[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 1, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E679-E680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRATULATIONS TO SIKH NATION ON VAISAKHI DAY
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HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 1, 2001
Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, April 13 was the anniversary of the founding
of the Sikh Nation by Guru Gobind Singh, called Vaisakhi Day. It is the
most important of Sikh holidays. I would like to take this opportunity
to congratulate the Sikhs on Vaisakhi Day.
Sikhs have made many contributions to American life in fields ranging
from agriculture to law to medicine. One Sikh, Dalip Singh Saund, even
served in the House of Representatives, representing a California
district in the late 50s to the early 1960s.
Sikhs are suffering from significant persecution in India. Since
1984, according to The Politics of Genocide by Inderjit Singh Jaijee,
over 250,000 Sikhs have been killed by the Indian government. A new
report from the Movement Against State Repression--an organization that
should not be necessary in a democracy--confirms that tens of thousands
of Sikh political prisoners are being held in illegal detention in
India without charge or trial, some for as long as 17 years! This
confirms what Amnesty International had previously reported. 19 of us
from both parties sent a letter to the President last month urging him
to get involved in freeing these political prisoners.
This is part of a pattern of repression against religious minorities
that engulfs India. In India, there has been an ongoing campaign of
terror against the Christian community since Christmas 1998, which many
of us have discussed in the Record. It has included killing priests,
burning churches, raping nuns, and burning a missionary and his two
young sons to death in their jeep while they slept. Muslims have also
been subjected to fierce religious oppression. It is time for India to
live up to the standards of a democratic state.
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The fact that Vaisakhi Day this year coincided with the Jewish
celebration of Passover, which celebrates the escape from slavery, and
the Christian celebration of Good Friday and Easter, celebrating the
triumph of life over death, should underline the importance of freedom,
life, and basic human rights for all people.
American is the hope of the world. It is the land of freedom. We must
take a stand for freedom. It is time to stop American aid and trade
with India until it respects basic human rights. Also, it is time to
declare our support for self-determination for the people of Khalistan,
Kashmir, Nagalim, and all the other nations seeking their freedom. This
would be a great way to celebrate Vaisakhi and Easter, by doing our
part to bring freedom to all the people and nations of the
subcontinent.
I am including the Council of Khalistan's press release on Vaisakhi
Day in the Record for the information of my colleagues.
A Time for Freedom
Washington, D.C., April 9, 2001--Citing the words of Guru
Gobind Singh, who said ``Recognize ye all the human race as
one,'' Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of
Khalistan, extends Happy Vaisakhi Day wishes to the Sikh
Nation, Happy Easter wishes to the Christian community, and
Happy Passover wishes to the Jewish community. ``It is
interesting that these celebrations and the birthday of
Thomas Jefferson, author of the American Declaration of
Independence, all come together at this time,'' Dr. Aulakh
said. The Council of Khalistan is the organization leading
the Sikh Nation's struggle for freedom for its homeland,
Khalistan.
Vaisakhi Day, which marks the formation of the Khalsa Panth
by guru Gobind Singh in 1699, falls on April 13, which is
also Mr. Jeferson's birthday. This year, April 13 is also
Good Friday in the Christian calendar. April 15 is Easter.
The Jewish holiday of Passover started this past weekend and
runs for eight days, concluding this coming weekend.
Passover celebrates the Jewish people's escape from slavery
in Egypt. Good Friday is the observance of Jesus's death on
the cross, followed on Sunday by the Resurrection. It
celebrates not only the resurrection of Jesus, but also the
triumph of life over death and the resurrection of spirit in
every person.
``The coming-together of these important occasions is a
time to celebrate freedom,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``As the Jewish
community celebrates the escape of their ancestors from
slavery in Egypt, let us rededicate our efforts to the cause
of freedom for the Sikh Nation,'' he said. ``As Thomas
Jefferson wrote, when a government becomes destructive of the
inalienable rights of any people, `it is the right of the
people to alter or abolish it.' Guru instructed the Sikh
Nation to oppose tyranny wherever it is found. Let us step up
the struggle against the tyranny that engulfs our own
people,'' he said. ``As Christians celebrate the triumph of
life, let us devote ourselves to protecting the life of our
Sikh brothers and sisters and the Sikh Nation by liberating
our homeland, Khalistan, from Indian occupation.''
Dr. Aulakh called on the Sikhs in Punjab, Khalistan to
observe Vaisakhi as a day of prayer and introspection, not
working or doing business with the Indian government, but
taking a day to go to the Gurdwara and celebrate the lives of
the Gurus and remember their words. He also urged them to
pray for freedom for the Sikh Nation and also for every other
people in the world.
``India is not a democracy for Sikhs, Muslims, Christians,
and other minorities,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``Congressman
Rohrabacher was right when he said that for minorities `India
might as well be Nazi Germany.' '' Police witnesses have
confirmed that the police tortured and murdered the former
Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Gurdev Singh Kaunke, and human-
rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Sikhs ruled Punjab up to 1849 when the British conquered
the subcontinent. Sikhs were equal partners during the
transfer of power from the British. The Muslim leader Jinnah
got Pakistan for his people, the Hindu leaders got India, but
the Sikh leadership was fooled by the Hindu leadership
promising that Sikh would have ``the glow of freedom'' in
Northwest India and the Sikhs took their share with India.
Sikhism was not even recognized in the Indian constitution as
a separate religion, while Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.,
were recognized. Discrimination against the Sikh Nation took
place in every sphere. After the Golden Temple attack, the
Sikh Nation stepped up its struggle to achieve its God-given
right to the free. Tens of thousands of Sikh political
prisoners are rotting in Indian jails without charge or
trial. On October 7, 1987, the Sikh Nation declared the
independence of its homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. No Sikh
representative has ever signed the Indian constitution. The
Sikh Nation demands freedom for Khalistan.
The government of India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs
since 1984, more than 200,000 Christians since 1947, over
70,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands
of Tamils, Assamese, Manipurls, Daltis (the aboriginal people
of the subcontinent), and others. The Indian Supreme Court
called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs ``worse than
a genocide.'' Government-allied Hindu militants have murdered
priests, and raped nuns. Hindu radicals, members of the
Bajrang Dal, burned missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his
two sons, ages 10 and 8, to death while they surrounded the
victims and chanted ``Victory to Hannuman,'' a Hindu god.
``Democracies don't commit genocide,'' Dr. Aulakh said.
``India should stop the repression and allow a plebiscite on
the future status of Kashmir, Nagaland, and Khalistan,'' he
said. ``Only freedom will bring peace and justice in South
Asia.''
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