[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1877-E1878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         MAIL CENSORSHIP IN INDIA BELIES ITS DEMOCRATIC CLAIMS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 16, 2002

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I was disturbed to find out that 
mail sent by the Council of Khalistan has not been reaching India for 
the past two months. The ``world's largest democracy'' is once again 
violating democratic principles by practicing mail censorship. It is 
violating the fundamental freedom of the people within its borders by 
prohibiting them from receiving information relating to the violations 
of the human rights of Sikhs and the peaceful, democratic, nonviolent 
effort to liberate Khalistan from Indian control.
  This is in clear contravention of democratic principles, but that is 
not surprising from India. It has never been a democracy for the 
minorities within its borders, but only for the Brahmin fanatics. 
General Narinder Singh, a respected Sikh leader in Punjab, has said 
that ``Punjab is a police state.''
  A few years ago, the late journalist Sukhbir Singh Osan was subjected 
to censorship of his mail and harassment, including telephone calls 
from unidentified persons saying things like ``It is dangerous to write 
against the government.'' All this happened because Mr. Osan ran the 
outstanding news website Burning Punjab, which featured news about 
government corruption, until he died earlier this year.
  These actions prove that India is not a democracy. It is a theocratic 
Hindu fundamentalist tyranny, and a supporter of terrorism in Sindh and 
elsewhere, as well as internal terrorism. Accordingly, it should not be 
a country that receives U.S. aid, yet it is one of the largest 
recipients despite its anti-Americanism.
  We should stop our aid to India until it allows basic human rights 
such as receiving mail without content control and we should support 
basic human rights like self-determination. Self-determination is the 
very foundation of democracy. We should put this Congress on record in 
support of self-determination for the people of Khalistan, Kashmir, 
Nagalim, and the other states seeking their freedom. This is the way to 
real freedom, peace, stability, and prosperity in South Asia.
  Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan has issued an excellent press 
release on this issue, which I would like to place in the Record at 
this time.

            Mail Censorship in ``World's Largest Democracy''


     Mail From Council of Khalistan Is Not Being Allowed to Get to 
                          Addressees in India

       Washington, D.C., October 8, 2002--Mail censorship is again 
     being practiced in India, which bills itself as ``the world's 
     largest democracy.'' Mail from the Council of Khalistan to 
     addresses in India has not been received in India for the 
     last two months. The Council of Khalistan is the government 
     pro tempore of Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared its 
     independence on October 7, 1987. It has worked for 15 years 
     to liberate Khalistan by peaceful, democratic, nonviolent 
     means and has specifically rejected militancy. Dr. Gurmit 
     Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, has 
     talked to many people in Punjab who have not received any 
     mail from the Council of Khalistan during the last two 
     months. The Council has mailed two mailings to India in that 
     time.
       ``This undemocratic action shows the true nature of 
     India,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``Although it claims to be 
     democratic, India has engaged in this kind of censorship 
     before. It controls information and uses its control to whip 
     up hatred and violence against Sikhs and other minorities,'' 
     he said. ``Is this what a democracy does, or is it what a 
     tyranny does?,'' he said. ``Why is a `democracy'threatened by 
     facts? Is this freedom of speech? These mailings included 
     statements from the Congressional Record, press releases from 
     the Council of Khalistan, and clippings from U.S. and 
     international newspapers,'' he said.
       A few years ago, similar mail censorship was imposed on the 
     late Sukhbir Singh Osan, the journalist who founded the 
     website Burning Punjab, which reported on Indian government 
     corruption, tyranny, and human-rights violations against the 
     Sikh Nation. Osan, who died of a heart attack early this 
     year, also received a telephone call telling him that ``it is 
     dangerous to write against the government.''
       The Indian government controls both major Indian news 
     services, Press Trust of India (PTI) and United News of India 
     (UNI). India has used its control of media to generate 
     violence against minorities. During the 1984 Delhi massacres 
     of Sikhs, Indian media called for the shedding of more Sikh 
     blood.

[[Page E1878]]

       In February 42 Members of Congress wrote to President Bush 
     to get 52,268 political prisoners released from Indian 
     prisons. The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 
     Sikhs since 1984. Over 80,000 Kashmiri Muslims have been 
     killed since 1988. More than 200,000 Christians have been 
     killed since 1947, along with tens of thousands of Dalits, 
     Tamils, Assamese, Bodos, Manipuris, and other minorities.
       Since Christmas 1998, Christians have been subjected to a 
     wave of oppression. According to the Indian Express of 
     October 7, Hindu militants have forcibly reconverted 
     Christians in Ajmer. Priests have been murdered, nuns have 
     been raped, churches have been burned, Christian schools and 
     prayer halls have been destroyed, and no one has been 
     punished for these acts. Militant Hindu fundamentalists 
     allied with the RSS, the pro-Fascist parent organization of 
     the ruling BJP, burned missionary Graham Staines and his two 
     young sons to death.
       ``Sikhs are a separate nation. We ruled Punjab until 1849. 
     No Sikh representative has ever signed the Indian 
     constitution,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Nations that do not have 
     political power perish,'' he said. ``Remember the words of 
     former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Professor Darshan Singh: 
     `If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.'Support for 
     Khalistan is picking up internationally. Last month, members 
     of the British Parliament from both political parties 
     supported the Sikh demand for an independent Khalistan. Many 
     U.S. Congressmen are on record in support of an independent 
     Khalistan.''
       ``The censorship of the Council of Khalistan's mail shows 
     that India is a fundamentalist majority Hindu theocracy and 
     is a tyranny, not a democracy. It does not respect human 
     rights for Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, or anyone but Brahmin 
     extremists,'' Said Dr. Aulakh. ``For the well being of the 
     Sikh Nation, to prevent abuses like this from occurring in 
     the future, we must free Khalistan,'' he said. ``I call on 
     the Sikh leadership in Punjab to launch a Shantmai Morcha to 
     liberate Khalistan from Indian occupation,'' said Dr. Aulakh. 
     ``I call on the Sikh leadership in Punjab to begin a Shantmai 
     Morcha immediately. The people of South Asia must have self-
     determination now.''

     

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