[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1329-E1330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   DECLARE INDIA A TERRORIST COUNTRY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 2000

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, a group of 21 of us wrote to President 
Clinton last month asking him to declare India a terrorist country due 
to its terror campaign against Christians and other minorities. Since 
Christmas of 1998, there has been a wave of terrorist attacks against 
Christians, Christian churches, and Christian institutions throughout 
India.
  No one is ever held accountable for these actions. In fact, Bal 
Thackeray, leader of Shiv Sena, recently threatened to engulf the 
entire country in violence if he is held accountable for his part in 
the 1992 murders of thousands of people in Bombay. Mr. Thackeray's 
party, Shiv Sena, is a coalition partner of the ruling BJP and both 
parties are member organizations of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh 
(RSS), a Fascist organization with a program of ``Hindu, Hindi, 
Hindutva, Hindu Rashtra''--in other words, Hindu rule. BJP leaders have 
been quoted as saying that everyone who lives in India must be Hindu or 
must be subservient to Hindus. Is this democracy or theocracy?
  Recently, a group of four missionaries were beaten by Hindu 
nationalists for their religious work. They were peacefully 
distributing religious literature and Bibles. Now one of them may lose 
his arms and legs. A Catholic priest who came under attack from 
militant Hindus recently was saved when his landlady, a Hindu, poured 
boiling oil on the Hindu mob that was attacking him. There have been so 
many incidents. After the recent murder of another priest, the only 
eyewitness was picked up by a police official who was under suspension. 
The witness was hanged in his jail cell. The Indian government ruled 
that he hung himself, but it seems to be a murder by the police.
  Hindus chanting ``Victory to Hannuman'' burned Graham Stuart Staines, 
an Australian missionary, and his 8 and 10 year old sons to death as 
they slept in their jeep. Nuns have been raped, priests have been 
murdered, churches have been burned and schools have been destroyed. 
All of these acts, and more, have been done at the hands of militant 
Hindu nationalists allied with the RSS. No one has been punished for 
any of these atrocities.
  Mr. Speaker, Christians are not the only ones. The Indian government 
massacred 35 Sikhs in Kashmir during President Clinton's visit to 
India, then tried to blame Kashmiri ``militants.'' Two extensive 
investigations have confirmed the Indian government's responsibility.
  These latest victims join over 200,000 Christians, more than a 
quarter of a million Sikhs, over 70,000 Kashmiri Muslims, and tens of 
thousands of other minorities who have been killed in the Indian 
government's genocide. Tens of thousands of Sikhs are held without 
charge or trial, as political prisoners in ``the world's largest 
democracy.'' Well, if India is really a democracy, it must allow all 
the peoples and nations under its rule, including the Christians of 
Nagaland, the Sikhs of Khalistan, the Muslims of Kashmir, and the 
others, to enjoy self-determination and freedom.
  Given its past and present conduct, India must be declared a 
terrorist country and we should stop giving American taxpayers' money 
to the Indian government until its religious terrorism and its killing 
of minorities end and all the peoples and nations of South Asia live in 
freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert our letter to President Clinton 
into the Record, and I hope my colleagues will read it. It will be very 
informative.

                                Congress of the United States,

                                    Washington, DC, June 15, 2000.
     Hon. Bill Clinton, President of the United States,
     The White House, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: We are deeply concerned by the ongoing 
     repression of Christians in India. A wave of violence against 
     Christians and that has been going on since Christmas 1998 
     has intensified recently.
       On May 21, a prayer meeting of a Christian women's group 
     was bombed. An investigation by the All India Christian 
     Conference shows that the Sangh Parivar, a branch of the 
     Fascist RSS, the parent organization of the ruling BJP, 
     carried out the bombing, which injured 30, four of them very 
     seriously.

[[Page E1330]]

     Also in May, six Christian missionaries who were distributing 
     Bibles and religious literature were beaten by militant Hindu 
     fundamentalists. One of them may lose his arms and legs due 
     to the savage beating. On April 21 in Agra, a group of Hindu 
     militants affiliated with the Bajrang Dal attacked a 
     Christian group and burned Biblical literature. The Bajrang 
     Dal is a wing of the RSS. In Haryana, three nuns were run 
     down by a motor scooter while they were on their way to 
     Easter services. The RSS recently published a booklet on how 
     to implicate Christians and other minorities in false 
     criminal cases, the Hindustan Times reported.
       Missionary Graham Staines was burned to death along with 
     his sons, who were 8 years old and 10 years old, while they 
     were asleep in their jeep. The killers chanted ``Victory to 
     Hannuman.'' Hannuman is a Hindu god with the face of a 
     monkey. Hindu nationalists have murdered at least four 
     priests, raped four nuns and kidnapped another, whom they 
     forced to drink her own bodily fluids. More than 200,000 
     Christians in predominantly Christian Nagaland have been 
     killed by the Indian government. No one is punished for any 
     of these acts.
       India has also committed similar acts of terrorism against 
     its Sikh and Muslim minorities, among others. It has killed 
     over 250,000 Sikhs. In March, the government massacred 35 
     Sikhs.in the village of Chatti Singhpora. According to the 
     State Department, between 1991 and 1993, India paid out more 
     than 41,000 cash bounties to police officers for killing 
     Sikhs. India has killed more than 70,000 Kashmiri Muslims and 
     destroyed the most revered mosque in Kashmir. Tens of 
     thousands of Sikhs, Kashmiris, Christians, and others are 
     being held as political prisoners.
       Mr. President, America cannot just watch these atrocities 
     happen. We call on you to declare India a terrorist nation. 
     We further urge an end to U.S. aid to India until human 
     rights are enjoyed by all people there. And we ask the United 
     States to support self-determination for all the peoples and 
     nations of the subcontinent. Let the light of freedom shine 
     everywhere in South Asia.
           Sincerely,
                                             Edolphus Towns, M.C.,
                                                    and 20 others.

     

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