[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
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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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