[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 89 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   LEADER OF DELHI MASSACRE OF SIKHS COMING TO U.S. TO MAKE A SPEECH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 2004

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on October 31, 1984, Indian Prime 
Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards 
after she ordered an attack upon the Golden Temple, which is the center 
and seat of the Sikh religion. In the aftermath of the assassination, 
thousands of Sikhs were killed in anti-Sikh riots. The massacre was by 
any definition a brutal atrocity, and one of the most prominent figures 
accused of helping to orchestrate the violence was Jagdish Tytler.
  Now, Mr. Tytler, who led mobs of Hindus in killing Sikhs, some by 
burning them to death, and who saw to it that Sikh police were locked 
in their barracks and therefore unable to respond to the massacre, has 
been invited to speak at the convention of the American Association of 
Physicians of Indian Origin in San Diego, which begins on June 25th. As 
someone who has long championed the cause of freedom, democracy, and 
equal rights for the Sikh community and other oppressed minorities in 
that part of the world, I am deeply concerned about this man coming to 
the United States, and I would urge the American Association of 
Physicians of Indian Origin to reconsider their invitation to Mr. 
Tytler.
  I am also deeply concerned to learn that Mr. Tytler has been given a 
position in the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Prime 
Minister Singh is a Sikh, and the Sikh community naturally had high 
hopes that Manmohan Singh's appointment to India's top job would bridge 
the gap between the Sikh and Hindu peoples. It is difficult to 
understand how this can be accomplished when Prime Minister Singh is 
willing to bring a person like Mr. Tytler into his government, as many 
Sikhs, including my good friend Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of 
the Council of Khalistan, consider Mr. Tytler's presence in the 
government an affront to the Sikh people.
  So long as people like Jagdish Tytler are in the India government, it 
draws into question whether India is truly willing to uphold the 
democratic values that it preaches. In addition Mr. Speaker, it should 
also draw into question the wisdom of the hard-working taxpayers of 
this country supporting a government that rewards the Jagdish Tytler's 
of the world with power and authority.

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