[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E20-E21]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SEMINAR ON KHALISTAN HELD IN PUNJAB--STEP FORWARD FOR SIKH FREEDOM 
                                MOVEMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 21, 2004

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, last month in Punjab, a seminar was held on 
the topic of Khalistan. Given the oppression that Sikhs have faced at 
the hands of the Indian government for attempting to secure their 
independence, this was a very courageous act. All of those who 
organized the event and who participated are to be commended for their 
courage. Freedom is the birthright of every people.
  The seminar was organized by former Member of Parliament Atinder Pal 
Singh. Speakers included Professor Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon, who 
reportedly made an extremely strong argument for the Sikh Nation's 
right to self-determination.
  The Indian government claims that there is no support for Sikh 
independence, Mr. Speaker, but this seminar and other events show 
otherwise. Perhaps this answers the obvious question: If India is a 
democracy and if there is no support for an independent Khalistan, then 
why not simply hold a free and fair plebiscite on the issue, as 
democratic countries do, and settle it once and for all? Wouldn't that 
be the fair and democratic way to take care of this issue?
  America can support this just cause and we have a moral obligation to 
do so. We can stop our aid to India until all people there enjoy full 
freedom and we can officially call on India to hold a free and fair, 
democratic vote to determine the political future of the Sikhs of 
Khalistan and all the other minority nations seeking their freedom, 
such as predominantly Christian Nagaland and predominantly Muslim 
Kashmir.
  The Council of Khalistan issued a press release on the Khalistan 
seminar, which I would like to put in the Record at this time to show 
that the cause of freedom is universal and that it still has strong 
support in Punjab, Khalistan.

                  Seminar on Khalistan Held in Punjab


      Independence Movement Is Alive and Well in Punjab, Khalistan

       Washington, D.C., December 17, 2003--Former Member of 
     Parliament Atinder Pal Singh organized a seminar on Khalistan 
     last month at Baba Makhan Shah Labana Hall, Sector 30, 
     Chandigarh. Speakers included Professor Gurdarshan Singh 
     Dhillon and others. Dr. Dhillon made a very strong argument 
     for the right of the Sikh Nation to rule itself in a 
     sovereign, independent Khalistan. General Narinder Singh was 
     invited, but unable to attend. This seminar shows that the 
     cause of Khalistan is alive and well in Punjab, despite the 
     claims of the Indian government that there is no support for 
     Khalistan and that only outside Sikhs are supporting 
     independence.
       ``The outside Sikhs have an important role to play,'' said 
     Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of 
     Khalistan. ``They have exposed the human rights against the 
     Sikhs to the international community and internationalized 
     the cause of independence for Khalistan,'' he said. ``They 
     have also preserved Sikh history in the Congressional Record 
     from 1984 to date, defeating the Indian government's attempts 
     to alter it. However, it is the Sikhs in Punjab, Khalistan 
     who are keeping the cause alive and liberating Khalistan,'' 
     he said. ``It is very good to

[[Page E21]]

     see this support for the cause of a sovereign, independent 
     Khalistan,'' said Dr. Aulakh. On October 7, 1987, the Sikh 
     Nation declared its independence from India, naming its new 
     country Khalistan.
       ``We salute Sardar Atinder Pal Singh for organizing this 
     important event and we salute all the presenters who 
     presented their papers,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``They put the 
     Indian government on notice that its effort to suppress the 
     Sikh independence movement by force has failed and will 
     continue to fail,'' he said.
       ``The mere fact that this seminar was conducted shows that 
     there is a significant change in the repression in Punjab,'' 
     Dr. Aulakh said. ``It shows that people feel free to exercise 
     their basic right of freedom of speech,'' he said. ``This is 
     a step forward for the liberation of the Sikh Nation. There 
     is a new upsurge of support for the cause of Sikh freedom,'' 
     Dr. Aulakh said. ``The flame of freedom burns brightly in the 
     hearts of the Sikh people, in Punjab, Khalistan and outside 
     as well.''
       ``Every day, Sikhs pray `Raj Kare Ga Khalsa,' which means 
     `The Khalsa shall rule,' said Dr. Aulakh. ``Sikhs must claim 
     their birthright by liberating Khalistan. I hope that this 
     seminar will be the forerunner to a Shantmai Morcha (peaceful 
     agitation) to establish a sovereign, independent Khalistan, 
     thus fulfilling the desires of the Sikh Nation for Raj Kare 
     Ga Khalsa,'' he said. ``Guru Gobind Singh gave sovereignty to 
     the Sikh Nation and we must achieve it.''
       The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 
     1984, more than 300,000 Christians since 1948, over 85,000 
     Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of 
     Tamils, Assamese, Mampuris, Dalits, and others. The Indian 
     Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs 
     ``worse than a genocide.''
       Indian police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh 
     Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of 
     Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, 
     tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared 
     unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police 
     custody. His body was not given to his family. The police 
     never released the body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht 
     Sardar Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna 
     murdered him. Ghotna has never been brought to trial for the 
     Jathedar Kaunke murder. No one has been brought to justice 
     for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra. 
     According to a report by the Movement Against State 
     Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs are being held as political 
     prisoners in India without charge or trial. Some have been in 
     illegal custody since 1984!
       ``As Professor Darshan Singh, a former Jathedar of the Akal 
     Takht, said, `If a Sikh is not for Khalistan, he is not a 
     Sikh','' Dr. Aulakh noted. ``We must continue to press for 
     our God-given birthright of freedom,'' he said. ``Without 
     political power, religions cannot flourish and nations 
     perish.''

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