[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 18 (Thursday, February 8, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E147-E148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SIKHS, MUSLIMS MURDERED IN KASHMIR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 8, 2001

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I was disturbed when I read that more 
violence is taking place in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Some Sikh 
policemen murdered a Muslim rickshaw driver after he demanded that they 
pay their fare. In retaliation, five Sikhs were killed by a Muslim 
gunman. Then one more was killed while participating in a protest 
march. Now the Indian government has imposed a curfew in Jammu and 
Kashmir.
  Recently, the Indian government has been recruiting members of the 
terrorist, vigilante commandos called the Black Cats into the police. 
This is apparently a reward for doing a good job of killing Sikhs and 
other minorities. The police who carried out the rickshaw murder are 
former Black Cats. It is an open secret that the former Black Cats have 
infiltrated Sikh and Kashmiri organizations for the purpose of setting 
them against each other.
  As in the case of last March's massacre of 35 Sikhs at Chithi 
Singhpora, the relevant question that must be asked is who benefits? 
Mr. Speaker, neither the Sikhs nor the Muslims benefit from these 
killings. The only beneficiary is the theocratic, fundamentalist Hindu 
nationalist government of India and its divide-and-rule strategy. This 
looks like a clear effort to set the Sikhs and the Kashmiri freedom 
fighters against each other to keep both movements weak, divided, and 
unable to liberate their people. Sikhs have not usually been targets of 
the violence in Kashmir. These murders and the tragedy at Chithi 
Singhpora are the only recent incidents involving Sikhs. They are 
outside the usual pattern.
  In addition, some of the participants in the protest threatened to 
harm a mosque. The Sikhs have not harmed any religious places, but the 
Indian government has a pattern of it. They invaded the Sikhs' holiest 
shrine, the Golden Temple, and 38 other Gurdwaras in 1984. The BJP 
destroyed the Babri mosque to put a Hindu temple where it sat. Since 
Christmas 1998, Christian churches and prayer halls have been attacked 
and burned. All of these acts have been carried out by the Indian 
government or by persons associated with the RSS, which is the parent 
organization of the BJP, the party that leads the coalition government. 
BJP officials have said that anyone living in India must either be a 
Hindu or be subservient to Hindus.
  These murders have been condemned by the Kashmiri freedom fighters 
and by the Council of Khalistan, which leads the Sikh freedom movement. 
No organization has come forth to take responsibility for the killings, 
another parallel to the massacre at Chithi Singhpora.
  Mr. Speaker, one doesn't have to look very hard to find the hand of 
the Indian government on these terrible killings. This appears to be 
part of the Indian government's pattern of terrorism and repression 
against Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and other minorities. In that 
light, this Congress should cut off American aid to India until the 
repression ends and human rights are restored and we should support a 
free and fair plebiscite to decide democratically the future of 
Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagalim, and all the countries seeking their 
freedom from India. That is how to let the glow of freedom shine all 
over South Asia.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit an article from Reuters News 
Service on the Kashmir murders into the Record.

             [From the Reuters News Service, Feb. 5, 2001]

            Kashmir Capitals Put Under Curfew After Killings

       Jammu, India, Feb. 4 (Reuters).--Indian authorities imposed 
     curfews on the two capitals of troubled Jammu and Kashmir 
     state on Sunday after gunmen shot dead six Sikhs and wounded 
     five others.
       Srinagar, the state's summer capital, was brought under a 
     curfew from Sunday following the killing of the Sikhs in the 
     city's Mahjoor Nagar area the day before.
       Similar measures were announced in the winter capital 
     Jammu. ``An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Jammu city 
     from Monday in view of the heightening tension following the 
     killing of the Sikhs,'' Deputy Commissioner of Police R.K. 
     Goel said.
       He said the curfew was imposed after Sikh groups had called 
     for a general strike on Monday. A group of Sikhs threw stones 
     at shops and cars and blocked traffic in Jammu on Sunday to 
     protest against the killings.
       A police official said in Srinagar that security had been 
     tightened in Sikh areas of Kashmir, the only Indian state 
     with a Muslim majority.
       Separatist rebellion broke out in the Himalayan region in 
     1990, among Islamic groups seeking either independence or 
     union with neighbouring Pakistan.
       Authorities say more than 30,000 people have died in the 
     conflict since.
       The Sikh minority, who make up 300,000 of the state's eight 
     million people, have usually been spared violence, which pits 
     Islamic rebels against government forces, Hindus and pro-
     Indian Muslims.
       No group claimed responsibility for Saturday's gun attack 
     on the group of Sikhs. Last March, 35 Sikhs were shot dead by 
     unidentified gunmen as U.S. President Bill Clinton visited 
     India.


                 KASHMIRI SEPARATISTS CONDEMN KILLINGS

       Several Kashmiri separatist groups expressed grief over the 
     latest killings and said they were aimed at harming their 
     struggle for freedom from Indian rule.
       ``We appeal to the Kashmiri Sikhs not to leave the 
     (Kashmir) Valley and foil the designs of those who want to 
     malign our freedom struggle,'' Abdul Majid Dar, chief 
     commander of the guerrilla group Hizbul

[[Page E148]]

     Mujahideen, said in a statement. Kashmir's main separatist 
     alliance, All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, 
     condemned the killings, a spokesman of the alliance said.
       The attack on Sikhs came a day after Indian Prime Minister 
     Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf 
     held their first talks in more than a year, prompted by the 
     devastating earthquake in Western India.
       In New Delhi, Bangaru Laxman, president of the ruling 
     Bharatiya Janata Party, said the killings were a desperate 
     attempt by militant groups to sabotage Vajpayee's peace 
     initiative.
       India recently extended a unilateral ceasefire which began 
     last November 28 in Kashmir. Most militant Muslim groups 
     rejected it and vowed to press on with their fight.
       ``The terrorist organisations must understand that the 
     Indian government has the necessary will and the capabilities 
     to completely crush the evil designs of the terrorist,'' 
     Laxman said.
       ``Therefore, the government's peace initiatives need not be 
     misunderstood as government's weakness.''
       Vajpayee is sending a three-member team to Srinagar on 
     Monday to investigate the incident.