[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E82]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




NEW YORK TIMES: INDIA CLEARLY RESPONSIBLE FOR CHITHI SINGHPORA MASSACRE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2001

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on December 31, the New York Times Magazine 
ran a good article on the massacre of 35 Sikhs that took place in 
Chithi Singhpora in March while President Clinton was visiting India. 
The article makes it clear that ``Everyone knows who did it'' and that 
the responsibility rests squarely on the Indian government. The Times 
writer, Barry Bearak, the newspaper's bureau chief in New Delhi, wrote 
that ``Among the careful preparations for the historic occasion were a 
painstaking cleanup around the Taj Mahal, a reconnoitering for wild 
tigers he might glimpse on a V.I.P. safari and the murder of 35 Sikh 
villagers in a place called Chittisinghpora.''
  I will not place the entire article into the Record, Mr. Speaker, 
because it is very long, but I recommend it to my colleagues. Bearak 
interviewed several people who were witnesses to the massacre or who 
lost family members. It is very clear from his interviews that the 
Indian government is responsible. This confirms the findings of two 
independent investigations, one by the International Human Rights 
Organization, which is based in Ludhiana, and another jointly conducted 
by the Movement Against State Repression and the Punjab Human Rights 
Organization.
  This is typical of the Indian government. The Indian newspaper 
Hitavada reported in November 1994 that the Indian government paid the 
late Governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, $1.5 billion to organize 
terrorist activities in Punjab and Kashmir. The book ``Soft Target'', 
written by two Canadian journalists, proved that the Indian government 
shot down its own airliner in 1985, killing 329 innocent people, to 
create an image of Sikhs as terrorists.
  The article noted that the killers were dressed in the regulation 
uniform of the Indian Army. Some had their faces painted in celebration 
of the Hindu holiday of Holi. They rounded up 37 Sikhs, one of whom 
escaped and one of whom survived. The other 35 were murdered in cold 
blood. They called out the parting phrase ``Jai mata di,'' a Hindu 
phrase in praise of a Hindu goddess.
  Clearly the Indian government was trying to create a bad image of the 
Kashmiri freedom fighters for the President's visit. It looks like 
President Clinton was right when he called the region ``the most 
dangerous place in the world.''
  Bearak came to Chithi Singhpora in the company of a businessman, who 
is an associate of a fellow reporter. ``So you want to know the 
truth?'' the businessman said to Bearak. ``Don't you know the truth can 
get these people killed?'' The Indian government had killed five 
Muslims, claiming they were Pakistanis responsible for the massacre, 
but at least one village resident said that he recognized the remains 
of one of his relatives. One of the men killed was a man of 60. The 
Indian government has subsequently admitted that the so-called 
``militants'' they killed were in fact innocent. Now they have made 
another arrest in the case. This is also equally dubious. The 18-year-
old that they arrested was ``intensively interrogated,'' according to 
the article, which usually means torture.
  At the close of the article, Bearak writes that ``Everyone knows 
about this crime. The Indian Army did it.'' The evidence makes it clear 
that this is true. Why should such a country receive any support from 
the U.S. government? Let us stop our aid to this terrorist regime and 
let us openly support self-determination for Punjab, Khalistan, for 
Kashmir, and for all the nations of South Asia.

                          ____________________