[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 145 (Tuesday, November 12, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1992-E1993]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         MURDER OF 5 DALITS SHOWS THERE IS NO FREEDOM IN INDIA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 12, 2002

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, much has happened while we were in recess. In 
Dulena, India, five Dalits, the dark-skinned ``Untouchables,'' the 
lowest caste in India's repressive caste system, were murdered because 
of a rumor that they had killed a cow. Cows are revered in Hinduism.
  According to the Washington Post, family members stated that at least 
one of the Dalits was murdered by the police because the Dalits refused 
to pay them a bribe. The remainder were killed by upper-caste Hindus 
after the police planted a rumor that the Dalits had killed a cow.
  To make this case even more offensive, charges have been filed 
against the five Dalit victims, but no charges have been filed against 
the police who were involved in these murders. In Hindu-dominated 
India, apparently the life of a cow is worth more than those of five 
humans. What kind of country protects cows but engages in the massive 
killing of minorities?
  Dalits are converting in large numbers in order to escape from this 
oppression, prompting the BJP to pass laws in the states it controls 
banning anyone from converting to any religion other than Hindu.
  Unfortunately, this is part of a long pattern of Indian tyranny 
against the Dalits. Tens of thousands of Dalits have been killed by the 
Indian government. In an incident several years ago, a Dalit constable 
went into a Hindu temple on a rainy day and he was stoned to death. A 
little Dalit girl was blinded by her teacher when she drank water from 
the community pitcher. And Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and other 
minorities have suffered from similar persecution. As you know, over 
250,000 Sikhs have been murdered since 1984, over 80,000 Kashmiri 
Muslims have been killed since 1988, and over 200,000 Christians have 
been killed in Nagaland, in addition to tens of thousands of Assamese, 
Bodos, Manipuris, Tamils, and others.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not the conduct of a democratic state. If 
America wants to live by its principles and help spread democracy, it 
must take action against this kind of repression. India has already 
been declared a country that violates religious freedom, which seems to 
be confirmed by these latest incidents. It is time to impose the 
sanctions that this status brings. We should also cut off our aid and 
trade with India until human rights are respected and declare our 
support for self-determination for all the peoples of South, because 
self-determination is the very essence of democracy. These measures 
will help bring real freedom, peace, prosperity, and stability to all 
the peoples and nations of the subcontinent.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to place the Council of Khalista's press 
release on the killing of these five Dalits into the Record at this 
time.

     [lsqb]Council of Khalistan, Press Release, Oct. 29, 2002[rsqb]

               5 Dalits Murdered on Rumor of Cow Killing


Fundamentalist Hindu Fascist Police Kill One Because They Did Not Get a 
Bribe, Then Incite Villagers to Murder Other Four--Life of a Cow Worth 
               More Than 5 Human Lives in Hindu Theocracy

       WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 29, 2002--Five Dalits, the dark-
     skinned ``Untouchables,'' were murdered in Dulena, India, 
     about an hour outside Delhi, on a rumor that they had killed 
     a cow. According to a report in the Washington Post, family 
     members stated that one of the Dalits was murdered by the 
     police because the group refused to pay a bribe, then the 
     upper-caste police planted the rumor that the Dalits had 
     killed a cow to get the upper-caste village residents to kill 
     the other four. Cows are revered in Hinduism. No charges have 
     been filed against

[[Page E1993]]

     the killers, but charges have been filed against the five 
     Dalits.
       Dalits, also called ``Untouchables,'' are the lowest casts 
     in the Hindu social structure. Tens of thousands of Dalits 
     have been murdered by the Indian government. Several years 
     ago, a Dalit constable entered a Hundu temple on a rainy day 
     and was stoned to death by upper-casts Brahmins. A few years 
     ago, a five-year-old Dalit girl was hit by her teacher and 
     blinded for drinking water from the community water pitcher.
       ``This act of Indian tyranny shows that in India, the life 
     a cow is worth more than the lives of five humans,'' said Dr. 
     Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. 
     The Council of Khalistan, the government pro tempore of 
     Khalistan, leads the peaceful, democratic, nonviolent 
     movement to liberate Khalistan from Indian occupation and 
     tyranny. ``This shows that India is not a democracy but a 
     Hindu theocracy in which the lives of lower castes are 
     worthless,'' he said. ``Are these the acts of a democratic 
     country or a fundamentalist Hindu police state?,'' he asked. 
     ``The Sikh Nation sympathizes with the Dalits,'' he said. 
     ``Dalits and other minorities must resist India's racist 
     tyranny.''
       Dalits have not been the only ones oppressed. All 
     minorities have suffered under the boot of Indian repression. 
     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. In February 
     42 Members of Congress wrote to President Bush to get 52,268 
     Sikh political prisoners released from Indian prisons. Since 
     Christman 1998, Chrisitans have felt the brunt of the 
     attacks. 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. 
     Recently, fundamentalist Hindu fascists murdered about 5,000 
     Muslims in Gujarat with the connivance of the police.
       ``This pattern of oppression and tyranny helps to explain 
     the existence of 17 freedom movements within India's 
     artificial borders,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``We support the 
     aspirations of the Dalits and all the minorities of South 
     Asia. We must end India's tyranny and brutal violations of 
     Sikh human rights and those of other minorities,'' he said. 
     ``The time has come to launch a Shantmai Morcha to liberate 
     Khalistan from Indian occupation,''said Dr. Aulakh.
       ``Sikhs are a separate nation and ruled Punjab until 1849. 
     No Sikh representative has signed the Indian constitution,'' 
     Dr. Aulakh said. Sikhism is a sovereign, independent, 
     monotheistic, divenely revealed religion that believes in the 
     equality of the whole human race, including gender equality. 
     Sikhs pray every day for the well being of the whole world. 
     ``The people of South Asia must have self-determination 
     now,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``India is on the verge of 
     disintegration,'' he said. ``The Kashmir issue has been 
     internationalized. America is now involved in South Asia. 
     Self-determination in Kashmir is the only solution,'' he 
     said. ``In a democracy you cannot rule the people against 
     their wishes. Khalistan will be free by 2008.''