[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 134 (Thursday, December 7, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2112-E2113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        INDIA PLAYS THE VICTIM TO COVER UP ITS TERRORIST RECORD

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 6, 2006

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, last month, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan 
Singh publicly stated that India is the victim of cross-border terror. 
The Council of Khalistan under the leadership of Dr. Gurmit Singh 
Aulakh wrote to Prime Minister Singh and reminded him that India has 
been sponsoring cross-border terrorism in Sindh, a province of 
Pakistan, as the Washington Times reported on January 2, 2002 and that 
according to India Today, which is the leading news magazine in India, 
the Indian government created the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, 
which the U.S. government has identified as a terrorist organization.
  It has also sponsored domestic terrorism against the minorities 
within its borders, including murdering a quarter of a million Sikhs 
and holding another 52,000 as political prisoners; killing Muslims by 
the tens of thousands in Kashmir, where more than 90,000 have been 
killed, Gujarat, where between 2,000 and 5,000 died in a massacre pre-
planned by the government, and elsewhere; killing Christians throughout 
the country, including over 300,000 just in Nagaland; and mass killing 
many other minorities. Yet India proclaims itself the victim of 
terrorism and proclaims itself a democracy. Well, Mr. Speaker, it 
certainly doesn't act that way.
  The repression and terrorism must be stopped. We should end all aid 
and trade with India until such time as the repression ends and people 
enjoy the most basic human rights, and we should throw our full support 
behind self-determination in Punjab, Khalistan, in Kashmir, in Nagalim, 
and wherever people are trying to be free. The essence of democracy is 
the right to self-determination. In addition, we should designate India 
a terrorist state and impose the sanctions that that designation 
brings.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert the Council of Khalistan's open 
letter into the Record. It is a frightening record of Indian terrorism.

                India Is a Terrorist State, Not a Victim

       Dear Prime Minister Singh: On October 4, you said that 
     India is a victim of cross-border terrorism. India is a 
     terrorist state itself and should be subject to the penalties 
     that are imposed on terrorist states.
       On January 2, 2002, the Washington Times reported that 
     India is supporting cross-border terrorism in Sindh, a 
     province of Pakistan, the very same kind of thing that Prime 
     Minister Singh was claiming is victimizing India. In 
     addition, India's leading newsmagazine, India Today, reported 
     that the Indian government created the Liberation Tigers of 
     Tamil Eelam (LTTE), identified by the U.S. government as a 
     terrorist organization, and its leaders were put up by the 
     Indian government in the finest hotel in Delhi. How can you 
     blame Pakistan when India started cross-border terrorism with 
     its own actions?
       The Indian government has committed terrorism against its 
     own minorities. It has murdered over 250,000 Sikh infants, 
     children, youth, men, women, and elderly since 1984, as well 
     as more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, over 90,000 
     Muslims in Kashmir, tens of thousands of Christians and 
     Muslims throughout the country, and tens of thousands of 
     Assamese, Bobos, Dalits, Manipuris,

[[Page E2113]]

     Tamils, and other minorities. A report by the Movement 
     Against State Repression (MASR) states that 52,268 Sikhs are 
     being held as political prisoners in India without charge or 
     trial, mostly under a repressive law known as the ``Terrorist 
     and Disruptive Activities Act'' (TADA), which expired in 
     1995. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984! There has 
     been no list published of those who were acquitted under TADA 
     and those who are still rotting in Indian jails. Tens of 
     thousands of other minorities are also being held as 
     political prisoners, according to Amnesty International. Tell 
     the families of these innocent Sikhs and others that there is 
     no terrorism in India.
       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. Khalra was murdered in 
     police custody. His body was not given to his family. No one 
     has been brought to justice for the kidnapping and murder of 
     Jaswant Singh Khalra. The only witness to the Khalra 
     kidnapping, Rajiv Singh Randhawa, has been repeatedly 
     harassed by the police, including having been arrested for 
     trying to hand a note to then-British Home Secretary Jack 
     Straw. Last year, 35 Sikhs were charged and arrested in 
     Punjab for making speeches in support of Khalistan and 
     raising the Khalistani flag. How can making speeches and 
     raising a flag be considered crimes in a democratic society?
       The police never released the body of former Jathedar of 
     the Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Gholna 
     murdered him. He has never been tried for the Jathedar Kaunke 
     murder. In 1994, the U.S. State Department reported that the 
     Indian government had paid over 41,000 cash bounties for 
     killing Sikhs. The MASR report quotes the Punjab Civil 
     Magistracy as writing ``if we add up the figures of the last 
     few years the number of innocent persons killed would run 
     into lakhs (hundreds of thousands.)'' The Indian Supreme 
     Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs ``worse 
     than a genocide.''
       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. Missionary 
     Joseph Cooper was beaten so badly that he had to spend a week 
     in an Indian hospital. Then the Indian government threw him 
     out of the country. 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. 
     Police broke up a Christian religious festival with gunfire. 
     Recently, militant Hindus from the Bharatiya Janata Yuva (a 
     youth movement affiliated with the BJP and the Fascist RSS) 
     attacked the Convent of Loreto and the school there. A 
     spokesman for the BJP, Mr. H. Dikshit, demanded an 
     investigation of the school!
        The murders of 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat have 
     never been brought to trial. An Indian newspaper reported 
     that the police were ordered not to get involved in that 
     massacre, a frightening parallel to the Delhi massacre of 
     Sikhs in 1984. The most important mosque in India, the Babri 
     Mosque, was destroyed by militant Hindu fundamentalists who 
     have never been held responsible for their actions.
       It is good that you have admitted the guilt of the Indian 
     government by for the Delhi massacres, in which over 20,000 
     Sikhs were killed, by apologizing for the massacres, but what 
     good does it do the Sikh Nation? Where are the apologies for 
     the Golden Temple attack, the destruction of the Akal Takht, 
     and the desecration of Darbal Sahib, and the other 
     atrocities? Where is the compensation for the victims' 
     families? That operation was yet another act of Indian 
     domestic terrorism.
       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. Recently, 
     Dal Khalsa and the Shiromani Khalsa Dal announced that they 
     are uniting for sovereignty for Khalistan. This was met with 
     chants of ``Khalistan Zindabad.'' The Punjab Legislative 
     Assembly proclaimed the sovereignly of Punjab when it 
     cancelled the water agreements. Only by liberating Khalistan 
     can we put an end to the repression and terrorism against the 
     Sikh Nation by the Indian regime. Now is the time to 
     rededicate ourselves to the liberation of Khalistan,
       Last year, Sikh farmers were expelled from Uttaranchal 
     Pradesh and their land was 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 overrunning 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.
       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 the Akal Takht Professor Darshan 
     Singh: ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.
       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. Sikhs will 
     continue to 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 have lives of 
     prosperity, freedom, and dignity.
           Sincerely,

                                      Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

                                                        President,
     Council of Khalistan.

                          ____________________