[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 26, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E622-E623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SIKHS CELEBRATE VAISAKHI, REVELATION OF SIKH NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 26, 2006

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Sikhs on 
celebrating their important holiday, Vaisakhi Day, around the world. 
There were marches in Washington, Vancouver, London, and many other 
cities around the world. There will be a parade April 29 in New York, 
the annual Sikh Day event.
  Vaisakhi Day marks the revelation of the Sikh Nation as a distinct 
entity by guru Gobind Singh in 1699. At that time, he proclaimed the 
Sihks sovereign. Today, Sikhs struggle to reclaim this lost birthright 
as Indian troops occupy their country, Khalistan. As you know, Mr. 
Speaker, the Sikhs declared themselves independent in 1987, but Indian 
troops to the tune of half a million continue to occupy Khalistan.
  Recently, several Sikh activists have been anested for simply making 
speeches, raising flags, or holding peaceful marches in support of 
Khalistan. Is this democracy, Mr. Speaker? Is this how a free country 
conducts itself?
  Mr. Speaker, without the most basic freedoms, such as freedom of 
speech and self determination, how can the Sikhs hope to survive as a 
people? In India, it is now iilegal in many parts of the country to 
join another religion besides Hinduism. The intent to establish a Hindu 
state is clear.
  We can help put an end to these practices as we congratulate the 
Sikhs on Vaisakhi Day. We must cut off our aid and our trade with 
India. Although there is a burgeoning middle class, half the country 
lives under the international poverty line. Losing our dollars would 
have a significant effect on India. And we must stand up for the 
principles on which America was founded.
  About the same time in the calendar as Vaisakhi Day is the birthday 
of Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that government is legitimately founded 
on ``the consent of the governed'' and that ``whenever any form of 
government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the 
people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government, 
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in 
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and 
happiness.''
  Clearly, that time has come for too many of the minorities of South 
Asia--the Sikhs of Khalistan, the Muslims in Kashmir, the predominantly 
Christian Naga community, and so many others. Let us help them to 
achieve the basic right of self-determination by putting our Congress 
on record in support of a free and fair plebiscite in these places on 
the question of independence. By doing so, we will be helping to 
achieve freedom, stability, peace, dignity, and prosperity for al1 the 
peoples and nations of South Asia.
  Mr. Speaker, I request the permission of the House to add the Council 
of Khalistan's press release and open letter on Vaisakhi to the Record 
at this time.

                   Sikhs Will Celebrate Vaisakhi Day

                                April 14

       Happy Vaisakhi Day to you and your family and the Khalsa 
     Panth. On April 14, the Sikh Nation will be observing the 
     307th anniversary of the day Guru Gobind Singh established 
     the Khalsa Panth. The Guru granted sovereignty to the Sikh 
     Nation, saying ``In Grieb Sikhin Ko Deon Patshahi.'' We must 
     remind ourselves of our heritage by raising slogans of 
     ``Khalistan Zindabad'' and beginning a Shantmai Morcha to 
     liberate our homeland, Khalistan. Whoever is honest and 
     dedicated in leading that Shantmai Morcha deserves our 
     support. Every morning and evening we recite, ``Raj Kare Ga 
     Khalsa.'' Now is the time to act on it. Do we mean what we 
     say every morning and evening?
       The flame of freedom continues to burn brightly in the 
     heart of the Sikh Nation. No force can suppress it. Within 
     the past few days, Dal Khalsa and the Shiromani Khalsa Dal 
     announced that they are uniting for sovereignty for 
     Khalistan. This was met with chants of ``Khalistan 
     Zindabad.'' Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, whose own 
     Legislative Assembly proclaimed the sovereignty of Punjab 
     when he cancelled the water agreements, has ordered the 
     leaders of Dal Khalsa and the Shiromani Khalsa Dal placed 
     under police watch for their speeches. Kanwarpal Singh Dhami 
     of the Guru Asra Trust, and Dr. Jagjit Singh Chohan were 
     arrested this month for making speeches in support of 
     Khalistan. Dr. Chohan said, ``Khalistan will be free.'' In 
     January of last year and again in June of last year Sikh 
     activists, mostly from Dal Khalsa, were arrested merely for 
     raising the Khalistani flag and making pro-Khalistan 
     speeches. During his recent visit to India, President George 
     W. Bush walked over to Sukhbir Singh Badal and said, ``Give 
     my best wishes and regards to your people from the people of 
     America.'' Even the President of the United States is aware 
     of our situation. ``I wish you could visit Punjab,'' said 
     Sukhbir Singh. When Khalistan is free, that will happen. 
     President Bush has said, ``Freedom is the birthright of every 
     man, woman, and child.'' These events show that the movement 
     to free our homeland is on the rise. It has gotten the 
     attention of the world. The movement to liberate our homeland 
     is stronger than it has ever been and it has frightened the 
     Indian regime. Now is the time to rededicate ourselves to the 
     liberation of Khalistan.
       The Indian government is reacting to the rising tide of 
     freedom for the Sikh Nation. Earlier this year, Prime 
     Minister Manmohan Singh apologized to the Sikh Nation for the 
     Delhi massacres of November 1984 that killed over 20,000 
     Sikhs. It is good that he apologized and it clearly shows 
     India's responsibility, but what good does it do the Sikh 
     Nation? Where are the apologies for the Golden Temple attack 
     and the other atrocities? Where is the compensation for the 
     victims' families?
       In January, Sikh farmers were expelled from Uttaranchal 
     Pradesh and their land was

[[Page E623]]

     seized. They were beaten up by the police. Their homes were 
     bulldozed by paratroopers. Their homes in many cases were 
     built using their life savings and by their own hands. We 
     condemn this act of state terrorism by the government of 
     Uttaranchal Pradesh. As you know, Sikhs are prohibited from 
     buying land in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Now 
     Uttaranchal Pradesh joins that list. Yet there are no 
     restrictions on land ownership in Punjab by non-Sikhs. People 
     from anywhere can buy land in Punjab, including people from 
     Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. India is trying to subvert 
     Khalistan's independence by overunning Punjab with non-
     Sikhs while keeping Sikhs from escaping the brutal 
     repression in Punjab. It is incumbent on the Sikh diaspora 
     to free Khalistan. We must redouble our efforts. That is 
     the only way to keep these atrocities from continuing and 
     to protect the Sikh Nation and the Sikh religion.
       Any organization that sincerely supports Kalistan deserves 
     the support of the Sikh Nation. However, the Sikh Nation 
     needs leadership that is honest, sincere, consistent, and 
     dedicated to the cause of Sikh freedom. But we should only 
     support sincere, dedicated, honest leaders. Dal Khalsa 
     deserves the praise of the Sikh nation and I call on every 
     Sikh to support them and every other organization that is 
     working to liberate Khalistan.
       The Council of Khalistan has stood strongly and 
     consistently for liberating our homeland, Khalistan, from 
     Indian occupation. For over 18 years we have led this fight 
     while others were trying to divert the resources and the 
     attention of the Sikh Nation away from the issue of freedom 
     in a sovereign, independent Khalistan. Yet Khalistan is the 
     only way that Sikhs will be able to live in freedom, peace, 
     prosperity, and dignity.
       The Sikhs in Punjab have suffered enormous repression at 
     the hands of the Indian regime in the last 22 years. The 
     Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984. 
     Inderjit Singh Jaijee and Bibi Baljit Kaur of the Movement 
     Against State Repression (MASR) told me that if the Sikhs 
     outside India had not exposed the atrocities of the Indian 
     regime, they could have killed ten times as many Sikhs. 
     Another 52,268 of our brothers and sisters are being held as 
     political prisoners, according to MASR. Some have been in 
     illegal custody since 1984! Over 50,000 Sikh youth were 
     picked up from their houses, tortured, murdered in police 
     custody, then secretly cremated as ``unidentified bodies.'' 
     Their remains were never even given to their families! How 
     can Sikhs have any freedom living under a government that 
     would do these things? India should be ashamed of the 
     genocide it has committed against Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, 
     and other minorities.
       Sikhs can never forgive or forget the Indian government's 
     military attack on the Golden Temple and 39 other historic 
     Gurdwaras throughout Punjab. Over 20,000 Sikhs were murdered 
     in those attacks, known as Operation Bluestar, including Sant 
     Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, General Shabeg Singh. Bhai Amrik 
     Singh, and over 100 Sikh religious students ages 8-13 who 
     were taken out into the courtyard and shot. These attacks 
     accelerated the Sikh independence movement and deepened the 
     desire for independence in the hearts of Sikhs, a fIre that 
     burns brightly in the hearts of the Sikh Nation to this day.
       The Akali Dal conspired with the Indian government in 1984 
     to invade the Golden Temple to murder Sant Bhindranwale and 
     20,000 other Sikhs during June 1984 in Punjab. Among those 
     who conspired with the government, according to Chakravyuh: 
     Web of Indian Secularism, were Dr. Chohan, Ganga Singh 
     Dhillon, and Didar Singh Bains. It appears the Indian regime 
     is even willing to arrest its own agents to suppress the 
     movement for Khalistan! Now Badal and Chief Minister 
     Amarinder Singh have been accusing each other of being tied 
     in with ``terrorists.'' These leaders view support for 
     Khalistan as terrorism, as the Indian government does. They 
     have shown where their loyalties lie. How will these so-
     called Sikh leaders account for themselves? Remember the 
     words of former Jathedar of tile Akal Takht Professor Darshan 
     Singh: ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.'' 
     It seems that Badal and Amarinder are not Sikhs.
       Never forget that the Akal Takht Sahib and Darbar Sahib and 
     the present Akali and Congress leadership are under the 
     control of the Indian government, the same Indian government 
     that has murdered over a quarter of a million Sikhs in the 
     past twenty years. These institutions will remain under the 
     control of the Indian regime until we free the Sikh homeland, 
     Punjab, Khalistan, from Indian occupation and oppression and 
     sever our relations with the New Delhi government.
       Sikhs will never get any justice from Delhi. Ever since 
     independence, India has mistreated the Sikh Nation, starting 
     with Patel's memo calling Sikhs ``a criminal tribe.'' What a 
     shame for Home Minister Patel and the Indian government to 
     issue this memorandum when the Sikh Nation gave over 80 
     percent of the sacrifices to free India.
       There is no place for Sikhs in supposedly secular, 
     supposedly democratic India. Our moment of freedom is closer 
     than ever. Let us work to make certain that we shake 
     ourselves loose from the yoke of Indian oppression and 
     liberate our homeland, Khalistan, so that all Sikhs may live 
     lives of prosperity, freedom, and dignity.
           Sincerely,
                                              Gurmit Singh Aulakh,
     President, Council of Khalistan.

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