[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 24, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E198-E199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INDIA DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT: ELECTIONS COMING; MINORITY NATIONS SHOULD
VOTE FOR FREEDOM
______
HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I noticed the other day that India is
dissolving its Parliament on February 6. They will be having new
elections soon, perhaps as soon as March.
These elections, unlike ours, change faces, but don't seem to change
policy. The repression of minorities continues no matter who wins. This
repression has killed over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, over 300,000
Christians in Nagaland since 1947, over 85,000 Kashmiri Muslims since
1988, and tens of thousands of other minorities. More than 52,000
Sikhs, as well as tens of thousands of other minorities, continue to be
held as political prisoners. Yet India cites elections like the ones
upcoming to show that it is a democracy.
That isn't very democratic for the minorities, is it, Mr. Speaker? As
I have said before, the mere fact that they have the right to choose
their oppressors doesn't mean they live in a democracy.
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, has
issued an open letter to the Sikhs in Punjab on the elections urging
the Sikhs in Punjab to reject all major parties and vote for candidates
inclined to support the freedom of Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that
declared its independence on October 7, 1987. That is the only way the
Sikhs can survive. The Akali Dal is corrupt, he points out, and the
Congress Party organized the June 1984 attack on the Golden Temple, the
seat of Sikhism.
[[Page E199]]
We can support this cause by stopping U.S. aid to India until human
rights are fully observed for all people there and by declaring our
support for a free and fair vote on the subject of independence for
Khalistan, for Kashmir, for Nagalim, and for all the minority nations
of South Asia.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to put the Council of Khalistan's open
letter on the upcoming elections into the Record at this time.
Council of Khalistan,
Washington, DC, February 4, 2004.
Open Letter to the Khalsa Panth
Parliament Dissolved; Elections Coming Sikhs Must Stop Supporting
Corrupt Badal, Who Diminished Image of Sikh Nation Only in a Free
Khalistan Can Sikhs Prosper Akali Leadership Controlled by Indian
Government
Dear Khalsa Panth: WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHEGURU JI KI
FATEH!
The Indian government has dissolved Parliament. New
elections are coming, perhaps as soon as March. Elections
under the Indian Constitution will not free the Sikh Nation.
Use this opportunity, however, to elect committed, honest
Sikhs who are committed to freeing Khalistan to Parliament.
Do not support Badal or the Akalis. They are corrupt and have
betrayed the Khalsa Panth. Not even a single Akali protested
the unprecedented corruption of Badal. They have disgraced
the name of the old Akalis who sacrificed their lives for the
well being of the Sikh Nation.
The Guru gave sovereignty to the Sikh Nation. (``In Grieb
Sikhin Ko Deon Patshahi.'') The Sikh Nation must achieve it.
We always remember it by reciting every morning and evening,
``Raj Kare Ga Khalsa.'' Now is the time to act on it. Do we
mean what we say every morning and evening?
The fire of freedom still burns strong and bright in the
heart of the Sikh Nation. Last year Sikhs openly held
seminars in Punjab on the subject of Khalistan. This is a
very good sign and we salute the people who participated in
these seminars. They are keeping the flame of freedom lit.
Now I urge Sikhs to unite and take action to liberate our
homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. It is time to start a Shantmai
Morcha to liberate Khalistan from Indian occupation.
Never forget that the Akal Takht Sahib and Darbar Sahib are
under the control of the Indian government, the same Indian
government that has murdered over a quarter of a million
Sikhs in the past twenty years. The Jathedar of the Akal
Takht and the head granthi of Darbar Sahib toe the line that
the Indian government tells them. They are not appointed by
the Khalsa Panth. The SGPC, which appoints them, does not
represent the Sikh Nation anymore. They have become the
puppets of the Indian government and have lost credibility
with the Sikh Nation. Otherwise they would behave like a real
Jathedar, Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke, rather than like
Indian government puppet Jathedar Aroor Singh, who gave a
Siropa to General Dyer for the massacre at Jalianawa Bagh.
These institutions will remain under the control of the
Indian regime until we free the Sikh homeland, Punjab,
Khalistan, from Indian occupation and oppression and sever
our relations with the New Delhi government.
Yet the Akali Dal continues to support Badal, even though
he was prosecuted and jailed for his corruption. According to
India-West, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau carried out raids on
Badal's properties for several months and filed a charge-
sheet in a local court charging Mr. Badal with siphoning off
Rs. 784 million, the equivalent of $17 million in U.S. money,
during his five years as chief minister. The article says
that Mr. Badal and his family hold assets of Rs. 43.26
billion (nearly $1 billion), most of which are located
outside India. Half the population of India lives below the
international poverty line. About 40 percent live on less
than $2 per day.
The Badal government was the most corrupt one in Punjab's
history. They sold jobs for a fixed fee. They came up with a
new, dignified term for bribery: ``fee for service.'' If you
didn't pay the fee, you didn't get the service. The Chief
Minister's wife was so experienced that she could pick up a
bag of money and tell how much money was in it. Parkash Singh
Badal was a disaster for Punjab and a disgrace to the Sikh
Nation. How can the Akali Dal, which is supposed to
represent the interests of the Sikh Nation, continue to
support him?
Badal's corruption brought Punjab to bankruptcy. He was
bankrupt morally and religiously as well as bankrupting
Punjab financially. It is time for new leadership that shows
the moral fabric a Sikh is supposed to have. Badal has
destroyed the moral fabric of the Sikh religion. What
happened to the concept of fairness and honesty?
The Akalis who protest Badal's prosecution are morally
degenerate. They are destroying the moral fabric of Sikhism
as a religion and a society. They should be ashamed of
themselves. In addition to stealing from the people of
Punjab, Mr. Badal worked against the cause of Sikh freedom.
Badal was under the complete control of his masters in New
Delhi, the militant, fundamentalist Hindu nationalist BJP. He
has a long record of betraying the Sikh Nation.
The Akali Dal conspired with the Indian government in 1984
to invade the Golden Temple to murder Sant Bhindranwale and
20,000 other Sikh during June 1984 in Punjab. If Sikhs will
not even protect the sanctity of the Golden Temple, how can
the Sikh Nation survive as a nation?
The Akali Dal has lost all its credibility. The Badal
government was so corrupt openly and no Akali leader would
come forward and tell Badal and his wife to stop this
unparalleled corruption. That is why the Akali Dal was
defeated in the elections by the Congress Party. The Sikh
Nation never can forgive or forget the attack on the Golden
Temple. The Congress Party is the enemy of the Sikh Nation.
Badal was so corrupt that the Sikhs had to vote for their
enemy, the Congress Party, rather than Badal and his henchmen
because there was no other party to vote for.
Because Sikhs are slaves in India, there is nobody to
defend the Sikh interests internationally. Recently, an issue
came up of the French banning the wearing of turbans in
school. If Khalistan were free, the Sikh Nation could call
the French Ambassador and tell him to stop this harassment of
Sikhs. Our Ambassador to France would tell the French
government the same thing: the turban is part of the Sikh
religion and Sikhs should not be harassed.
Remember the words of Professor Darshan Singh, former Akal
Takht Jathedar: ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a
Sikh.'' Sikhs should vote only for candidates who are
prepared to do so. Otherwise, you are just voting to condemn
your children and grandchildren to continued slavery under
brutal Brahmin theocratic rule.
The time to achieve our independence is now. India is not
one country. It has 18 official languages. Soon Kashmir will
be free from Indian occupation. Now America is involved in
it. As L.K. Advani predicted, ``When Kashmir goes, India
goes.'' We agree with him.
When I met President Bush on December 5, he personally told
me, ``I am aware of the Sikh and Kashmiri problem and we
stopped India and Pakistan from going to nuclear war.'' The
Sikh diaspora has a moral responsibility to help the Sikh
Nation to achieve its sovereignty by freeing Khalistan from
Indian occupation.
The time has come to liberate our homeland. It is the only
way that we can prevent further degenerations of the Sikh
Nation like the Badal regime. Sikhs must claim their
birthright by liberating Khalistan. Only by freeing Khalistan
will we put an end to this corruption and restore control of
Punjab and its assets to the people, to whom it rightfully
belongs. A free Khalistan is a must for the survival of the
Sikh nation and will provide an optimal environment for the
Sikh Nation to progress to its optimum potential politically,
religiously, and economically.
Panth Da Sewadar,
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,
President, Council of Khalistan.
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