[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

                                 ______
                                 

                          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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