[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 111 (Tuesday, September 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1531-E1532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REACTION TO INDIAN PRIME MINISTER
______
HON. DAN BURTON
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, September 19, 2000
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, last week the Indian Prime
Minister spoke in this very chamber to a joint session of Congress. In
addition, he will meet with several American leaders, including
President Clinton and perhaps both major-party Presidential candidates.
When he meets with these leaders, they must bring up the issue of human
rights and self-determination.
India claims to be a democracy, but in truth there is no democracy in
India. It is a militant Hindu fundamentalist state. Christians, Sikhs,
Muslims, Dalits, and other minorities suffer severe oppression and
atrocities at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists.
Just last month, a priest in India was kidnapped, tortured, and
paraded through town naked by militant Hindu nationalists. The Indian
government has refused to register a complaint against the kidnappers.
This is the latest act in a campaign of terror against Christians that
has been going on since Christmas of 1998. This campaign has seen the
murders of priests, 5 of which were beheaded; rape of nuns, Hindu
militants burning a missionary and his two sons to death in their van,
the destruction of schools and prayer halls, and other anti-Christian
atrocities. Most of these activities have been carried out by allies of
the government or people affiliated with organizations under the
umbrella of the RSS, the parent organization of the ruling BJP, which
was founded in support of Fascism.
And its not just Christians, where more than 200,000 have been
murdered in Nagaland since 1947, who are in danger in India. Over
250,000 Sikhs have been murdered since 1984, and well over 70,000
Kashmiri Muslims since 1988, as well as tens of thousands of other
minorities by Indian security forces. We cannot accept this kind of
brutality and tyranny from a government that claims to be democratic.
Last year, India denied the U.N. Special Rapporteurs on torture and
extrajudicial killings permission to visit the country. And since the
1970's, Amnesty International & other human rights groups have been
barred from areas in India. Even Cuba allows Amnesty in! In 1999 Human
Rights Watch issued their annual report that noted, ``Despite
government claims that `normalcy' has returned to Kashmir, Indian
troops in the state continue to carry out summary executions,
disappearances, rape and torture''. (Human Rights Watch Report; India:
Human Rights Abuses Fuel Conflict, July 1, 1999.)
And, while the Prime Minister talks today about a strong relationship
with the U.S., just last year his Defense Minister led a meeting with
Cuba, China, Iraq, Serbia, Russia, and Libya to construct a security
alliance. The Indian Express quoted the Defense Minister in explaining
that this security alliance was intended ``to stop the U.S.''
India is not a country to be trusted. India introduced the nuclear
arms race to South Asia, it supported the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan and it votes against us in the United Nations. Its time
that India clean up its human rights violations and ends its anti-
Americanism. And, let Kashmir determine its own fate as it was promised
nearly 50 years ago to by offering a referendum for self-determination.
If it is a democracy, it should let its own people vote on their
future.
Mr. Speaker, a bipartisan group of 17 Members of Congress, including
myself, have written a letter to President Clinton urging him to press
the Prime Minister on issues of self-determination for Khalistan, human
rights, and release of political prisoners. I'd like to submit a copy
of the letter into the Record, as well as a press release from the
Council of Khalistan that sheds more light on the issue.
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC, September 12, 2000.
Hon. Bill Clinton,
President of the United States,
The White House, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. President: Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari
VaJpayee will be visiting you from September 13 to September
17. It is important that you press him on the issue of the
persecution of Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, and other
minorities by the Indian government.
Press Trust of India reported on August 25 that a Christian
priest in Gujarat was kidnapped, tortured, and paraded
through town naked. This attack was not an isolated incident.
Since Christmas 1998, priests have been murdered, nuns have
been raped, a missionary and his two sons were burned to
death in their van by members of the RSS, which is the parent
organization of the ruling BJP, schools and prayer halls have
been attacked and destroyed. Yet the Indian government
refuses to take any action against the people who perpetrate
these atrocities.
During your trip to India, 35 Sikhs were murdered in the
village of Chithi Singhpora, Kashmir. The Ludhiana-based
International Human Rights Organization investigated this and
separately the Movement Against State Repression and the
Punjab Human Rights Organization conducted an investigation.
Both of these investigations have proven that the Indian
government carried out this massacre. The Indian government
has admitted that the five Muslims they killed on the claim
that they were responsible for the massacre were innocent.
Now they have arrested two more people, claiming that they
were responsible for this massacre. Yet despite the fact that
so-called ``militant'' groups almost always claim
responsibility for incidents they are responsible for, nobody
has emerged to claim responsibility for the killings in
Chithi Singhpora.
The Politics of Genocide by Indejit Singh Jaijee reports
that the Indian government has murdered more than 250,000
Sikhs since 1984. These figures were derived from figures put
out by the Punjab State Magistracy. India has also killed
more than 200,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, over
70,000 Kashmiri Muslims since 1988, and tens of thousands of
Dalits, Assamese, Tamils, Manipuris, and others. According to
Amnesty International, there are thousands of political
prisoners being held in illegal detention without charge or
trial in ``the world's largest democracy.''
India is a hostile country. Last year the Indian Defense
Minister led a meeting with Cuba, China, Iraq, Serbia,
Russia, and Libya to construct a security alliance ``to stop
the U.S.'' India openly supported the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan. It tested five nuclear warheads, beginning the
nuclear arms race to South Asia. And it refuses to allow the
[[Page E1532]]
Sikhs, Kashmiris, Christians, and other minority nations and
peoples decide their own political future in a free and fair
vote, as democratic countries do. America has repeatedly
granted this opportunity to Puerto Rico and Canada has
permitted Quebec to do so. Why can't the ``world's largest
democracy'' settle these issues the democratic way?
America is the bastion of freedom for the world. We cannot
accept this kind of brutality and tyranny from a government
that claims to be democratic. We call on you to press Prime
Minister Vajpayee on the issues of human rights and self-
determination for Khanistan, Christian Nagalim, Kashmir, and
all the minority nations and peoples living under Indian
rule.
Sincerely,
Edolphus Towns, Donald M. Payne, Wally Herger, Lincoln
Diaz-Balart, Cynthia McKinney, Dan Burton, James
Traficant, John T. Doolittle, James Rogan, James
Oberstar, Peter King, Roscoe Bartlett, Randy ``Duke''
Cunningham, Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Philip M. Crane,
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, George P. Radanovich.
____
[Press Release Council of Khalistan]
U.S. Congress: India Is a ``Hostile Country''
Letter Urges President to Press Indian Prime Minister on Self-
Determination for Khalistan, Human Rights, Release of Political
Prisoners
Washington, D.C., September 13, 2000--A bipartisan group of
17 Members of the U.S. Congress have written a letter to
President Clinton urging him to press Indian Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who arrives for a state visit today, on
issues of self-determination for Khalistan, human rights,
andrelease of political prisoners. The letter called India
``a hostile country.''
``We call on you to press Prime Minister Vajpayee on the
issues of human rights and self-determination for Khalistan,
Christian Nagalim, Kashmir, and all the minority nations and
peoples living under Indian rule,'' the Members of Congress
wrote. The Members noted the recent incident in which a
priest in Gujarat was kidnapped, tortured, and dragged naked
through the streets. This incident is part of a pattern of
repression against Christians that has been going on since
Christmas 1998, they noted. They also took note of the
massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chithi Singhpora during the
President's visit to India in March, which two independent
investigations have proven was carried out by the Indian
government. They wrote about the murders of over 250,000
Sikhs since 1984, over 70,000 Muslims since 1988, more than
200,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, and tens of
thousands of other minorities by the Indian government. ``We
cannot accept this kind of brutality and tyranny from a
government that claims to be democratic,'' they wrote.
They also wrote, ``India is a hostile country. Last year
the Indian Defense Minister led a meeting with Cuba, China,
Iraq, Serbia, Russia, and Libya to construct a security
alliance `to stop the U.S.,'' they noted. They also wrote
that India introduced the nuclear arms race to South Asia and
that it supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The lead sponsor of the letter was Representative Edolphus
Towns (D-NY). Other co-signers include Representative Wally
Herger (R-Cal.); Representative Donald M. Payne (D-NJ);
Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.); Representative
Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.); Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-
Md.); Representative Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the
Government Reform and Oversight Committee; Representative
Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R-Cal.); Representative James
Traficant (D-Ohio); Representative Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-
American Samoa); Representative John T. Doolittle (R-Cal.);
Representative Philip M. Crane (R-Ill.); Representative James
Rogan (R-Cal.); Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.);
Representative James Oberstar (D-Minn.); Representative
George P. Radanovich (R-Cal.); and Representative Peter King
(R-NY).
Indian security forces have murdered over 250,000 Sikhs
since 1984, according to figures compiled by the Punjab State
Magistracy and human-rights organizations. These figures were
published in The Politics of Genocide by Inderjit Singh
Jaijee. About 50,000 Sikh political prisoners are rotting in
Indian jails without charge or trial. Many have been in
illegal custody since 1984. India is in gross violation of
international law. Since 1984, India has engaged in a
campaign of ethnic cleansing in which about 50,000 Sikhs were
murdered by the police and secretly cremated, according to
Justice Ajit Singh Bains, chairman of the Punjab Human Rights
Organization, in an interview broadcast on ``Ankhila Punjab''
radio in Toronto, Canada. The Indian Supreme Court described
this campaign as ``worse than a genocide.''
``On behalf of half a million Sikhs in the United States, I
would like to thank Congressman Towns and every Member who
signed this letter,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President
of the Council of Khalistan, the government pro tempore of
Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared its independence
from India on October 7, 1987. ``We thank our friends in both
parties for their support for freedom in South Asia. This
letter can help focus the attention of the United States and
India on the important democratic values of self-
determination and human rights,'' he said. ``The willingness
of these Members of Congress to call India a hostile country
also advances freedom in South Asia by helping to frustrate
India's drive for hegemony in the region,'' he said. He
predicted that ``the breakup of India draws closer every day
and Khalistan will be free in this decade.''
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