[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 101 (Thursday, July 27, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1558-E1560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES LONDON INSTITUTE OF SOUTH ASIA
HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the
Council of Khalistan, recently spoke at the London Institute of South
Asia, which was holding a seminar on separate electorate in India. He
also contributed an article to the Journal of the London Institute of
South Asia. Both presentations were on the same theme: freedom for
Khalistan, the sovereign Sikh state that declared its independence from
India on October 7, 1987, and has been under Indian occupation ever
since then.
Dr. Aulakh stressed that a separate electorate within India, although
it might help some of the oppressed minorities there, would not be
appropriate for the Sikh nation, which is separate and distinct from
India. He said that the achievement of full sovereignty and
independence for Khalistan is inevitable. He took note of the Sikh
farmers whose farms were bulldozed earlier this year by the Government.
He discussed the Sikh activists who were arrested for raising the
Khalistani flag. ``How can India claim it is a democracy and continue
to hold political prisoners?'' he asked. ``How can a democratic,
secular state make it a crime to
[[Page E1559]]
raise a flag and make speeches? Would America arrest people for raising
the Confederate flag? Would the United Kingdom arrest people for
speaking in support of Scottish independence?'' And the answer is that
of course we wouldn't. We may not like these things, but they are not
crimes. Yet in India the equivalent act gets you arrested.
Dr. Aulakh noted several other acts of tyranny against the Sikhs,
including the kidnapping of human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra,
the murder of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke,
the killing of the driver for Sikh religious leader Baba Charan Singh,
who was tied to two Jeeps which drove in different directions, tearing
this human being apart, and many other atrocities. These things are the
mark of a tyrannical, totalitarian regime, Mr. Speaker. Dr. Aulakh
writes that in light of these atrocities, ``independence for Khalistan
is inevitable.''
Dr. Aulakh takes note of the rising support for Khalistan in Punjab.
He notes the marches being organized, that politicians and other Sikh
leaders are speaking out for Khalistan, the seminars held by a former
member of Parliament on the subject, and other activities in support of
freedom for Khalistan.
Mr. Speaker, the essence of democracy is the right to self-
determination. All people and all nations have a right to be free. That
is the idea that gave birth to America. As such, we must be active and
vigilant in supporting freedom around the world. We should stop our aid
and trade with India, which is only propping up the repressive regime.
The time has come to put the U.S. Congress on record in support of a
free and fair plebiscite in Khalistan and all the minority nations that
seek their freedom in South Asia.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to place Dr. Aulakh's article from the
Journal of the London Institute of South Asia into the Record at this
time.
[From the Journal of the London Institute of South Asia, July, 2006]
Flame of Freedom Burns in Khalistan: Establishment of a Sovereign Sikh
State Is Inevitable
(By Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh)
January 2006 was not a good month for the Sikh farmers in
Uttaranchal Pradesh, India. Their farms were bulldozed and
they were thrown out of the state. They had worked peacefully
all their lives, but now everything they had worked for was
destroyed. Once again, the government had decided to make
Sikhs the victims. This continues a pattern of repression
that has kept the Sikh Nation from living in freedom or
prosperity. Since 1984, over a quarter of a million Sikhs
have been murdered at the hands of the Indian government.
There is no way for these farmers to gain redress within
the Indian system. They have lost their life's work with no
way of making themselves whole. And they have no means to
begin again. They received no compensation for their
bulldozed property. This is just a recent example of why
Sikhs need their own independent country, Khalistan.
Khalistan, the Sikh homeland, declared its independence
from India on October 7, 1987. Since then, India's brutal
repression of the Sikh nation has intensified. Last year on
Republic Day, 35 Sikhs were arrested for making speeches in
support of Khalistan and raising the flag of Khalistan. This
past June, even more Sikhs were arrested for hoisting a flag
and making speeches. They join at least 52,268 Sikh political
prisoners that India admitted to holding, according to the
Movement Against State Repression (MASR) (as well as tens of
thousands of other political prisoners, according to Amnesty
International.)
India proclaims itself the world's largest democracy. How
can India claim it is a democracy and continue to hold
political prisoners? How can a democratic, secular state make
it a crime to raise a flag and make speeches? Would America
arrest people for raising the Confederate flag? Would the
United Kingdom arrest people for speaking in support of
Scottish independence?
The Sikhs are a separate people from India--culturally,
linguistically, and religiously distinct. As such, the Sikh
Nation is logically and morally a separate nation, a separate
people. Every day Sikhs pray ``Raj Kare Ga Khalsa,'' meaning
``the Khalsa shall rule.'' It is part of the Sikh
consciousness that we are either rulers or we are in
rebellion.
Since 1947, the Indian government has been enslaving the
Sikh Nation. Under Indian rule, Sikhs are slaves. They are
exploited, tortured, and killed for the convenience of the
rulers. Despite India's repression of the Sikhs `symbolized
by half a million troops enforcing the peace of the bayonet'
the Sikhs are reclaiming the freedom that is our birthright.
The record of India's treatment of the Sikhs makes it clear
that there is no place for the Sikhs in `India's democracy'.
In 1995, human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra
published a report exposing India's policy of secret
cremations of Sikhs under which Sikh men are picked up,
tortured, and murdered, then their bodies are declared
`unidentified' and secretly cremated. Khalra did his work by
studying several cremation grounds in Punjab. He established
about 25,000 Sikhs who have been secretly cremated. Follow-up
work has established that the number is around 50,000. Their
bodies have never been given to their families. For his work,
Sardar Khalra was murdered in police custody; no wonder his
body also disappeared.
The one witness to the Khalra kidnapping, Rajiv Singh
Randhawa, has been consistently harassed by the Indian
regime. He even got arrested for trying to hand information
about the repression of the Sikhs to the British Home
Minister outside the Golden Temple.
Former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke was
murdered by police official Swaran Singh Ghotna. He has never
been brought to justice. The driver for Sikh religious leader
Baba Charan Singh was killed when his legs were tied to two
jeeps which then drove in different directions. The cases of
torture by rolling heavy rollers over the legs of Sikh
prisoners are too numerous to mention. In 1994, the U.S.
State Department reported that the Indian government paid
out over 41,000 cash bounties to police officers for
killing Sikhs.
The only way that Sikhs will be able to live in freedom,
peace, stability, dignity, and prosperity, without constantly
fearing for their lives, is by liberating Khalistan.
The establishment of an independent Khalistan is
inevitable. Support for an independent Khalistan is rising in
Punjab. Last November, Khalistan slogans were raised at
Nankana Sahib during the celebration of Guru Nanak's birthday
and at a subsequent seminar. More than 25,000 people were in
attendance for the birthday celebration. There have been
numerous marches demanding freedom for Khalistan in Punjab.
Former Member of Parliament Atinder Pal Singh held a seminar
on Khalistan. Even when the Punjab Legislative Assembly
canceled the agreements that had allowed Punjabi water to be
diverted to other states, they openly asserted the
sovereignty of the state of Punjab. It seems that the Indian
government is aware and afraid of the rising tide of support
for Khalistan.
As Steve Forbes wrote in Forbes Magazine in 2002, ``India
is not a homogeneous state. 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 a similar fate. It is
not a single, homogeneous state, but many countries thrown
together under one umbrella by the British colonial rulers
for their convenience. It has 18 official languages. Such
countries historically fall apart. The Soviet Union,
Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia are other examples from recent
history.
Even former Home Minister L.K. Advani has acknowledged the
instability of India, saying in Parliament: ``if Kashmir
goes, India goes.'' At a seminar in Lahore in November 2005,
I predicted that India will break up into five or six
different countries. This caused the Akali leaders present to
walk out, betraying the interests of the Sikh Nation once
again. Sikhs are willing to sit down and negotiate the
borders of a free and independent Khalistan. as long as that
is the sole subject for negotiation.
The Sikh Nation has a long and distinguished history of
freedom and secularism. Guru Gobind Singh Sahib established
the Khalsa Nation in 1699 at the historic Vaisakhi
Congregation in Anandpur Sahib. This event is celebrated
every April on the Sikh holiday of Vaisakhi Day. By his
action, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib firmly established a distinct
identity for the Khalsa Panth. He gave the Khalsa the
blessing of sovereignty and independence: Ain grieb Sikhin ko
deon Patshahi. `Khalsa Bagi Yan Badshah.'
The Gurus laid down the correct way for the Sikh Nation by
their example. Guru Nanak Sahib, the first Sikh Guru,
confronted the atrocities of the first Mogul ruler Babar
against the innocent population. Guru Arun Dev Ji Sahib
became a martyr in defense of his principles and acceptance
of the will of God. Guru Teg Bahadur Singh Sahib sacrificed
his life in defense of the weak and other religions,
defending Hindus from forced conversions. Today, it is
nationalist Hindus who are carrying out forced conversions,
more precisely forced reconversions of those who have
converted to another religion.
The tenth and last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib, completed
Guru Nanak Dev Ji Sahib's mission. He infused a new spirit
into the Sikh Nation and designed a new road map for the
Sikhs. He initiated the Sacrament of Steel (khande de pahul),
ordained the first five Sikhs as Singhs B the Panj Piaras, or
Five Beloved Ones B and instituted the Order of the Khalsa.
From then on, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib commanded the Sikhs to
mark their distinct identity known through five symbols:
unshorn hair, symbolizing natural and saintly appearance
(worn under a turban); a special comb to keep the hair clean;
a steel bracelet symbolizing discipline and gentility; the
Kirpan. or sword, a symbol of courage and commitment to
justice, truth, freedom, and human dignity; and special knee-
length under shorts, symbolizing chastity.
In 1706 Guru Gobind Singh left this world for his heavenly
abode. Just two ears later. Banda Singh Bahadur established a
Sikh Raj. It lasted from 1710 until 1716. From 1716 to 1765,
Sikhs went through horrible persecution by the Mogul ruler
Aurang Zeb. During that period, Sikhs experienced the chhota
ghalugara (small holocaust) and the wadde
[[Page E1560]]
ghalugara (large holocaust) In 1762, one third of the Sikh
population was killed in three days.
In 1765, Sikhs again established Sikh rule in several Sikh
missals (free cantonal republics) as well as the
principalities of Patiala, Nabha, Faridkote, Kapurthala,
Jind, and Kalsia. This lasted until 1799 when Maharajah
Ranjit Singh established Khalsa Raj in Punjab by uniting the
missals and principalities. They marched into the capital
city of Lahore and hoisted the Sikh flag, manifesting the
spirit of liberty reaffirmed at the Vaisakhi of 1699. This
Khalsa Raj lasted until 1849 when the British conquered the
Sub-continent. This Sikh nation of Punjab was recognized by
most of the Western powers of the time. The contemporary
struggle to liberate the Sikh homeland, Punjab. Khalistan, is
part of the same historical process.
Maharajah Ranjit Singh's rule was the Golden Age for
Punjab. Sikhs destroyed Mogul rule and stopped invasions from
the Afghan rulers to the west. Under the command of Hari
Singh Nerwa, Sikhs defeated the Afghans and occupied Kabul.
Nelwa left Kabul after securing the promise from the Afghans
that they would not cross east of the Khyber Pass. Maharajah
Ranjit Singh and Hari Singh Nerwa invaded Kashmir, which was
part of Afghanistan. and annexed it to Punjab in 1819. India
and Pakistan owe a debt of gratitude to the Sikhs, as both
countries claim Kashmir as their own.
During Maharajah Ranjit Singh's rule, Hindus, Muslims, and
Christians all had a share of power alongside the Sikhs. All
of them were represented as ministers in his Cabinet. The
Faqir brothers, who were Muslims, were trusted ministers in
the inner circle of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. General Ventura,
a Christian, was in charge of the artillery. The Hindu Dogras
(Dhian Singh Dogra and his brother Lal Singh Dogra) wielded
enormous power with Maharajah Ranjit Singh.
The Dogras betrayed the Sikhs and connived with the British
in the defeat of the Sikh army.
When Hari Singh Nalwa took a lone bullet from an Afghan, he
wrote his last letter in blood rather than ink to bid his
last fateh to Maharajah Ranjit Singh. Nalwa had previously
asked for more troops but those letters were intercepted by
the Dogra brothers, who kept the requests to themselves
instead of telling Maharajah Ranjit Singh. They wanted Hari
Singh Nalwa to be killed.
Nalwa instructed the messenger to give his letter to
Maharajah Ranjit Singh personally and to no one else. The
messenger arrived early in the morning.
Maharajah Ranjit Singh and Dhian Singh Dogra were out for a
morning walk. When the messenger tried to give the letter to
Maharajah Ranjit Singh, Dogra tried to intercept it. The
messenger told Maharajah Ranjit Singh that he was instructed
to give the letter to him personally. When Maharajah Ranjit
Singh read the letter, he was so angry with Dhian Sigh Dogra
that he hit Dogra with his water bucket. Then he instructed
the army to get ready to march towards Afghanistan.
They arrived at the River Attack. It was flooded. It had
overflowed its banks. The Sikhs wanted to wait until the
flood was over, but Maharajah Ranjit Singh led his horse into
the river. The water went down and the Sikhs crossed the
river. Maharajah Ranjit Singh fought the Afghans and defeated
them. That stopped the incursion of the Afghans into the Sikh
territory of Punjab.
After the demise of Maharajah Ranjit Singh in 1839, the
British infiltrated their agents like the Dogra brothers and
others into the Sikh Raj. Sikh rulers were murdered, one
after the other. The Sikhs gave the British a tough fight in
the Anglo-Sikh wars, but the Sikhs lost the war through the
betrayal of the Dogra brothers and the British annexed Punjab
in 1849.
The Sikh Nation's desire for sovereignty has not
diminished. Sikhs always recite the couplet `Raj Kare Ga
Khalsa' after their morning and evening Ardas (prayers.) The
Sikhs actively participated in the Indian struggle for
independence from the British. Although Sikhs were just 1.5
percent of the population, they gave over 80 percent of the
sacrifices in the freedom struggle. 2,125 Indians were
executed during the freedom struggle. Of these, more than
1,500 were Sikhs. Out of 2,645 exiled by the British, 2,147
were Sikhs.
At the time of India's independence in 1947, the Hindus of
India and the Muslims of Pakistan received sovereign,
independent states. Sikhs were supposed to be a party to
the arrangement and receive their own state as well. But
the Sikh leadership of the time accepted the false promise
of Jawahar Lal Nehru (reaffirmed in resolutions of the
Indian National Congress) that they would have `the glow
of freedom' in Punjab and no law affecting Sikh rights
would be passed without Sikh consent. On this basis Sikhs
took their share with India.
However, soon after the independence of India. the Sikhs
discovered that they had been betrayed. The Indian leaders
had no intention of giving them what they had promised. Home
Minister Patel shamefully sent out a memo describing Sikhs as
a `criminal tribe'. The repression of the Sikh Nation began
with that memo and continues to this day.
The time has come for Sikhs to break free of the repressive
Indian regime. This is the only way that their human rights
will ever be respected. And the world is beginning to notice.
In the United States Congress, the Congressional Record is
serving as a vehicle to keep an accurate record of the
repression and to defeat India's effort to whitewash the
situation and the history of the Sikhs and other minorities.
The Congressional Record carries repeated calls for a free
and fair plebiscite on the independence of Khalistan and the
other nations seeking their freedom from India. There are
also repeated calls for a cut off of U.S. aid to India until
human rights are respected. The pressure is mounting for
human rights and freedom in South Asia. How soon will India
collapse under the pressure? It is only a matter of time.
____________________