[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

                                 ______
                                 

                          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.

[[Page E680]]

  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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