[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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