuba, 
Russia, Libya, and Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, we are talking about a country in which there is little 
respect for religious freedom. On May 20, the government placed the 
Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Bhai Ranjit Singh, under house arrest. 
Since Christmas, there has been a wave of violence against Christians. 
A missionary has been burned to death along with his two young sons, 
nuns have been raped, priests have been murdered, and Christian 
churches, prayer halls, and schools have been burned to the ground by 
allies of the Indian government.
  As if all that weren't enough, we have received word that Indian 
intelligence officers interrogated a journalist named Sikhbir Singh 
Osan for 45 minutes. For him to have been grilled and harassed by 
police would have been bad enough, but he was harassed by intelligence 
officers after he returned from the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., where 
he covered the recent Sikh 300th anniversary marches and gave a speech 
on the persecution of Christians.
  The government of India is intolerant and anti-American. They do not 
allow freedom of religion or, apparently, of the press. I am proud to 
have joined several of my colleagues of both parties in co-sponsoring a 
resolution that calls for a free and fair plebiscite in Punjab, 
Khalistan on the question of independence. Freedom is America's 
mission. By taking steps against the anti-American government of India, 
we can help promote and extend the blessings of liberty to another 
corner of the world. We must get started.

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