[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 21, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     AMERICA SHOULD SUPPORT KASHMIRI, SIKH, NAGA FREEDOM STRUGGLES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN T. DOOLITTLE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 21, 1999

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, the world watches carefully the situation 
in Kashmir, where the Indian military attacked the Kashmiri freedom 
fighters to shut down the seventeen freedom movements within its 
borders. The effort did not go well for India, despite its claims of 
victory. An Indian military spokesman admitted that Indian troops were 
``dying like dogs.''
  The Sikhs in Punjab, Khalistan have been very concerned that this war 
will spread to their homeland, where they are also seeking self-
determination. One of India's strategies for keeping the freedom 
movements from succeeding is to set the minority nations against each 
other. In pursuit of this divide-and-rule strategy, they have sent Sikh 
soldiers to fight the Kashmiris, as they have done in Nagaland. The 
Christians in Nagaland have been fighting for their freedom for the 
last 52 years.
  The Council of Khalistan wrote an open letter to the Sikh soldiers 
and officers. They called on the soldiers and officers to stop ``dying 
like dogs'' for the Indian government. The letter asked Sikh soldiers 
if they would rather die as Sikh martyrs or mercenaries for Indian 
oppression. It urged them to stop shooting at their fellow freedom 
fighters in Kashmir and join the movement to free Khalistan.
  The reasons why Khalistan and the other nations of South Asia should 
enjoy their freedom have been outlined by many of us in the past, and 
they have not changed. Amnesty International reports that thousands of 
political prisoners are being held without charge or trial. Some of 
them have been in illegal custody for 15 years.
  If India is democratic and if there is no support for the freedom 
movements, as India claims, then why not let the peoples of the 
subcontinent vote on their political status? America should support 
self-determination for all the nations and peoples. We should declare 
our support for the freedom movements and the right of self-
determination and stop aid to the repressive Indian regime.

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