[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E429-E430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SIKH ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN PUNJAB

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 28, 2006

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, Sikh activists Kanwarpal Singh Dhami and Dr. 
Jagjit Singh Chohan were recently arrested by the Indian Government on 
charges of sedition. Their crime was to speak in support of a sovereign 
Khalistan. Dr. Chohan also flies the Khalistani flag from his 
residence. When did free speech become a crime in a democracy?
  The Sikh homeland of Khalistan declared itself independent from India 
on October 7, 1987.
  These arrests are a follow-up to the arrests of groups of Sikh 
activists last year on Republic Day in January and again in June on the 
anniversary of the Golden Temple for making speeches in support of 
freedom for Khalistan and raising the flag of Khalistan. These events 
were led by Dal Khalsa. Recently, Dal Khalsa was put under watch by 
order of the Chief Minister of Punjab after its leader, Satnam Singh, 
and the leader of the Shiromani Khalsa Dal, Daljit Singh Bittu, 
announced that they are joining forces to achieve sovereignty for 
Khalistan.
  Mr. Speaker, these are the kinds of tactics that totalitarian 
governments use, not democratic ones. A real democracy would not arrest 
people for making speeches. This is underlined by the fact that, 
according to the Movement Against State Repression, India admitted to 
holding 52,268 Sikh political prisoners. Tens of thousands of other 
minorities are also held as political prisoners, according to Amnesty 
International. How can such things happen in the world's largest 
democracy?
  The time has come to stand up against India's tyranny. We should end 
our aid to India, especially since India uses 25 percent of its 
development budget for nuclear development, and we should stop our 
trade until all people enjoy basic human rights. And we should declare 
our support for free and fair plebiscites in Kashmir, as India promised 
in 1948, in Punjab, Khalistan, in Nagaland, and wherever people are 
seeking freedom. The essence of democracy is the right of self-
determination and that basic right is being denied to minorities in 
India. The best thing we can do to support stability, freedom, and 
human dignity in the subcontinent is to stop rewarding the tyrants and 
throw our full support behind those seeking freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan has issued a very good release 
on the arrests of Dr. Chohan and Mr. Dhami. I would like to insert it 
in the Record at this time. Thank you.

             Desire for Khalistan Alive and Well in Punjab

       Washington, D.C., Mar. 21, 2006.--Slogans of ``Khalistan 
     Zindabad'' filled the air at the Holla Mohallah festival in 
     Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, led by Dal Khalsa and the Shiromani 
     Khalsa Dal. The two organizations pledged to unite to 
     liberate the Sikh homeland, Khalistan, which declared itself 
     independent from India on October 7, 1987.
       Dal Khalsa, led by Satnam Singh, president of Dal Khalsa, 
     and Daljit Singh Bittu, pledged to ``provide a fresh platform 
     for the Sikhs who were depressed with the incompetent and 
     incapable leadership of various factions of the Akali Dal,'' 
     according to The Telegraph, an Indian newspaper. Satnam Singh 
     said the organizations would reach out to people to involve 
     them in ``the struggle to uphold our honor and dignity,'' the 
     newspaper reported. The Punjab government led by Chief 
     Minister Amarinder Singh has directed the police that both 
     groups be put under watch.
       Dal Khalsa has sponsored numerous marches in Punjab in 
     support of a free Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared 
     its independence from India on October 7, 1987. It was the 
     organizer of the two events at which Sikhs were arrested for 
     making speeches and raising the Khalistani flag.
       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. It is doomed to break up as 
     they did.
       ``The uniting of these two organizations is very good for 
     the Sikh nation and its aspirations,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh 
     Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. ``The Indian 
     government continues to persecute and kill our Sikh 
     brethren,'' he said. ``Unity is essential for the liberation 
     of Khalistan,'' he said. ``As Professor Darshan Singh, a 
     former Jathedar, said, `If a Sikh is not for Khalistan, he is 
     not a Sikh','' Dr. Aulakh noted: ``This shows that the drive 
     for freedom is still alive in Punjab,'' he said. ``What kind 
     of democracy watches people for demanding freedom? Why don't 
     they watch the Black Cats who have killed thousands of Sikhs 
     with the protection of the Indian government?'' he asked.
       The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 
     1984, more than 300,000 Christians since 1948 as well as tens 
     of thousands of Christians throughout the country, over 
     90,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims 
     in Gujarat, tens of thousands of Muslims elsewhere in India, 
     and tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, 
     Tamils, and others. An Indian newspaper reported that the 
     police in Gujarat were ordered to stand aside in that 
     massacre and not to get involved, a frightening parallel to 
     the Delhi massacre of Sikhs in 1984. The Indian Supreme Court 
     called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs ``worse than 
     a genocide.''
       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. The police 
     never released the body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht 
     Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna murdered 
     him. No one has been brought to justice for the Khalra 
     kidnapping and murder or for the murder of Jathedar Kaunke. 
     Yet according to a report by the Movement

[[Page E430]]

     Against State Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs are being held 
     as political prisoners in India without charge or trial, some 
     since 1984!
       Missionary Graham Staines was murdered along with his two 
     sons, ages 8 and 10, by a mob of militant, fundamentalist 
     Hindu nationalists who set fire to the jeep, surrounded it, 
     and chanted ``Victory to Hannuman,'' a Hindu god. None of the 
     people involved has been tried. The persons who have murdered 
     priests, raped nuns, and burned Christian churches have not 
     been charged or tried. The murderers of 2,000 to 5,000 
     Muslims in Gujarat have never been brought to trial.
       ``Only in a free Khalistan will the Sikh Nation prosper and 
     get justice,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``India should act like a 
     democracy and allow a plebiscite on independence for 
     Khalistan and all the nations of South Asia,'' Dr. Aulakh 
     said. ``We must free Khalistan now.''

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