[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 40 (Friday, March 26, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      400TH ANNIVERSARY OF GURU GRANTH SAHIB, SIKH HOLY SCRIPTURES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 2004

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on August 14, there will be a parade in 
Washington, DC to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the compilation of 
the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikh religion. It was 
the revelation of the Sikh Gurus and it is the basis for the Sikh 
religion and way of life.
  In June 1984, during India's military assault on the Sikhs at their 
most sacred shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and 125 other 
Gurdwaras throughout Punjab, an original of the Guru Granth Sahib was 
riddled with bullet holes by Indian forces. This was a gratuitous 
insult to the Sikh people and a coordinated denigration of their 
religion. It made it clear to them that there is no place for them in 
supposedly democratic, supposedly secular India.
  This will be a major celebration for the Sikh people, over half a 
million of whom live here in America. They are productive, committed 
citizens who contribute to every walk of American life and who share a 
commitment to bring the freedom they enjoy to their brothers and 
sisters back home in Punjab, Khalistan.
  There was even a Sikh who served in Congress, Dalip Singh Saund.
  In addition to the August 14 parade, there will also be a seminar 
here in Washington on June 5 to commemorate this momentous occasion.
  Mr. Speaker, we are a diverse country. Our strength has always been 
the ability to preserve our individuality and diversity while creating 
a unified society. In that spirit, I would like to take this 
opportunity to honor the Sikhs of America and worldwide on the 400th 
anniversary of the Guru Granth Sahib.
  Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan published an excellent press 
release about the events that are coming up to celebrate this event, 
which I would like to place in the Record at this time.

   400th Anniversary of Guru Granth Sahib--Remember Bullets Pierced 
                   Through Guru Granth Sahib in 1984


 Reserve Saturday, August 14, 2004 for a Memorable Celebration, Parade 
                          in Washington, D.C.

       Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004.--On August 14, Sikh from 
     around the East Coast will observe the 400th anniversary of 
     the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy 
     scriptures. There will be a parade in Washington, D.C. to 
     mark the occasion. The Guru Granth Sahib was dictated by the 
     Sikh Gurus as revealed to them by God. It was written at the 
     time in which they lived. It also includes the writing of 
     other saints of that time which fit the philosophy of the 
     Sikh Gurus.
       In addition, there will be a seminar on Saturday, June 5 to 
     celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Guru Granth Sahib 
     sponsored by the International Conference on Sikh Studies 
     along with Sikh Gurdwara and institutions of North America. 
     Sikhs remember that bullets pierced through the Guru Granth 
     Sahib during Operation Bluestar, the Indian government's 
     military attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, in 1984.
       ``This parade and this anniversary will be a joyous 
     occasion for the Sikh Nation as we celebrate the Sikh way of 
     life as given to us by the Gurus,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh 
     Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. Sikhism is an 
     independent, monotheistic religion that believes in the 
     equality of the whole human race. The tenth and last Sikh 
     Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, declared the blessing ``In Grieb 
     Sikhin Ko Deon Patshahi,'' conferring sovereignty on the Sikh 
     Nation, which is culturally, linguistically, and religiously 
     distinct from any other people in the world, including Hindu 
     India. ``We must honor the Guru by reclaiming our lost 
     sovereignty,'' Dr. Aulakh said
       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 Swayamsewak 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.
       India is not one country; it is a polyglot 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. ``The Guru Granth 
     Sahtb is the reigning Guru of the Sikh Nation and reminds us 
     of our heritage and we must offer a fitting celebration,'' he 
     said.




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