[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.'' ____________________