[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 78 (Thursday, June 13, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           IN MEMORY OF INDIA'S ATTACK ON A RELIGIOUS SHRINE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 12, 2002

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, as you may know, this week marked 
the anniversary of India's June 1984 attack on the Golden Temple in 
Amritsar, the seat of the Sikh religion. This is the equivalent of 
attacking the Vatican of Mecca.
  In the attack, which also included attacks on 38 other Sikh temples 
(known as Gurdwaras), more than 20,000 Sikhs were killed, including 
Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a Sikh political leader. The Indian 
government hoped that by murdering Bhindranwale, it would end the Sikh 
Nation's aspirations for freedom, but as Bhindranwale himself said, the 
attack ``laid the foundation of Khalistan,'' the independent Sikh 
homeland.
  I would like to extend my sympathies to all Sikhs on this occasion 
and I would like to let them know that many of us grieve with them at 
this brutal atrocity committed against them.
  The Council of Khalistan recently led a commemoration of the Golden 
Temple attack. I would like to place the report of that commemoration 
into the Record for the information of my colleagues.

  Sikhs Observe Khalistan Martyrs Day--Sikhs Never Forgive or Forget 
                        Attack on Golden Temple


           Golden Temple Attack Laid Foundation of Khalistan

       Washington, D.C., June 1, 2002.--It is a Sikh tradition and 
     Sikh history that Sikhs never forgive or forget the attack on 
     the Golden Temple, the Sikh Nation's holiest shrine. In that 
     spirit, Sikhs from all over the East Coast gathered in 
     Washington, D.C. today to observe Khalistan Martyrs Day. This 
     is the anniversary of the Indian government's brutal military 
     attack on the Golden Temple and 38 other Sikh temples through 
     Punjab, from June 3-6, 1984. More than 20,000 Sikhs were 
     killed in those attacks, known as Operation Bluestar. These 
     martyrs laid down their lives to lay the foundation for 
     Khalistan. On October 7, 1987, the Sikh Nation declared its 
     homeland, Khalistan, independent.
       ``We thank all the demonstrators who came to this important 
     protest,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the 
     Council of Khalistan. ``These martyrs gave their lives so 
     that the Sikh Nation could live in freedom,'' Dr. Aulakh 
     said. ``We salute them on Khalistan Martyrs' Day,'' he said. 
     ``As Sant Bhindranwale said, the Golden Temple attack laid 
     the foundation of Khalistan.''
       Sikhs ruled Punjab until 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 the Sikhs would have ``the glow of freedom'' in 
     Northwest India and the Sikhs took their share with India on 
     that promise. No Sikh representative has ever signed the 
     Indian constitution.
       Recently, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-
     Me.) said, ``The essence of democracy is the right to self-
     determination.'' The minority nations of South Asia need 
     freedom. ``Without political power nations perish. We must 
     always remember these martyrs for their sacrifice,'' Dr. 
     Aulakh said. ``The best tribute to these martyrs would be the 
     liberation of the Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan, from the 
     occupying forces,'' he said. ``That must be the only 
     objective,'' he said. ``We should use the opportunity 
     presented by the situation in South Asia to liberate our 
     homeland.''
       The Golden Temple attack launched a campaign of genocide 
     against the Sikhs that belies India's claims that it is a 
     democracy. The Golden Temple attack made it clear that there 
     is no place for Sikhs in India. Since 1984, India has engaged 
     in a campaign of ethnic cleansing in which tens of thousands 
     of Sikhs were murdered by the Indian police and security 
     forces and secretly cremated after declaring them 
     ``unidentified.'' The Indian Supreme Court described this 
     campaign as ``worse than a genocide.'' General Narinder Singh 
     has said, ``Punjab is a police state.'' U.S. Congressman Dana 
     Rohrabacher (R-Cal.) has said that for Sikhs, Kashmiri 
     Muslims, and other minorities ``India might as well be Nazi 
     Germany.''
       According to a report last year by the Movement Against 
     State Repression, India admitted that 52,268 Sikh political 
     prisoners are rotting in Indian jails without charge or 
     trial. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984. In 
     February, 42 Members of the U.S. Congress wrote to President 
     Bush to get these Sikh prisoners released. MASR report quotes 
     the Punjab Civil Magistracy as writing ``if we add up the 
     figures of the last few years the number of innocent persons 
     killed would run into lakhs [hundreds of thousands.]''
       Indian security forces have murdered over 250,000 Sikhs 
     since 1984, according to figures compiled by the Punjab State 
     Magistracy and human-rights organizations. These figures were 
     published in The Politics of Genocide by Inderjit Singh 
     Jaijee. India has also killed over 200,000 Christians in 
     Nagaland since 1947, over 80,000 Kashmiris since 1988, and 
     tens of thousands of Tamils, Bodos, Dalits (the aboriginal 
     people of the subcontinent labelled ``Untouchables'') as well 
     as indigenous tribal peoples in Manipur, Assam and elsewhere. 
     In March 2000, while former President Clinton was visiting 
     India, the Indian government murdered 35 Sikhs in the village 
     of Chithisinghpora, Kashmir and tried to blame the massacre 
     on alleged militants. The Indian media reported that the 
     police in Gujarat were ordered by the government to stand by 
     and not to interfere with the massacre of Muslims there.
       ``Guru gave sovereignty to the Sikh Nation,'' Dr. Aulakh 
     said. ``The Golden Temple massacre reminded us that if Sikhs 
     are going to live with honor and dignity, we must have a 
     free, sovereign, independent Khalistan,'' he said.

     

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