[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 131 (Monday, October 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2091-E2092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN CONVENTION VERY SUCCESSFUL
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HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Monday, October 17, 2005
Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan, which leads the
movement to liberate the Sikh homeland, Khalistan, from Indian
occupation, held its annual convention in the Detroit area October 7
through October 9. It was very successful. Delegates came from around
the country and from Canada to participate.
I recently made a statement about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
apology to the Sikh Nation for the Delhi massacres of November 1984 in
which over 20,000 Sikhs lost their lives. This established India's
culpability for the violence and terror that swept Punjab and other
parts of India at that time. That underlines the need for a sovereign
Khalistan to put an end to these kinds of acts. Recently, an
organization called ENSAAF published a report detailing the ongoing
human rights violations committed by Indian security forces in recent-
militancy related arrests. From June 2005 to August 2005, Indian police
claim to have arrested several dozen individuals on charges that they
were trying to ``revive militancy'' in Punjab. They have been held
incommunicado and tortured, according to the report.
In June, 35 Sikhs were arrested and several were charged simply for
making speeches in
[[Page E2092]]
support of an independent Khalistan and raising the Sikh flag. Those
arrested and charged include Simranjit Singh Mann, a former Member of
Parliament, who is out on bail after making a speech in support of
Khalistan. Is making a speech a crime in a democracy? Is raising a flag
a crime in a democracy? How can India claim it is democratic when
people are arrested for making speeches and raising a flag?
These recent incidents are the latest in a pattern of repression by
the Indian government that demonstrates why a free and sovereign
Khalistan is needed. The Council of Khalistan convention helped
maintain and increase support for that goal.
We can help the people in Punjab and throughout South Asia live in
freedom, Mr. Speaker. We can do so by withholding aid and trade from
India until it respects human rights and by putting the Congress on
record in support of self-determination for the Sikhs of Punjab,
Khalistan, the Muslims of Kashmir, predominantly Christian Nagaland,
and all the nations seeking freedom from India. It's time to stop using
violence and settle these matters democratically.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to place the Council of Khalistan's press
release on its convention into the Record at this time.
[From the Council of Khalistan, Oct. 12, 2005]
Council of Khalistan Annual Convention Very Successful
Washington, DC--Delegates came from Canada, New Jersey,
Philadelphia, Memphis, Florida, Illinois, California,
Washington, DC, and other locations to the Council of
Khalistan's annual convention, which was held October 7-9,
2005 at the Sikh Gurdwara in Rochester Hills, Michigan. The
convention was very well attended and successful. The
delegates were enthusiastic in support of freedom for
Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared its independence
from India on October 7, 1987.
Resolutions were passed in support of a sovereign,
independent Khalistan, in support of the Washington office,
thanking the Sangat of Detroit, condolences for the victims
of the earthquake in Kashmir, and other resolutions.
Delegates spoke in support of independence for Khalistan and
discussed the need to remain active on the grassroots level.
They stressed the need for the active participation of Sikhs
in this country and worldwide.
The Council of Khalistan has preserved the true history of
the Sikh Nation since 1984 by documenting every major
incident in the Congressional Record, internationalizing the
Sikh struggle for independence, and exposing the Indian
government's repression against the Sikhs and other
minorities.
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 90.000 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.
Cases were registered against dozens of Sikhs for raising
the Sikh flag at the Golden Temple on the anniversary of the
Golden Temple attack in the presence of over 30,000 Sikhs.
Warrants have been issued for their arrest. The flag of
Khalistan was also raised on Republic Day, January 26. 35
Sikhs were arrested at that time. Some of them have been
denied bail.
Recently, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh formally
apologized to the Sikh Nation for the genocide against the
Sikhs in November 1984 in which over 20,000 Sikhs were killed
in Deihl alone while Sikh police were locked in their
barracks and Indian radio and television called for more Sikh
blood. This apology establishes the Indian government's
responsibility for the genocide against the Sikh Nation.
India must end its occupation of Khalistan, which is the root
cause of this genocide. Sikhs are a sovereign nation and they
are fighting for their freedom.
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.
``Only a sovereign, independent Khalistan will end the
repression and lift the standard of living for the people of
Punjab,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the
Council of Khalistan. ``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. Steve Forbes, writing in
Forbes magazine, said that India is doomed to disintegrate
like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ``India is not a
homogeneous state,'' Forbes wrote. ``Neither was the Austro-
Hungarian Empire. It attacked Serbia in the summer of 1914 in
the hopes of destroying this irritating state after Serbia
had committed a spectacular terrorist act against the
Hapsburg monarchy. The empire ended up splintering, and the
Hapsburgs lost their throne.'' India is doomed to fall apart
just as Austria-Hungary and the others did.
``We must continue to pray for and work for our God-given
birthright of freedom,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``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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