[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 122 (Friday, October 1, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    THE TIME HAS COME FOR INDIA TO LIVE UP TO DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 30, 2004

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, recently, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan 
Singh spoke to the General Assembly of the United Nations. He was met 
with protests from Sikhs, Muslims, and other protestors.
  Although Dr. Singh is a fine economist, his speech masked the reality 
of life in India. He spoke out against terrorism but he failed to note 
that India has inflicted a reign of terror on its people while 
sponsoring terrorism in the Pakistani province of Sindh, according to 
the January 2, 2002 issue of the Washington Times. He spoke of 
cooperation against poverty, ignoring the fact that 40 percent of the 
people in his country live on less than $2 per day and farmers in 
Punjab are forced to accept prices for their crops that provide them 
with a less than subsistence wage, forcing them to go deeply in debt to 
stay alive. He spoke of eliminating weapons of mass destruction but 
India started the nuclear competition in South Asia. He spoke of 
democracy while basic human rights are being violated. Over 52,000 
Sikhs and tens of thousands of other minorities languish in Indian 
prisons as political prisoners. India has killed over 250,000 Sikhs, 
over 89,000 Kashmiris, over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, and tens of 
thousands of other minorities. Yet India continues to proclaim its 
democratic principles.
  The irony is that India seeks a permanent seat on the United Nations 
Security Council. How can it be on the Security Council when it cannot 
live up to the most basic principles of freedom?
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for the United States to take action. We must 
cut off our aid to India until it lets all people within its artificial 
borders be free. We must go on record in support of self-determination 
for the people of Kashmir, as India promised in 1948, and for all the 
other peoples seeking freedom, such as the Sikhs of Khalistan and the 
Christians of Nagaland, among others.
  Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan issued an excellent and 
informative press release on the protests against Dr. Singh. I am 
inserting it into the Record now for the information of my colleagues.

           [From the Council of Khalistan, September 29, 2004

 India Must Live by Principles of Democracy--Seeks UN Security Council 
               Seat But Violates Principles It Proclaims

       As Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to the United 
     Nations General Assembly, Sikhs, Kashmiri Muslims, and other 
     oppressed minorities of South Asia gathered at the United 
     Nations Building in New York to protest his appearance. They 
     demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners, 
     the firing of Cabinet ministers who were involved in genocide 
     against Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and other minorities, and 
     sovereignty for the peoples and nations of South Asia.
       ``If India seeks to be a permanent member of the Security 
     Council, it must learn to practice the principles of 
     democracy,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the 
     Council of Khalistan, which leads the Sikh struggle for 
     freedom. ``In 1948, India demanded a free and fair plebiscite 
     in Kashmir. That plebiscite has never been held,'' he said. 
     ``Similarly, India must grant self-determination to 
     Khalistan, Nagaland, and the other countries seeking their 
     independence,'' he said.
       While Prime Minister Singh spoke of ``a world in which a 
     free people could together pursue a destiny of shared 
     prosperity,'' the farmers of Punjab are forced to accept less 
     than subsistence prices for their crops. Half the population 
     of India lives below the international poverty line. Dr. 
     Singh spoke of a global coalition against terrorism, but his 
     government gives only lip service to the War on Terror. India 
     sponsors cross-border terrorism in Sindh, according to the 
     Washington Times of January 2, 2002. Although he spoke 
     against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, it 
     was India that began the nuclear competition in South Asia. 
     Dr. Singh spoke of ``democracy as an instrument for achieving 
     both peace and prosperity,'' yet India denies the most basic 
     of democratic freedoms to the Sikhs and other minorities 
     living within its borders.
       India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according 
     to figures compiled by the Punjab State Magistracy and human-
     rights groups and reported in the book The Politics of 
     Genocide by Inderjeet Singh Jaijee. It has also killed more 
     than 89,000 Kashmiri Muslims since 1988, over 300,000 
     Christians in Nagaland since 1947, and thousands of 
     Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the country, as well as 
     tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits 
     (``Untouchables,'' the dark-skinned aboriginal people of 
     South Asia), Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. The 
     Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders 
     of Sikhs ``worse than a genocide.''
       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 reported 
     that tens of thousands of other minorities are also being 
     held as political prisoners. We demand the immediate release 
     of all these political prisoners.
       Recently, another church was burned in India. This is part 
     of a pattern of violence against Christians that has been 
     going on since Christmas 1998 with the approval of the Indian 
     government. Nuns have been raped, priests have been murdered, 
     prayer halls and schools have been vandalized. A Christian 
     religious festival was broken up by police gunfire.
       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. He was murdered in police 
     custody. His body was not given to his family.
       ``Although Sikhs gave 80 percent of the sacrifices for 
     India's independence, India has massacred Sikhs since 
     achieving independence,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, 
     President of the Council of Khalistan. On October 7, 1987, 
     the Sikh Nation declared its independence from India, naming 
     its new country Khalistan.
       ``Only a sovereign, independent Khalistan will end the 
     repression and lift the standard of living for the people of 
     Punjab,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Democracies don't commit 
     genocide.''
       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. Recently, the Punjab Legislative 
     Assembly passed a bill annulling all water agreements with 
     the Indian government, preventing the government's daylight 
     robbery of Punjab river water. Punjab needs its river water 
     for its crops. In the bill, the Assembly explicitly stated 
     the sovereignty of Punjab.
       ``As Professor Darshan Singh, a former Jathedar of the Akal 
     Takht, said, `if a Sikh is not a Khalistani, 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. India claims to be a democracy. It is time it 
     recognized the right of self-determination for all people in 
     South Asia.''

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