[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 7 (Wednesday, February 2, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E60]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SIKH BURNS SELF TO DEATH TO PROTEST POLICE BRUTALITY IN INDIA

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                         HON. JOHN T. DOOLITTLE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 2000

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I was distressed to hear that Mandeep Pal 
Singh Sodhi, a 27-year-old Sikh man, burned himself to death in front 
of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly building. His self-immolation 
was reported in the Hindustan Times on January 11. He was protesting 
police brutality against his family. Mandeep Pal Singh Sodhi's brothers 
were detained and brutalized by police. Their mother was promised an 
inquiry, but nothing happened.
  Recently, the Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab, 
led by Hindu human rights activist Ram Narayan Kumar, issued a 
preliminary report that included the names and addresses of 838 Sikhs 
who were picked up, tortured, murdered, and secretly disposed of by the 
police. According to figures compiled by the Punjab State Magistracy 
and by human rights groups, the Indian government has killed over a 
quarter of a million Sikhs since 1984.
  It is not just Sikhs who have suffered this kind of oppression. The 
Indian government has victimized Christians, Muslims, Dalits, and 
others. Groups associated with the ruling BJP have burned down 
Christian churches and prayer halls. Allies of the government have 
murdered nuns, priests, and missionaries.
  The self-immolation of Mandeep Pal Singh Sodhi should serve as a 
wake-up call to the country that proudly proclaims itself ``the world's 
largest democracy.'' It should serve as a call to India to begin living 
up to the democratic principles that it proclaims. India must stop this 
police brutality and release its political prisoners. It must hold a 
free and fair internationally-supervised plebiscite on the issue of 
independence in Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagaland, and wherever else people 
within India are struggling for freedom. Until then, the U.S. should 
stop its aid to India and encourage it to act like the democratic 
country it claims to be.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the Hindustan Times article into 
the Record.

               [From the Hindustan Times, Jan. 11, 2000]

                Self immolation in front of UP Assembly

                         (By Bhupendra Pandey)

       Lucknow, January 10--Motorists, pedestrians and policemen 
     watched in shock as a young man, allegedly because of police 
     harassment, immolated himself on the busy road opposite the 
     Vidhan Sabha on Monday afternoon.
       The 27-year-old youth, identified as Mandeep Pal Singh 
     Sodhi, a resident of Krishna Nagar, suffered 70 per cent 
     burns and died on way to hospital.
       Later, the police inspector posted at Krishna Nagar was 
     sent to the police lines for illegally detaining the 
     deceased's brother and harassing his family members. Chief 
     Minister Ram Prakash Gupta has announced a financial 
     assistance of Rs 1 lakh to the dependents of the victim. The 
     District Magistrate of Lucknow has directed the ADM, City, to 
     probe the incident.
       According to eyewitnesses, Mandeep got off a bus near the 
     Royal Hotel intersection and doused himself with kerosene. 
     Then, he went towards the Assembly and set himself on fire 
     and started running. Soon, he was transformed into a ball of 
     fire.
       After he collapsed and lay writhing on the road, three 
     policemen tried feebly to rescue him. Others also joined 
     them, but by then Mandeep had already suffered excessive 
     burns.
       Thereafter, he was taken to the nearby Shyama Prasad 
     Mukherjee Hospital from where he was referred to the KGMC. 
     But he succumbed to burn injuries on the way.
       Initially, policemen were unable to identify the youth but 
     later found a slip of paper tucked in his shoes. According to 
     it, Mandeep ran a small chemists shop outside a private 
     nursing home in Krishna Nagar.
       Meanwhile, Mandeep's mother, Mrs. Manpreet Kaur, has 
     accused the police of forcing her son to commit suicide. 
     ``Fed up with police harassment, my son committed suicide,'' 
     she said.
       According to her, her husband, Surendra Pal Singh, who died 
     five years ago, ran a flourishing transport business. But it 
     ran into tough times after his death. She said that her tale 
     of woes began a year ago when the SO of Sarojini Nagar raided 
     her house and detained her two sons, Yashpal and Inderpal, 
     without specifying the charges. Later, they were booked in a 
     case of a motorcycle theft. In March last year, the two were 
     again booked in a case of another motorcycle theft and 
     jailed. The two brothers were also booked under the Gangster 
     Act.
       Mrs. Kaur said that she had earlier met then Chief Minister 
     Kalyan Singh and also the Circle Officer of Sarojini Nagar. 
     She had been assured of an inquiry into the matter. But 
     nothing happened. In fact, Yashpal was picked again on 
     Saturday night in connection with a recent case of motorcycle 
     theft in Krishna Nagar.
       Today, Mrs. Kaur decided to complain to the District 
     Magistrate and despite Mandeep's request to her to stay at 
     home, she left for the DM's office. Soon after Mandeep too 
     boarded a bus for the Vidhan Sabha.
       Mrs. Kaur learnt about her son's immolation in the 
     afternoon when she came home after meeting the DM. Yashpal 
     was released by the police following the DM's intervention.

     

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