[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E457-E458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HAPPY VAISAKHI DAY TO THE SIKH NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2002

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on April 13, the Sikhs will be celebrating 
Vaisakhi Day, their most important holiday. I want to salute the Sikh 
Nation for its contributions to America and wish all the Sikh people a 
happy Vaisakhi Day.
  Vaisakhi Day is the day when the Sikhs were formed by their guru into 
the Khalsa Panth. It is the anniversary of the founding of their order, 
and the Sikh Nation has been a very important contributor to every 
country in which Sikhs live. A Sikh named Dalip Singh Saund served in 
Congress in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Dr. Amarjit Singh Bhullar 
of Connecticut is an elected school board member. Sikhs have been very 
active and successful in this country in virtually every walk of life. 
They have also made important contributions to India, including giving 
about 80 percent of the sacrifices for India's independence. Yet India 
persecutes them. Over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered by the Indian 
government since 1984, according to the book The Politics of Genocide. 
At least 50,000 were picked up, tortured, murdered, and then declared 
``unidentified'' and their bodies were cremated. The Movement Against 
State Repression reports that India admitted to holding 52,268 Sikh 
political prisoners. Tens of thousands of Christians, Muslims, and 
other minorities are also being held. Our own State Department reported 
in 1994 that the Indian government paid more than 41,000 cash bounties 
to police officers for killing Sikhs. These are just a few examples of 
the oppression of the Sikhs by the Indian government. I could give a 
very long list, but I do not wish to take up too much of the House's 
time.
  April 13 also happens to be the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, who 
wrote the Declaration of Independence. In that document he wrote that 
when a government becomes tyrannical, ``it is the right of the people 
to alter or abolish it and institute new government, laying its 
foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as 
to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.'' 
That certainly applies to the Sikh Nation today, as well as Kashmir, 
primarily Christian Nagaland, and the other nations living under Indian 
occupation. It is time for them to claim their own.
  America should support these nations' right to self-determination by 
stopping aid to India and by supporting a free and fair vote on 
independence. Then the people of South Asia can finally live in freedom 
and enjoy stability, prosperity, and peace. That is something we should 
all work for.
  Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, put 
out an excellent and informative statement for Vaisakhi Day. It really 
lays out the issues well. With the consent of the House, I would like 
to insert it into the Record at this time.

            [From the Council of Khalistan, March 25, 2002]

                  Vaisakhi Message to the Sikh Nation

                      (By Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh)

       This is a time of celebration of our 303rd anniversary of 
     the Khalsa Panth. It is also time to look back at our 
     history. The Guru gave sovereignty to the Khalsa Panth. (``In 
     grieb Sikhin ko deon Patshahi.'') Banda Singh Bahadur 
     established the first Khalsa rule in Punjab from 1710 to 
     1716. Then there was a period of persecution of the Sikhs. 
     Again Sikhs established a sovereign, independent rule from 
     1765 to 1849, when the British annexed the Sikh homeland, 
     Punjab, into British India.
       To regain freedom from the British, Sikhs were on the front 
     line of the fight. The Sikh Nation gave about 80 percent of 
     the sacrifices during this freedom struggle when they formed 
     only 1.5 percent of the Indian population. At the time of the 
     independence of India, Sikhs were equal signatories to the 
     transfer of power from the British. Muslim leader Mohammed 
     Ali Jinnah was very wise and well educated and he did not 
     trust the majority Hindu leadership. He got an independent 
     Pakistan for the Muslims. The Sikh leadership should have 
     gotten an independent country for the Sikhs at that time, but 
     they were fooled by the Hindu leadership of Nehru and Gandhi 
     so Sikhs took their share and joined India on the promise 
     that they would have the glow of freedom in the northwest 
     part of India.
       Khalsa Ji, we have seen this ``glow of freedom'' in the 
     form of the attack on the Golden Temple in June 1984, when 
     over 20,000 Sikhs were killed in Punjab in a single month. 
     The next massacre of Sikhs occurred after the assassination 
     of Indira Gandhi in Delhi. There was a mass murder of Sikhs 
     throughout India, including Delhi. The Sikhs were pulled out 
     of trains and burned alive. Sikh truck drivers were pulled 
     out of their trucks. Tires were put around their necks by 
     Hindu militants and they were burned to death. In Punjab, 
     this genocide continued under Beant Singh's government. Sikhs 
     were arrested, tortured, and then cremated and their bodies 
     were declared ``unidentified.''
       Since 1984, over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered. 52,268 
     are rotting in Indian jails under TADA, which expired in 
     1995. Many of them have been in illegal custody since 
     Operation Bluestar in 1984. Only last month, 42 Members of 
     the U.S. Congress wrote to President Bush to get these 
     political prisoners released. Jaswant Singh Khalra, who 
     exposed the government killing of Sikhs in fake encounters, 
     became a victim of the Indian police himself. He was 
     kidnapped outside his house and murdered in police custody. 
     He documented 6,018 Sikhs who were secretly cremated by the 
     government in three cremation grounds, Patti, Tam Taran, and 
     Durgiana Mandir. Subsequently, Punjab Human Rights 
     Organization (PHRO) chairman Justice Ajit Singh Bains said 
     that about 50,000 Sikhs were secretly cremated in this 
     manner. Even Akal Takht Jathedar Sahib Gurdev Singh Kaunke 
     was murdered by SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna and then his body was 
     disposed of.
       The Badal government was forced to conduct an inquiry into 
     the killing of Jathedar Kaunke. It was done by three Punjab 
     police officials under the leadership of DIG Tiwari. He 
     submitted a report to the Badal government, which has not 
     been made public as of today. How could a democratically 
     elected Akali government hide the murder of the Akal Takht 
     Jathedar by not releasing this report, which was conducted by 
     its own order?
       The Badal government was the most corrupt one in Punjab's 
     history. They invented a new term for bribery: ``fee for 
     service.'' If you didn't pay the fee, you didn't get the 
     service. There was a fixed amount of money for government 
     jobs. Bags of money were received by Mrs. Badal in return for 
     these jobs. The Punjab economy deteriorated under Badal and 
     the Punjab government its largest debt ever. It is bankrupt 
     now. Badal made three promises to get elected. He promised to 
     free the political prisoners, to punish the police officers 
     who carried out atrocities against the Sikh Nation, and to 
     appoint a commission to investigate atrocities. He did not 
     keep any of them.
       The Sikh leadership is completely under Indian government 
     control, whether it is the Akali leadership of Badal, Tohra, 
     Mann, and others or the Congress leadership of Punjab under 
     Captain Amarinder Singh or former Chief Minister Mrs. 
     Bhatthal. Changing parties and faces every election will not 
     solve the problems of the Sikh Nation. Congress is no better 
     than the Akalis and the Akalis proved to be the worst enemies 
     of the Sikh Nation. How could an Akali government keep 52,268 
     Sikhs in jail without charge or trial for the last 16 years? 
     It is shameful and a black mark on the present Akali 
     leadership. They have cashed in on the sacrifices and good 
     will of the pre-independence Akali leadership.
       Khalsa Ji, the only solution to this quagmire is the 
     formation of a Khalsa Raj Party under new, honest, dedicated, 
     and committed leadership. The time is now to do it. Let's not 
     waste time and prolong the suffering and agony of the Sikh 
     Nation under the present corrupt Akali leadership which is 
     controlled by the Indian government and is determined to wipe 
     out the Sikh Nation and the Sikh religion. The only remedy is 
     to sever our relationship with Delhi completely, once and for 
     all, and declare the independence from India and start a 
     peaceful agitation to free the Sikh homeland, Punjab, 
     Khalistan.
       The victory of the Congress Party was a massive rejection 
     of the Akalis, who were elected five years ago to reject the 
     Congress Party. However, the Congress Party remains the enemy 
     of the Sikh Nation. In the last two elections, the Sikh 
     Nation has soundly rejected both parties. Neither supports 
     the interests of the Sikh Nation; neither can be trusted by 
     the Sikh Nation. The time has come to discard the present 
     Akali leadership that has betrayed the Sikh Nation.
       We must press for action against the police officials who 
     carried out the police kidnapping and murder of human-rights 
     activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. These would be good first 
     steps for the Sikh leadership and for the new government in 
     Punjab. But we must continue to pursue our ultimate goal of 
     freeing the Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan.
       The Sikh Nation is sovereign and it must have its 
     sovereign, independent country.

[[Page E458]]

     Guru gave sovereignty to the Khalsa Panth. Remember ``Raj 
     Kare Ga Khalsa.'' Sikhs can never forgive or forget the 
     desecration of the Golden Temple. This is the history and 
     tradition of the Sikh Nation. The time has come to form a 
     Khalsa Raj Party to liberate Khalistan. The new Sikh 
     leadership must launch a Shantmai Morcha to liberate our 
     homeland. The only way the Sikh Nation can prosper is to free 
     the Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. The freedom of the Sikh 
     Nation will bring prosperity, stability, and peace to Punjab 
     and to South Asia.

     

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