[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1125-E1127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      AIR INDIA INQUIRY QUESTIONED

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 22, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, recently a Canadian writer and editor named 
Dr. Awatar Singh Sekhon, Managing Editor of the International Journal 
of Sikh Affairs, wrote a detailed response to an article about the 1985 
Air India bombings. As you know, those bombings continue to be 
controversial more than 20 years later and the Canadian government is 
launching yet another inquiry into the matter.
  Dr. Sekhon's quite comprehensive letter, which was written in 
response to an Edmonton Sun article, is very detailed. It makes a very 
strong argument and brings up a lot of very important information on 
the case. Before I put it into the Record, I will attempt to summarize 
the highlights.
  Dr. Sekhon points out that Indian diplomat Mani Shankar says that in 
1984, the year before the bombing, the Indira Gandhi government in 
India commissioned him ``to portray Sikhs as terrorists.'' This 
directive occurred before Operation Bluestar, the June 1984 attack on 
the golden Temple in amritsar (the seat of Sikhism) and several other 
Sikh Gurdwaras around Punjab, in which 20,000 Sikhs, including over 100 
Sikh youth ages 8 to 13, were killed and the Sikh holy scripture, the 
Guru Granth Sahib, was desecrated by being shot with Indian Army 
bullets. The orders for that operation were given in January 1984, 
according to the Sikh Bulletin, October-November 1985. The Air India 
operation was part of that campaign. In addition, the newspaper 
Hitavada reported that the Indian government paid the late governor of 
Punajb, Surendra Nath, the equivalent of $1.5 billion to foment 
terrorist activity in Punjab and Kashmir.
  Dr. Sekhon refers to the first hijacking of an Air India plane by two 
Brahmin brothers named Pandey to secure Indira Gandhi's release from 
jail. He notes the penetration of Canada by Indian intelligence in the 
1980s.
  The letter cites both Zuhajr Kashmeri and Brian McAndrew's excellent 
book Soft Target and former Canadian Member of Parliament David 
Kilgour's book Betrayal: The Spy That Canada Forgot. Both show India's 
responsibility for the bombing. Kashmeri and McAndrew cite the Canadian 
Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which said, ``if you really want 
to clear the incidents quickly, take vans to the Indian High Commission 
and the consulates in Toronto and Vancouver, load up everybody and take 
them down for questioning. We know it and they know it that they are 
involved.''
  Kilgour writes that a Canadian-Polish double agent was approached by 
an East German named Udo Ulbrecht, who was working with people 
affiliated with the Indian government, to participate in a second 
bombing, but he declined to be part of it and the plot never came off. 
Dr. Sekhon rightly asks why neither Kashmeri, McAndrew, nor Kilgour has 
been asked to testify in the current inquiry. He also requests that the 
Indian diplomatic and intelligence personnel who were declared persona 
non grata in Canada in the wake of the Air India bombing be summoned 
back to testify before the inquiry.
  He notes the mass killings of Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Assamese, 
Tamils, and other non-Brahmin minorities by the Indian government Their 
effort to portray the Sikhs, especially those who speak out peacefully 
and democratically for an independent Khalistan, as terrorists is a 
pretext for this ``ethnic cleansing.''
  He quotes my colleague, the gentleman from California, who said in 
this chamber that for Sikhs and Kashmiris, ``India might as well be 
Nazi Germany.'' The late General Narinder Singh said that Punjab was a 
police state. This has been an extension of the India government's 
strategy that was outlined in a memo in 1947 in which India's first 
Home Minister V.B. Patel described the Sikhs as ``a lawless people'' 
and ``a criminal tribe.'' In other words, the Indian government was 
trying to discredit and destroy the Sikhs almost from the moment of 
independence.
  Madam Speaker, the time has come to stop our aid and trade with this 
repressive regime and to demand self-determination for the Sikhs of 
Punjab, Khalistan, the Muslims of Kashmir, the Christians of Nagalim, 
and all the people seeking freedom in South Asia. The essence of 
democracy is the right to self-determination, not an ongoing half-
century effort to kill your minority citizens.
  I would like to place Dr. Sekhon's letter into the Record at this 
time for the information of my colleagues.
         The Sikh Educational Trust, International Journal of Sikh 
           Affairs,
                           Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, May 9, 2007.
     Ret Air India Flight 182 (Toronto--Montreal--London--Delhi),
     June, 23 1985: Enquiry of Justice John Major
       Dear Sir, My writing to you relates with some minor and 
     major comments related to the subject, and also on ``Air 
     India's Shared Tragedy Lost in the `SILOS' between two 
     nations by George Abraham (The Edmonton Journal, 8th May, 
     2007).''
       I would like to comment on Abraham's writing ``Prime 
     Minister (Brian) Mulroney had telephoned his condolences to 
     his Indian counterpart, Rajiv Gandhi--an act that was based 
     on a fundamental misunderstanding of who, exactly, had been 
     victimized, and who, in fact, was to blame.'' Mr. Abraham 
     seems to be in the grip of part of the problem. As a Canadian 
     national and belonging to the Canadian Sikh community, it 
     appears to me that `telephoning to the prime minister of a 
     country, which had betrayed Canada and the international 
     community in 1974 (explosion of a nuclear device prepared 
     from the by-product of a Candu reactor technology for 
     peaceful and medical purposes) by the Right Hon. Prime 
     Minister of Canada' was far more important than about 90 
     percent of the Canadian passengers of the ill-fated aircraft. 
     It, certainly, is new information that has come out in 
     Justice Major's enquiry. What a pity our Canadian prime 
     minister, who put Rajiv Gandhi first rather than thinking and 
     offering his condolences to the Canadian Sikhs and the 
     victimized families. This act of Prime Minister Mulroney will 
     never be forgotten by the Canadian Sikhs. Earlier, his 
     predecessor, Charles Joseph Clark, had said to the 
     journalists that ``if you want more information about Sikhs, 
     go and call these numbers (of the Indian Consulate Toronto 
     and High Commission in Ottawa):'' What an unacceptable act of 
     the prime minister, who hands out the telephone numbers of a 
     foreign mission to get information about Canadian Sikhs. 
     Should we, the Canadian Sikhs who have been in Canada over a 
     century, imply that our Canadian administration has no idea 
     of its Sikh Canadians; or, a foreign mission in Canada has 
     more information about the Canadian Sikhs, especially when 
     the Indian Constitution 1950, Article 25, has eliminated the 
     `Sikh Identity and Sikh Faith'. The latter is one of the 
     six major faiths of our world.
       Does George Abraham know that Mani Shanker Iyer, an Indian 
     diplomat, said, ``In early 1984, to the hearing of all, 
     mentioned that at the instance of Indira Gandhi, he was given 
     an unpleasant job of portraying Sikhs as terrorists.'' A few 
     days later, Iyer stated that, ``against his wishes he had 
     done the job?'' This was before ``Operation Bluestar, the 
     orders for which had been delivered in January 1984'' (The 
     Sikh Bulletin, October-November 2005, p. 11; 
     [email protected]).
       Based on the two previous enquiries and the present one 
     which is going on, it appears to me that nothing 
     extraordinary will come from these enquiries, because the 
     major things which might yield substantial information and 
     which might reveal the real cause of the `Air India Explosion 
     of Flight 182' will never find a place in the enquiry that is 
     going on. Some of the points that, as I believe, have not 
     been discussed so far, are summarized below:
       1. Why Mr. Zuhaire Kashmeri and Mr. Brian McAndrew, two 
     Canadian journalists, who gave their views in their title, 
     Soft Target India's Intelligence Service and its Role in The 
     Air India Disaster 1989 first ed. and 2005 second ed. ISBN 
     10:1-55028-904-7 and 13: 978-1-55028-904-6, have not been 
     called to testify before the enquiry commission?

[[Page E1126]]

       2. Why Hon. David Kilgour, former member of parliament, 
     Speaker of the House of Commons, former Secretary of State 
     for Asia and Africa, and the author of the title BETRAYAL THE 
     SPY CANADA ABANDONED 1994 Prentice Hall Canada Inc., 
     Scarborough, ON ISBNO-13-325697-9, the title that contained 
     Chapter 9 and 10, A Bizarre Episode in Rome and A Battle For 
     Canada, pp.129-163, has not been asked to testify? Hon. 
     Kilgour writes ``One day, while reading a German newspaper, I 
     spotted the photograph and description of a wanted terrorist. 
     I would have known that face anywhere. It was the man who had 
     conducted the meeting in Rome, plotting to bomb some Air 
     India flight. I was quite positive it was him; his name was 
     Udo Ulbrecht or Albrecht, wanted for many terrorist attacks 
     and kidnappings in West Germany and Western Europe. I was 
     upset by the whole thing and decided I wanted out of West 
     Germany as soon as I had done my time.'' In Hon. Kilgour's 
     title, he further writes ``He was greeted in English, heavily 
     accented with German, and led into a larger room where a 
     number of men were already seated and smoking. There were two 
     Sikhs wearing traditional turbans, another pair who looked 
     Italian, Paszkowski and the German, who chaired and greeted 
     them in English as all of them spoke the language with 
     differing levels of fluency. The German spoke of the need for 
     international co-operation and how important the mission was 
     for each of their respective governments. He stressed that 
     the group must work closely together. ``Some of the tasks,'' 
     he said, ``might appear strange or even incomprehensible to 
     you. Don't worry about that. Let it be the concern of those 
     who sent you here. Your role is to carry out orders to the 
     letter without asking questions.'' Everyone sat quietly and 
     listened intently. ``The job at hand is, with the use of 
     explosives, to blow up an Air India plane in Europe. Lives 
     will be lost but we must not think about it . . . Each of you 
     will be supplied with documents allowing you to move freely 
     in Europe, weapons, explosives, money and detailed 
     instructions. I will meet with each of you personally to 
     supply you with all these. Wait for me and be prepared for 
     action at any time.''
       3. Under the guise of `Democracy', the Indian 
     administrations of post-15th of August, 1947 era ((JL Nehru 
     to Manmohan Sinh) and before becoming the political masters 
     of the British Empire later known as the British India 
     Empire, the Brahmins/Hindus (neither a religion nor a 
     culture; see Dalit Voice, Dalit Sahitya Akademy, Bangore, and 
     other Sikh and non-Sikh academics), betrayed the 
     international community and the Sikhs of Punjab, now the 
     State of Punjab (under the occupation of the alleged Indian 
     democracy, since the 15th of August, 1947). It must be noted 
     that the Sikh Raj of monarch Ranjit Singh, 1799 to 14th 
     March, 1849, was the first Secular and Sovereign country of 
     South Asia. The Sikhs lost to the British Empire's forces led 
     by General Gilbert on the 14th of March, 1849. As such, the 
     ``Struggle To Regain Their Lost Sovereignty, Independence and 
     Political Power of the Sikhs began, by peaceful means taught 
     by their 10 Masters/Gurus (from Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru 
     Gobind Singh ji) right on the day they lost to the British 
     Empire's forces.'' ``The new territory of the British Empire 
     remained `status less' but on the 29th of March, 1849, the 
     British agent made a proclamation that the newly conquered 
     `Sikh Raj' is ``annexed'' but not ``amalgamated'' to the 
     British Empire for the `administration purpose only'. It 
     should be noted that the status of the Sovereign and Secular 
     Sikh Raj of Monarch Ranjit Singh remained as ``annexed'' 
     territory and `not' the art of India under British Empire or 
     the time British exit from India on the 15th of August, 1947. 
     It should also be noted that there did not exist the word 
     `India' in any dictionary or Encyclopedia of the English 
     language until the British agent made the annexation of The 
     Sikh Raj to the British Empire on the 29th of March, 1849. As 
     such, the existence of the `Indian nationality' until the 
     29th of March, 1849, was out of question. The Sikhs were 
     `never' Indian nationals, as evident from the Indian 
     Constitution 1950, Article 25. The Constitution which Sikhs' 
     elected representatives `rejected' in its draft and final 
     forms in the Indian parliament in 1948, the 26th of November, 
     1949, 1950 and more recently on the 6th of September, 1966. 
     The Canadian news media, along with the international news 
     media and major democratic administrations like the United 
     Kingdom., Canada, United States, Australia, etc., never paid 
     any attention on the ``Sikhs'' Struggle for Independence'' 
     for the reason only known to themselves. Volumes of books and 
     tens of tons news dispatches have been made by the 
     journalists virtually `devoid' of the Sikhs' Struggle for 
     Sovereignty and Sikhs' status in the Indian Constitution 1950 
     Article 25. which proclaimed the alleged Indian state as the 
     Republic of India.
       Under the umbrella of democracy (or Brahmins autocracy), 
     India has killed more than 2.3 to 3.2 million Sikhs; over 
     500,000 Muslims in general; more than 100,000 Muslims of the 
     Internationally Disputed Areas of Jammu and Kashmir; over 
     300,000 Christians; tens of thousands of Dalits; 15,000 
     Tamils, thousands of Assamese and other non-Brahmin, non-
     Hindu minorities, since 15th August, 1947. What kind of 
     democracy in India is this which kills its own citizens? 
     There are other democracies in our world, like the United 
     States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and others. Has 
     anyone of these countries killed its own citizen(s)? How many 
     Brahmins, Hindus or pro-Brahmins India and its armed forces 
     killed since its inception?
       I would like to hear from the journalists like Madam Kim 
     Bolan on the genocides of the Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, 
     Kashmiris and other non-Brahmin and non-Hindu minorities 
     carried out by the Indian democracy? Does she have any 
     information or has she written even a single word on India 
     carrying out genocides of non-Brahmin and non-Hindus since 
     the 15th of August, 1947? Or, else she loves writing against 
     the Sikhs.
       For Madam Kim Bolan and her national and international 
     colleagues written specifically or generally on the `fake 
     hijacking' carried out by the RAW of India (they must examine 
     the archives of the All India Radio, if they pretend to be 
     unaware of the activities of the Indian personnel of RAW and 
     other agencies).
       The author was wondering if Madam Kim Bolan and her 
     journalistic colleagues know that the `first hijacking' of 
     South Asia' was carried out by two `Brahmin' brothers (the 
     Pandey brothers), to secure the release of their Congress 
     leader Indira Gandhi from a jail. Indira Gandhi awarded them, 
     the Brahmins, with her Congress' nominations to the UP 
     Legislative Assembly. These criminals were made the `law 
     makers'. When criminals are made the law makers 
     intentionally, then what could be expected in a democratic 
     country, so to speak?
       Madam Kim Bolan and other journalists must read Congressman 
     Dan Rohrabacher of California's remarks appeared in the 
     United States Congressional Records of the House of 
     Representatives that ``For the Sikhs, Christians, Muslims and 
     other non-Hindu minorities, India might as well be a Nazi 
     Germany.''
       4. A community, which is less than 15 percent of the total 
     population of India, i.e., the Brahmins, Hindus and pro-
     Brahmins (3+12=15 percent), deceived and betrayed the Sikhs 
     of the Sikh Raj of monarch Ranjit Singh, robbed them from 
     their land (partitioned on the 15th of August, 1947) in the 
     day light, along with the Sovereign people of states like 
     Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Faridkot (now in 
     Punjab), Bikaner (now in Rajasthan), Dalits (who are still 
     used to remove the human waste from the households and public 
     places of India), Adivaasis, etc.
       5. The journalists and writers like Kim Bolan, George 
     Abraham, Martin Collacott, Ian Mulgrew, Bharti Mukeherjee, 
     Clark Blaise, Bill Moyer, etc., are virtually devoid of the 
     `Sikhs' history from the Sikhs' point of view'. They are 
     known as staunchly anti-Sikh writers and do not get along 
     with the Canadian and/or American Sikhs, simply because they 
     are `devoid' of the Sikh history. Indeed, they are well known 
     anti-Sikh writers. Why are they anti-Sikhs and write against 
     the Sikhs, it is only known to them. They cannot exonerate 
     themselves from the `anti-Sikh' renowned journalists or 
     writers for the reasons only known to them.
       6. Madam Kim Bolan and other Canadian journalists, with the 
     exception of well respected Zuhaire Kashmeri and Brian 
     McAndrew, never understood the Canadian Sikh psyche. Why is 
     it so? Only Madam Kim Bolan, other journalists and one Narula 
     of the Asia Watch may explain their position, if they so 
     desire.
       7. It goes without doubt that Indian intelligence 
     penetrated Canada in 1980s. This was done to provide cover 
     for the Indian administration's intended `attack on the 
     Sikhs' Darbar Sahib Complex (mistakenly known as the Golden 
     Temple Complex), which includes the Supreme Seat of Sikh 
     Polity, The Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar, in the name of a 
     brutal Indian military ``Operation Bluestar'' of June, 1984. 
     This was not only an `undeclared' war on the Sikh Nation, 
     Punjab, but it was carried out to `Exterminate The Sikh 
     Identity and The Sikh Faith'. One may ask the question did 
     Indian administration succeed? The answer is `No'; it failed 
     miserably. Their penetration made the life of the Sikhs of 
     Canada no less than a hell. Did anybody, especially the 
     Canadian journalists, with two exceptions, pay any attention 
     to Sikh nationals of Canada? Every Sikh, who is the follower 
     of the Sikh religion, believes in the Canadian way of life, 
     Canadian law, Canadian policy of multiculturalism provided by 
     the administration of the Right Honourable Pierre Elliot 
     Trudeau and Canadian values. Whereas, the Indian 
     administration deliberately made the Sikhs as `terrorists'; 
     on the 10th of October, 1947, just 7-weeks post of the 15th 
     of August, 1947; the Indian administration of JL Nehu and VB 
     Patel and their man, Chandulal Trivedi in Punjab `declared' 
     the ``Sikhs as lawless people'' in a secret memo. The writer 
     is citing only a few major points out of numerous.
       8. Considering the penetration of Indian intelligence in 
     1980s, not only the RAW personnel (Research and Analysis 
     Wing), but the Indian administration made use of Sikhs, 
     especially Akalis like Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Harchand 
     Longowal, Balwant Ramoowalia, Prakash Singh Badal, Balwant 
     Singh, Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan (now deceased), Maj-Gen Jaswant 
     Bhullar, M S Sidhu, Didar Singh Bains of the United States, 
     Prabhu Dayal Singh, Harjinderpal Singh Nagra and Akalis 
     (correspondence between R K Dhawan of 1, Safdarjang Road, New 
     Delhi; the 30th of January--April 25, 1984; please see 
     Chakravyuh Web of Indian Secularism by Gurtej Singh 2000 
     ISBN81-85815-14-3).
       When democratic administrations employ their `state 
     intelligence' against their own citizens, then what is the 
     guarantee that any

[[Page E1127]]

     individual or state appointed commission will find a way to 
     deliver its `just' judgment?
       I could write more but I should conclude my writing by 
     elaborating that (i) the Indian missions' employees/
     intelligence workers, who have since been declared persona 
     non grata or left Canada should be summoned back by the 
     commission to question them. I have my doubts that the 
     `Diplomatic Immunity' may play its stumbling block's role and 
     nothing constructive will come out from any commission; (ii) 
     the Indian administrations' notoriousness is responsible for 
     the Air India disaster of 1985; (iii) in fact, there should 
     be an International Commission to explore and examine the 
     terrorism, persecution, atrocities, human rights violations, 
     and genocides committed by the democratic India. I am of the 
     opinion that Sirdar Gurtej Singh, IAS & IPS (formerly), 
     Professor of Sikhism and Editorial Advisor of the 
     International Journal of Sikh Affairs ISSN 1481-5435 may shed 
     much needed light to the Commission of Justice John Major. 
     All in all, Indian administrations have been responsible not 
     only of the Air India Flight 182, but also of other 
     humanitarian problems, such as Manorama of Assam, who was 
     raped by the Indian Armed personnel in Assam (Assam situation 
     discussed at the 5th United Nations Human Rights Council, 
     Geneva, Switzerland in March 2007).
       Best wishes and warmest regards.
           Sincerely,
                                              Awater Singh Sekhon,
     Managing Editor and Acting Editor in Chief.

                          ____________________