[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 17, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SIKHS WILL CELEBRATE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR HOLY SCRIPTURE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 17, 2004

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, the Sikhs will celebrate the 400th 
anniversary of the compilation of their holy scripture, the Guru Granth 
Sahib, this year. As you may know, there are over 500,000 Sikhs in the 
United States and about 25 million worldwide.
  Observances will include a seminar on June 5 at George Washington 
University and a parade on August 14 here in Washington.
  In June 1984, the Indian government launched a military attack on the 
Golden Temple in Amritsar, the center and seat of the Sikh religion, 
and 125 other Sikh Gurdwaras throughout Punjab in which over 20,000 
Sikhs were murdered. Indian forces shot bullets through the Guru Granth 
Sahib, which was a major desecration and an insult to the Sikh people 
and the Sikh religion. They took over 100 young Sikh boys outside and 
shot them at point blank range.
  Mr. Speaker, the Golden Temple attack made it clear to the Sikhs that 
there is no place for them in India's Hindu nationalist theocracy. It 
is against this background that they declared their independence on 
October 7, 1987, calling their country Khalistan.
  The Golden Temple attack is unacceptable to all civilized people. We 
must work to ensure that human rights are respected in India and that 
nothing like the Golden Temple attack, the Gujarat massacre, or the 
campaign of violence against Christians occurs there again. We can help 
bring that about by stopping our aid to India until it learns to 
observe basic human rights.
  We can also help by putting this Congress on record in support of a 
free and fair plebiscite in Punjab, Khalistan, in Kashmir, as India 
promised the United Nations in 1948, in primarily Christian Nagaland, 
and wherever the people are seeking independence. This is the 
democratic way to settle the issue and India claims to be a democracy, 
so why are they afraid of holding a free and fair vote?
  Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan has published a press release 
on the 400th anniversary of the Guni Granth Sahib and the 20th 
anniversary of the Golden Temple attack. It is very informative, so I 
would like to insert it into the Record at this time.

  400th Anniversary of Guru Granth Sahib; 20th Anniversary of Golden 
                             Temple Attack

       Washington, D.C., March 10, 2004.--On June 5, Sikhs from 
     around the East Coast will observe the 400th anniversary of 
     the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy 
     scriptures. During India's June 1984 attack on the Golden 
     Temple in Amritsar, the center and seat of the Sikh religion, 
     the Guru Granth Sahib was pierced by Indian Army bullets. The 
     Sikh Nation will never forget the desecration of the Guru 
     Granth Sahib. Political power is essential for the survival 
     of the Sikh Nation.
       The Council of Khalistan, the organization leading the Sikh 
     struggle for independence, will hold a demonstration 
     Saturday, June 5, from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. in front of 
     the Indian Embassy at 21st and Massachusetts Ave. NW in 
     Washington, D.C. It will commemorate the twentieth 
     anniversary of the attack on the Golden Temple and 125 other 
     Sikh Gurdwaras in Punjab, in which over 20,000 Sikhs were 
     killed, including such major Sikh leaders as Sant Jarnail 
     Singh Bhindranwale, General Shabeg Singh, Bhai Amrik Singh, 
     and others who had taken refuge in the Darbar Sahib complex. 
     The Indian army killed over 100 young religious students, 
     ages 8 to 13. They were taken out into the courtyard and 
     asked whether they supported Khalistan. When they answered 
     ``Bole So Nihal,'' they were shot.
       ``This attack, along with simultaneous attacks on 125 other 
     Gurdwaras throughout Punjab, was the clearest sign that there 
     is no place for Sikhs in India,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh 
     Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. ``It is a 
     brutal, tyrannical, fundamentalist Hindu nationalist 
     theocracy,'' he said. ``Sant Bhindranwale said that if the 
     Indian government invaded the Golden Temple, they would lay 
     the foundation of Khalistan,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``He was 
     right. The movement for Khalistan is strong in Punjab. Just 
     last year, seminars were held on the subject. The fire of 
     freedom burns bright in the hearts of Sikhs.''
       ``The brutal attack on the Golden Temple and the 20-year 
     wave of repression it set off must never be forgotten,'' Dr. 
     Aulakh said. ``Both the Congress Party and the Akalis are 
     complicit in this criminal act against the Sikh Nation,'' he 
     noted. . . . ``India needs to be reminded that 20 years 
     later, Sikhs have not forgiven nor forgotten this brutal 
     atrocity. The younger generation must be reminded of this 
     terrible atrocity.''
       In addition to the protest, there will be a seminar on 
     Saturday, June 5 at George Washington University to celebrate 
     the 400th anniversary of the compilation of the Guru Granth 
     Sahib. It will be sponsored by the International Conference 
     on Sikh Studies along with Sikh Gurdwaras and institutions of 
     North America.
       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, Manipuris, Dalits, and others. The Indian 
     Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs 
     ``worse than a genocide.'' According to a study by the 
     Movement Against State Repression, 52,268 Sikhs are being 
     held in illegal detention as political prisoners without 
     charge or trial. Some of them have been held since 1984!
       Christian missionary Joseph Cooper was expelled from India 
     after a mob of militant Hindu nationalists allied with the 
     Rashtriya Swayamsewarak Sangh (RSS), a pro-Fascist 
     organization that is the parent organization of the ruling 
     BJP, beat him so severely he had to spend a week in the 
     hospital. In 2002, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims were murdered in 
     Gujarat while police were ordered to stand aside, reminiscent 
     of the 1984 Delhi massacres of Sikhs. Indian newspapers 
     reported that the government planned the Gujarat massacre in 
     advance.
       History shows that multinational states such as India are 
     doomed to failure. Countries like Austria-Hungary, India's 
     longtime friend the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, 
     and others prove this point. India is not one country; it is 
     a polyglot like those countries, thrown together by the 
     British for their administrative convenience. Sikhs ruled 
     Punjab until 1849 when the British conquered the 
     subcontinent. Sikhs were equal partners during the transfer 
     of power from the British. The Muslim leader Jinnah got 
     Pakistan, the Hindu leaders got India, but the Sikh 
     leadership was fooled by the Hindu leadership promising that 
     Sikhs would have ``the glow of freedom'' in Northwest India. 
     The Sikhs took their share with India on that promise. For 
     that mistake, Sikhs are suffering now. ``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.
       ``Democracies don't commit genocide,'' Dr. Aulakh said. 
     ``Only in a free and sovereign Khalistan will the Sikh Nation 
     prosper. In a democracy, the right to self-determination is 
     the sine qua non and India should allow a plebiscite for the 
     freedom of the Sikh Nation,'' he said. ``India should also 
     allow self-determination in Christian Nagaland, Kashmir, 
     Assam, and the other nations fighting for freedom. This is 
     the only way to bring lasting peace to South Asia.''

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