[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 1, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E968-E969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INDIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN PUNJAB, KASHMIR SUCCESSFULLY EXPOSED

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 1, 2004

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on May 12, the Subcommittee on Human Rights 
and Wellness conducted a hearing into human-rights violations in 
Kashmir and in Punjab, Khalistan. It was a very successful hearing. 
Witnesses travelled from Kashmir and from out of state to testify.
  Those testifying included The Honorable Michael Kozak, Principal 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Human Rights and Labor; 
The Honorable Donald Camp, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau 
of South Asian Affairs; Mr. T. Kumar, Advocacy Director--Asia, Amnesty 
International; The Honorable Robert Giuda, Deputy Majority Leader of 
the New Hampshire House of Representatives and Chairman, Americans for 
Resolution of Kashmir; Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Executive Director, 
Kashmiri American Council; Mrs. Attiya Inayatullah, a human-rights 
activist from Kashmir; Selig Harrison, Director of the Asia Program, 
Woodrow Wilson Center for International Policy; and Dr. Gurmit Singh 
Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan.

[[Page E969]]

  Many witnesses talked about the atrocities that have become everyday 
policy in India's minority states, such as Punjab, Khalistan and 
Kashmir. Witnesses testified to such atrocities as extrajudicial 
killings, including fake encounter killings, custodial deaths 
throughout the country, excessive use of force by security forces, 
youth sexually incapacitated through torture, rapes, murders, burning 
villages, and others.
  India claims to be democratic, but it is really a brutal tyranny, as 
these atrocities show. It has placed over 700,000 troops in Kashmir and 
another 500,000 in Punjab, Khalistan to suppress any opposition to its 
brutal rule. The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs 
since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians since 1948, over 87,000 
Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of Tamils, 
Assamese, Bodos, Manipuris, Dalits, and others.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States of America, the beacon of freedom for 
the world, cannot just stand by and let these atrocities occur. We 
should stop aid to India until it respects human rights and we should 
put this Congress on record in support of self-determination for the 
Sikhs, Kashmiris, Nagas, and everyone who is seeking freedom from 
India's brutal rule.
  Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan issued an excellent, detailed, 
and informative press release on the hearing, which I would like to 
insert in the Record now.

      Dr. Aulakh, Others Expose Indian Human Rights Violations at 
                         Congressional Hearing

       Washington, DC, May 12, 2004.--Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, 
     President of the Council of Khalistan, exposed Indian human 
     rights violations against the Sikhs and other minorities at a 
     Congressional hearing today entitled ``Decades of Terror: 
     Exploring Human Rights Abuses in Kashmir and the Disputed 
     Territories.'' He gave a very emotional informative, strong 
     statement. It was a very successful appearance.
       ``Repression is the official policy of supposedly secular 
     and democratic India,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``The reality is 
     that India is a Hindu theocracy, not the democracy it claims 
     to be,'' he said. On October 7, 1987, the Sikh Nation 
     declared its independence from India, naming its new country 
     Khalistan. India's brutal occupation of Khalistan and other 
     minority nations is now internationalized and brought to the 
     attention of the world. On December 5, President Bush told 
     Dr. Aulakh, ``I am aware of the Sikh and Kashmiri problem.'' 
     Dr. Aulakh made it clear to the committee that ``freedom for 
     all the minority nations of South Asia is the only way to end 
     the repression and secure full human rights for everyone in 
     that troubled region.''
       Dr. Aulakh testified that ``An Army commander in Amritsar 
     district threatened that he would murder the Sikh men, bring 
     the women to the Army barracks, and `produce a new generation 
     of Sikhs.' Mr. Chairman, this is disgraceful and extremely 
     insulting to the proud Sikhs. It is unbecoming of an army 
     commander of a nation which claims to be the world's largest 
     democracy.'' He blasted India's policy of Hindutva, the total 
     Hinduization of every aspect of life in India. He noted that 
     Amnesty International has not been allowed into Punjab since 
     1978. ``Even Castro's Cuba has allowed Amnesty International 
     into the country more recently,'' he said.
       Subcommittee Chairman Representative Dan Burton (R-Indiana) 
     opened the hearing with a statement. Congressman Burton said, 
     ``Just as the world is disgusted by the abuse of Iraqi 
     prisoners by United States servicemen and women, we should be 
     disgusted by the tactics that have been systematically 
     employed by Indian military and paramilitary forces.'' He 
     quoted the U.S. State Department report on India: 
     ``Significant human rights abuses included: Extrajudicial 
     killings, including fake encounter killings, custodial deaths 
     throughout the country, and excessive use of force by 
     security forces.'' Chairman Burton noted ``techniques like 
     reprisal killings, burning down of whole villages, and 
     summary executions.'' He said that ``India's insistence on 
     resolving a political problem by force has dragged it down 
     into a campaign of essentially lawless state terrorism.''
       ``We thank Chairman Burton for holding this important 
     hearing,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``It has been helpful in showing 
     the world the truth about India's claim to be a secular 
     democracy. What India really is is one of the world's most 
     brutal tyrannies,'' he said.
       Other speakers included The Honorable Michael Kozak, 
     Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of 
     Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; The Honorable Donald 
     Camp, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of South 
     Asian Affairs; Mr. T. Kumar, Advocacy Director--Asia, Amnesty 
     International; The Honorable Bob Giuda, Chairman of Americans 
     for Resolution of Kashmir and Deputy Majority Leader of the 
     New Hampshire House of Representatives; Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, 
     Executive Director of the Kashmiri American Council; Mrs. 
     Attiya Inayatullah, a human-rights activist and aid worker; 
     and Selig Harrison, Director of the Asia Program, Woodrow 
     Wilson Center for International Policy. Sikhs from Maryland, 
     Virginia, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and 
     Pennsylvania came to the hearing. Representatives of the Sikh 
     Coalition were in attendance. Such Sikh youth leaders as 
     Amardeep Singh Bhalla, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, Mona Kaur 
     Dhillon, and others, as well as Sikh activists Ranjit 
     Singh, Gurbax Singh Dhillon, Karj Singh Sandhu, Kavneet 
     Singh Pannu, and many others attended in an excellent show 
     of Sikh strength.
       The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 
     1984, more than 300,000 Christians since 1948, over 87,000 
     Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of 
     Tamils, Assamese, Bodos, Manipuris, Dalits, and others. The 
     Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders 
     of Sikhs ``worse than a genocide.'' Mrs. Inayatullah 
     testified that in Kashmir, ``Since 1989 and as of January 
     2004 the death toll stands at 87,648. The orphan count is 
     105,210, women ages 7-70 molested is a shameful 9,297 and 
     another 21,286 reported widowed, with there being no record 
     of the number of youth sexually incapacitated through torture 
     and disabled for life.'' She said that ``Buzz words like 
     cross-border terrorism and fundamentalism will not cover 
     India's guilt.'' Rep. Giuda noted that ``Indian law immunizes 
     its army and police from prosecution for actions committed 
     under color of `prevention of terrorism', enabling a hideous 
     government-sanctioned repertoire of torture, rapes, murder, 
     arson, and custodial killing. Pakistan allows U.N. observers 
     and human-rights organizations unfettered access to Free 
     Kashmir, while India denies access to substantial parts of 
     IOK. One must ask, `Why are no observers allowed? What is 
     India hiding?' ''
       Mr. Kumar said that ``torture, including rape, deaths in 
     custody, extrajudicial killings, and `disappearances' have 
     been perpetrated by agents of the state with impunity.'' He 
     said that ``Most families of all backgrounds have experienced 
     some form of loss--of livelihood, of a relative, or of the 
     sense of security of life, liberty, and other fundamental 
     human rights.'' Dr. Fai reported that ``Killings in Kashmir 
     have become so commonplace that they are reported like car 
     accidents in the United States.'' He described rapes, 
     torture, arbitrary arrests, and other activities. He noted 
     that ``freedom to speak, write, or organize around self-
     determination or criticism of the Indian government for 
     millions of Kashmiris is chimerical.'' He noted that the 
     Official Secrets Act gives the government authority to 
     suppress criticism of its policies. He said that ``India has 
     authorized a police state reminiscent of the Gestapo.''
       Mr. Harrison stated that India has built ``an inflated 
     military force that has committed well-documented 
     atrocities.'' Secretary Kozak said, ``Our annual human-rights 
     report documents our concern and gives examples of the abuses 
     that take place all too frequently.''
       Dr. Aulakh testified that 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. Khalra was 
     murdered in police custody. His body was never given to his 
     family. The police never released the body of former Jathedar 
     of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh 
     Ghotna murdered him. Ghotna has not been brought to trial for 
     the murder of Jathedar Kaunke. 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! Amnesty International recently 
     reported at least 100 current torture cases in Punjab. A Sikh 
     leader named Gurnihal Singh Pirzada was arrested on charges 
     that he attended a meeting with ``dissidents.'' Although he 
     denies attending the meeting, he said that it would not be 
     illegal if he did.
       Dr. Aulakh noted that 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 for the convenience of the British 
     colonialists. It is doomed to break up as they did. India is 
     ruled by Hindu theocrats whose agenda is ``Hindu, Hindi, 
     Hindutva, Hindu Rashtra,'' or total Hindu domination of every 
     facet of Indian life. An Indian Cabinet minister said that 
     everyone who lives in India must be a Hindu or subservient to 
     Hindus.
       ``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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