[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 35 (Thursday, March 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E435-E436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN COMMENTS ON PUNJAB ELECTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 1, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, the Council of Khalistan recently issued a 
press release on the elections in Punjab and the victory of the 
Shiromani Akali Dal. Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council 
of Khalistan, noted the unfortunate cycle between the Congress party, 
which was primarily responsible for the genocide against Sikhs, and the 
Shiromani Akali Dal, which is in coalition with the Hindu nationalist 
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the political arm of the 
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Singh (RSS), an organization formed in support of 
the Fascists of Europe which has been responsible for acts of violence 
against minorities. The RSS also published a booklet on how to 
implicate minorities such as Sikhs, Christians, and others in false 
criminal cases. An alternative to these two parties is sorely needed. 
The Sikh nation needs leaders who are committed to protecting their 
interests.
  As you know, Madam Speaker, former President Bill Clinton, in his 
foreword to Madeline Albright's book, wrote that 38 Sikhs in 
Chithisinghpora were murdered while he was visiting by Hindu militants. 
New York Times reporter Barry Bearak has concluded that the Indian 
government's forces were responsible. Although the killers dressed as 
``militants,'' they spoke to each other in the language of the Indian 
army. It appears that this is just another of the many incidents where 
either the Indian military or its paid ``Black Cats'' paramilitary 
units have been caught carrying out terrorist incidents in the guise of 
alleged ``militants.''
  Remember that according to India Today, India's leading news 
magazine, it was the lndian government itself that created the 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, identified by the U.S. government as 
a terrorist organization.
  Madam Speaker, the essence of democracy is the right to self-
determination. It is time for India to end the repression of its 
minorities and allow them to exercise their basic democratic right to a 
free and fair vote on the question of independence. This Congress 
should put itself on record demanding that India do so. Further, we 
should cut off our aid to India and our trade with that country until 
full human rights, including the right to self-determinatlon, are 
enjoyed by all the people there.
  Madam Speaker, I request permission to place the Council of 
Khalistan's press release on the Punjab ejections into the Record at 
this time.

             [From the Council of Khalistan--Press Release]

  Akali Dal Wins Punjab Elections--Must Put Interests of Sikh Nation 
                 First--Khalistan Is the Only Solution

       Washington, DC., Feb. 28, 2007.--The Shlromani Akali Dal, 
     under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal, won the state 
     elections for the Punjab Legislative Assembly, winning 48 of 
     117 seats to 44 for the Congress party, 19 for the Bharatiya 
     Janata Party, 5 Independents. and one seat still to be 
     elected. Since the Akalls and the BJP are coalition partners, 
     this puts the Akall coalition back in charge with a 67-seat 
     majority. As a reward, the BJP got the position of Deputy 
     Chief Minister.
       ``It is sad that the people of Punjab are re-enacting the 
     cycle of choosing between the Congress Party, which presided 
     over the massacre of Sikhs and the Akalis, whose coalition 
     partner, the BJP, wants to wipe out the Sikhs and all 
     minorities,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the 
     Council of Khalistan. ``Captain Amarinder Singh is to be 
     given credit for doing some pro-Sikh things like cancelling 
     the water agreements that permitted the diversion of Punjab's 
     water to non-riparian states,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``But he is 
     still trapped by the Congress Party. Badal, who presided over 
     the most corrupt government in Punjab's history, has pledged 
     clean government. He has promised free electricity for Punjab 
     farmers and Rs4 per kilo for wheat flour and Rs20 per kilo 
     for lentils to the poor. Let's see if he keeps his word, Dr. 
     Aulakh said.
       ``Radal is the head of a Sikh religious and political body. 
     His party controls the Gurdwaras in Punjab. That's where he 
     got the money to buy the alcohol for his election,'' Dr. 
     Aulakh said. He noted that the BJP, the Akalls' coalition 
     partner, is the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak 
     Sangh (RSS). a pro-Fascist organization that has worked to 
     eliminate minorities from India. ``Is Badal on the side of 
     the Sikhs or the RSS?'' Dr. Aulakh asked. He called on the 
     Badal government to get Chandigarh back for Punjab. ``Punjab 
     built Chandigarh to be its capital. It properly belongs to 
     us. The government of Punjab should be pressing to get our 
     capital back,'' he said.
       ``Remember that the Akalls once called on the Sikh Nation 
     to carry out `the long struggle to liberate Khalistan,' '' 
     Dr. Aulakh said. ``These elections show why we must liberate 
     Khalistan from Indian occupation and oppression,'' said Dr. 
     Aulakh. ``That is the only way for Sikhs to protect ourselves 
     from India's brutality. Elections under the Indian 
     constitution will only perpetuate it. The only way that the 
     repression will stop and Sikhs will live in freedom, dignity, 
     and prosperity is to liberate Khalistan,'' said Dr. Aulakh. 
     ``As Professor Darshan Singh, former Jathedar of the Akal 
     Takht, said, `If a Sikh is not a Khallstani, he is not a 
     Sikh.','' Dr. Aulakh said.
       After human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra exposed 
     the Indian government's 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, the police kidnapped him. Khalra was 
     murdered in police custody. No one has been brought to 
     justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh 
     Khalra. Rajiv Singh Randhawa, who was the only witness to the 
     Khalra kidnapping, has been repeatedly subjected to police 
     harassment. This includes being arrested for trying to hand a 
     piece of paper to then-British Home Secretary Jack Straw in 
     front of the Golden Temple. The police never released the 
     body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke 
     after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna murdered him. He was never 
     punished for this crime.
       In 1994, the U.S. State Department reported that the Indian 
     government had paid over 41,000 cash bounties for killing 
     Sikhs. A report by the Movement Against State Repression 
     (MASR) 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.'' The 
     MASR report 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. 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?'' asked Dr. 
     Aulakh.
       India is on the verge of disintegration. Kashmir is about 
     to separate from India. As L.K. Advani said, ``If Kashmir 
     goes, India goes.'' 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, thrown together for the convenience of the British 
     colonialists. It is doomed to break up as they did. There is 
     nothing in common in the culture of a Hindu living in Bengal 
     and one in Tamil Nadu, let alone between them and the 
     minority nations of South Asia,'' Dr. Aulakh said.
       ``Freedom is the God-given right of every nation and every 
     human being,'' said Dr. Aulakh. He noted that the Indian 
     government was already spinning the results. ``Their wholly-
     owned U.S. Congressman, Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) has 
     already portrayed the elections as a rejection of Khalistan, 
     even though the voters defeated the Congress Party, which is 
     against Khalistan,' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Congressman Pallone 
     sounds like he is being compensated by the Indian regime,'' 
     Dr. Aulakh noted. ``Sikhs must be allowed to have a free and 
     fair plebiscite on the issue of Khalistan. In a democracy, 
     you cannot continue to rule against the wishes of the 
     people,'' he said. ``The essence of democracy is the right to 
     self-determination. Currently, there are 17 freedom movements 
     within India's borders. It has 16 official languages. It 
     cannot hold

[[Page E436]]

     together for very long,'' he said. ``We hope that India's 
     breakup will be peaceful like Czechoslovakia's, not violent 
     like Yugoslavia's,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Earlier this year, 
     Montenegro, which is less than a million people, became a 
     sovereign country and a member of the United Nations,'' he 
     said. ``Now it is the time for the Sikh Nation of Punjab, 
     Khalistan to become independent. We must free Khalistan 
     now.''

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