[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 25, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ATTACK IN KASHMIR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise on the House floor this evening to 
express my deep sorrow for the victims of a brutal attack in Kashmir 
that began on late Sunday night in Nandimarg village, which was 
inhabited by 11 remaining Kashmiri Pandit families. After the massacre 
by gunmen dressed in Indian Army uniforms, 24 Kashmiri Pandits, 
including 11 women and two children, were left dead.
  Mr. Speaker, the conflict in Kashmir has plagued this region for over 
3 decades and has created an extremely dangerous and unstable situation 
for the Pandit community. There was a long history of attacks against 
Pandits in the 1990s, which started the mass migration of this 
indigenous people from the valley. As the severity of violence has 
increased and as the frequency of attacks has risen to a near daily 
basis, the mass exodus of the Pandits has perpetuated and, over time, 
well over 60,000 Pandits have been murdered. The Pandits as a people 
have faced tremendous hardship. They have been forced to leave their 
homes, jobs and temples in order to stay alive. They have been forced 
to abandon cultural practices in order to live in refugee camps. The 
exodus from the valley has left the Pandits as refugees in their own 
country, running away from persecution and extinction.
  Mr. Speaker, for the Pandits who have remained in the Kashmir Valley 
or who planned to return, assurances were made in November by the new 
Kashmiri state coalition government to protect Pandits from violence. 
In fact, when the new government took power in Kashmir, its leaders 
pledged to provide welcoming conditions and the resources necessary for 
Pandits to safely return.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this has not been the case and both the 
state and federal authorities have failed to protect the Pandits. It 
has become clear that security lapses contributed to yesterday's 
Nandimarg massacre and both the state government in Jammu and Kashmir 
as well as the Indian Government in New Delhi must step up and meet the 
needs of both the nearly 8,000 Pandits living in the Kashmir Valley and 
the 200,000 that live outside of Kashmir. The Pandits in the valley 
cannot continue to endure the unceasing threat of violence, and the 
Pandits elsewhere in India must be convinced that their return to the 
valley will be safe.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that a combination of events will take place that 
will effectuate necessary protections for these people. I encourage the 
coalition government in Kashmir to do justice to the Pandits. 
Additionally, I urge President Bush to put more pressure on President 
Musharraf of Pakistan to stop Islamic militant infiltration into 
Kashmir and to end Pakistan's moral and military support to these 
fundamentalists responsible for the mass murder of the Pandits. 
Pakistan received $50 million in military assistance from the U.S. 
earlier this month, is slated to receive $25 million in the 
supplemental appropriations bill scheduled to come to the House floor, 
and in the President's fiscal year 2004 budget there is a provision 
that requests $75 million to Pakistan in foreign military financing. My 
fear is that U.S. military assistance to Pakistan will then be turned 
around and used against India, particularly in Kashmir.
  Mr. Speaker, the President must continue to persuade Pakistan to end 
terrorism in Kashmir and the U.S. should not be providing military 
assistance to the Musharraf regime. Mr. Speaker, there are no words to 
express the devastation of the Nandimarg massacre and the sad history 
of the Kashmiri Pandits. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Pandits, I call 
upon the coalition government in the state of Jammu and Kashmir to 
actively engage in steps to protect Pandits that are still in the 
valley and to ensure the safe return of all Pandits that have been 
forced to leave for over a decade.

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