[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1385-E1386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      INDIA: NOT ACTING DEMOCRATIC

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 25, 2002

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, apparently the efforts of some of us in this 
House to set the record straight about India's repression of its 
minorities in making an impression. Recently, Indian Ambassador Lalit 
Mansingh felt compelled to lash out at me and a couple of my colleagues 
for our statements in this House about the violations of human rights 
in India. I am tempted to say that I am honored that Mr. Mansingh 
noticed, but his response is full of misleading and hurtful statements. 
Everything that we have stated about India is based on the documented 
record, as Mr. Mansingh well knows.
  Let me review the recent information about Indian activities. 
Recently, India has been cited as a violator of religious freedom by 
the U.S. Government. While no action has followed this designation so 
far, it clearly exposes the true nature of Indian democracy.
  How can India be called democratic when last year a Cabinet member 
said that everyone who lives in India must either be a Hindu or be 
subservient to Hindus? The pro-Fascist RSS, the parent organization of 
the ruling BJP, published a booklet on how to implicate religious 
minorities in fake criminal cases. Prime Minister Vajpayee implicitly 
endorsed these extremist views when he told a audience in New York, ``I 
will always be a Swayamsewak.''
  The recent massacres in Gujarat are another example of how India 
treats its minorities. Recently, the New York Times reported that the 
police stood aside while Hindu militants murdered Muslims, which, as I 
pointed out previously, is similar to the modus operandi they used in 
the 1984 massacre of Sikhs. The Hindu newspaper quotes a Gujarati 
police officer as saying that the police were ordered not to intervene 
to stop the violence, which is also reminiscent of the Delhi massacres. 
According to Human Rights Watch, the entire incident was pre-planned 
with government involvement. Does Ambassador Mansingh dispute the 
credibility of these sources?
  Mr. Mansingh attacks my colleague, the gentlewoman from Georgia, for 
saying that in India a Hindu life is worth twice as much as a Muslim 
life. Yet News India-Times, a New

[[Page E1386]]

York-based Indian-American newspaper, reported that the government is 
paying 200,000 rupees to the families of Hindu victims of the Gujarat 
violence and just 100,000 rupees--half as much--to the families of 
Muslim victims.
  In addition, Mr. Mansingh flatly rejected holding the referendum on 
the independence of Kashmir that India promised the United Nations it 
would hold in 1948 and also rejected a free and fair plebiscite on 
independence in Punjab, Khalistan. He simply ignored the other 
countries like predominantly Christian Nagaland which also seek their 
independence. If India is the democracy it claims to be, then why are 
there 17 freedom movements within its borders? If there is no support 
for independence in Punjab, Khalistan, as India claims, then why not 
just hold a free and fair vote and prove it? If that claim is true, 
then it should be massively rejected, shouldn't it? What is India 
afraid of?
  Instead, India has killed over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according to 
The Politics of Genocide by Inderjit Singh Jaijee, who gathered these 
figures from figures put out by the Punjab State Magistracy, which 
represents the judiciary of Punjab. It has also killed over 75,000 
Kashmiri Muslims, more than 200,000 Christians in Nagaland and tens of 
thousands of other minorities. According to the Movement Against State 
Repression, 52,268 Sikh political prisoners are still being detained in 
Indian jails.
  Mr. Speaker, America is founded on the idea of freedom. We believe in 
freedom for ourselves and all the people of the world. We should work 
to bring real freedom to all the peoples and nations of South Asia. To 
do so, we should stop American aid to India until is respects basic 
human rights and we should continue to call for a free and fair vote on 
independence for the people of Kashmir, of Punjab, Khalistan, of 
Nagaland, and all the other peoples seeking their freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, Gurmit Singh Aulakh, the President of the Council of 
Khalistan, wrote an excellent letter to the Washington Times refuting 
the false statements of Mr. Mansingh. I would like to place it in the 
Record at this time to help set the Record straight about what is 
really going on in India.

               [From the Washington Times, May 19, 2002]

                   India Doesn't Act Like a Democracy

       In his May 14 Embassy Row column, James Morrison reports 
     that Indian Ambassador Lalit Mansingh is accusing Reps. Dan 
     Burton, Edolphus Towns and Cynthia A. McKinney of spreading 
     ``false, hurtful'' information about India. This is 
     ludicrous. Mr. Morrison has been sent the proof of the 
     statements that Mr. Mansingh questions, yet he made no 
     apparent effort to get the other side. He should stop 
     repeating Mr. Mansingh's disinformation.
       We understand that tyrants are hurt when their crimes are 
     exposed. Yet they do not show any concern for the rights of 
     minorities. Last year, a member of the Indian Cabinet said 
     everyone who lives in India must either be Hindu or be 
     subservient to Hindus. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), 
     which was formed in 1925 in support of the fascist and is the 
     parent organization of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, 
     published a booklet on how to implicate Christians and other 
     minorities in fake criminal cases. Yet Prime Minister Atal 
     Bihari Vajpayee told an audience in New York City, ``I will 
     always be a Swayamsevak.'' This belies Mr. Mansingh's claim 
     that ``[a[all citizens of India . . . enjoy equal rights and 
     equal protection of law.''
       Mr. Mansingh might want to explain that to the 250,000 
     Sikhs who have been murdered by his government. This figure 
     is documented. It was published in ``The Politics of 
     Genocide'' by Inderjit Singh Jaijee and derived from figures 
     first used by the Punjab State Magistracy, which represents 
     the judiciary of Punjab.
       Further, a study by the Movement Against State Repression 
     showed that the Indian government admitted to holding 52,268 
     Sikh political prisoners under the very repressive so-called 
     Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), which expired 
     in 1995. Amnesty International reported that tens of 
     thousands of other minorities also are being held as 
     political prisoners. Mr. Mansingh undoubtedly is aware of 
     these facts.
       Mr. Mansingh is not telling the truth about the massacres 
     in Gujarat. A recent report from Human Rights Watch showed 
     that the massacres were planned in advance. The New York 
     Times reported that the police stood aside while militant 
     Hindu nationalists attacked and murdered Muslims in Gujarat, 
     an act reminiscent of the Delhi massacres of Sikhs in 1984, 
     in which Sikh police were confined to their barracks while 
     the state-run radio and television called for more Sikh 
     blood. According to published reports in India, a police 
     officer in Gujarat said the police were ordered to stand 
     aside.
       Mr. Mansingh disputes Miss McKinney's statement that in 
     India, a Hindu life is worth twice as much as a Muslim life. 
     He claims Hindu and Muslim families who were victimized by 
     the Gujarat massacre are receiving equal compensation. Yet 
     according to News India-Times, the Indian government is 
     paying out 200,000 rupees each to the families of Hindus who 
     were killed but just 100,000 rupees to the family of each 
     Muslim killed. Mr. Mansingh knows this, yet he uses his two 
     high-powered lobbying firms to spin dis-information at 
     gullible reporters such as Mr. Morrison.
       Despite India's claim to be democratic, Mr. Mansingh 
     rejected the referendum on the status of Kashmir that India 
     promised in 1948, which still has not been held. Despite 
     India's boast that it is democratic and its claim that there 
     is no support for independence in Punjab, Khalistan, he also 
     rejects a free and fair vote on the issue there. He does not 
     even mention the 15 other nations, such as Christian Naga-
     land, which are seeking their freedom from India. How can a 
     democratic country reject settling issues by a free and fair 
     vote?
       Also, Mr. Mansingh does not even address the fact that the 
     U.S. State Department recently put India on its watch list of 
     countries that violate religious freedom.
       India is not a democracy; it is a Hindu fundamentalist 
     theocracy. The United States should work for the release of 
     all political prisoners and halt its aid to this repressive, 
     tyrannical state until all people enjoy their God-given human 
     rights. We also should support freedom for all the nations of 
     South Asia through a free and fair vote. That is the only way 
     to bring democracy, peace, freedom and stability to the 
     region.

                                          Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

                                             President, Council of
                                            Khalistan, Washington.

     

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