[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1128-E1129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
23RD ANNIVERSARY OF GOLDEN TEMPLE ATTACK
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HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, the beginning of June marks the 23rd
anniversary of India's military attack on the Golden Temple in
Amritsar, which is the seat of the Sikh religion. It occurred from June
3 through June 6, 1984. Many other Sikh Gurdwaras were attacked at the
same time in what was known as Operation Bluestar, which killed over
20,000 Sikhs. That was the beginning of a genocide in which over
250,000 Sikhs were killed.
During the attack, young Sikh boys, ranging in age from 8 to 13 years
old, were taken outside and shot to death. Other soldiers bravely shot
bullets into the Sikh holy scriptures. As Sant Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale, who was killed in the attack, predicted, it laid the
foundation for the liberation of the Sikh homeland, Khalistan.
This brutal attack was a desecration of the Sikh religion and culture
and a bitter reminder that there is no place for Sikhs or other
minorities in Hindu India. They are simply used for the greater glory
of the Brahmins.
The Council of Khalistan, which will be leading a commemorative
demonstration across from the White House on June 2, has published an
excellent open letter on the massacre.
If we want to put an end to ongoing repression, Madam Speaker, we
should support independence for all the nations of South Asia. We
should go on record in support of a free and fair plebiscite,
monitored, on the question of independence for Khalistan, Kashmir,
Nagaland, and all the nations of the subcontinent. We should stop
trading with India and providing it aid until it respects the basic
right to self-determination and all human rights for all its people,
whether Brahmin or Dalit, whether Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Muslim, or
whatever. We send India development aid, Madam Speaker, and it puts
just 2 percent of its development budget to education and just 2
percent to health, but 25 percent to nuclear development! Remember that
India began the nuclear escalation in South Asia.
23rd Anniversary of Golden Temple Attack
Dear Khalsa Panth: Next month marks the 23rd anniversary of
the Indian government's brutal attack and desecration of
Darbar Sahib, the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. Sikhs
must never forget or forgive this atrocity. Remember that the
Indian troops shot bullet holes into an original copy of the
Guru Granth Sahib, written in the time of the Gurus. They
took over 100 young Sikh boys, ages 8 to 13, out into the
courtyard of the complex and asked them if they supported
Khalistan. When they answered ``Bole So Nihar'', they were
shot to death. Thirty seven (37) other Gurdwaras were
simultaneously attacked. In all, more than 20,000 Sikhs were
killed in that operation. This kind of brutality makes it
clear that there is no place for Sikhs in India.
Since that horrible four-day operation, which took place
from June 3 through 6, 1984, over a quarter of a million
Sikhs have been murdered at the hands of the Indian
government, according to figures compiled by the Punjab State
magistracy and human-rights groups. More than 52,000 are
being held as political prisoners, according to a report by
the Movement Against State Repression. They are held without
charge or trail, many since 1984. We demand the immediate
release of all political prisoners and a full accounting for
those who may have died in custody.
Instead, our highest institutions--the Golden Temple, the
Punjab government, the Akali Dal, and others--remain under
Indian control. Our homeland, Khalistan, remains under Indian
occupation 20 years after declaring its independence from
India. Half a million Indian troops continue to enforce the
peace of the bayonet in Punjab, Khalistan.
Remember the words of Narinder Singh, a spokesman for the
Golden Temple, to America's National Public Radio: ``The
Indian government, all the time they boast that they are
democratic, that they are secular, that they have nothing to
do with a democracy, nothing to do with a secularism. They
just kill Sikhs just to please the majority.''
Sant Bhindranwale told us that the attack would ``lay the
foundation of Khalistan.'' Indeed, it did. On October 7,
1987, Khalistan declared its independence. We must use this
[[Page E1129]]
anniversary to rededicate ourselves to reclaiming that
freedom that is our birthright.
In 1986, Harcharan Singh Longowal struck the Rajiv-Longowal
Accord, in which India promised to return the capital city of
Chandigarh, which Sikhs built, and the Punjabi-speaking areas
of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, which were kept out of
Punjab in 1965. Twenty-one years later, India has not kept
that promise.
India has a long history of not keeping its promises. It
promised the people of Kashmir a plebiscite on their status
in 1948 and the vote has never been held. Nor has it kept its
promises to the people of Nagaland. Instead, Nehru said that
even if he had to put a soldier under every tree, he would
never allow a free Nagaland. The Indian government has killed
over 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims, over 300,000 Christians in
Nagaland, tens of thousands of Muslims and Christians
elsewhere in the country, and tens of thousands of Assamese,
Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. Tens
of thousands more of them continue to be held as politica1
prisoners, according to Amnesty International. Is that a
democracy? These facts underline the necessity to free our
homeland, Khalistan, now, and to support freedom for all the
people of South Asia.
Remember the words of Guru Gobind Singh, ``In grieb Sikhin
ko deon Patshahi.'' (``I grant sovereignty to the humble
Sikhs.'') Freedom is the birthright of all people and
nations. It is also granted by our Gurus.
When I visited Pakistan in November for Guru Nanak's
birthday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz,
offered to build a road from Kartarpur (where Guru Nanak left
this world) to the border if India will build their portion.
They even offered to build a fence if India wants one. With
this road, Sikhs could go, and visit this holy site with no
visa. The Akalis could build this road themselves, but they
have not done it so far. The spineless Akalis continue to be
lapdogs of Delhi. How could the Akalis join with the BJP (the
political arm of the RSS) to form a government when the BJP
is determined to destroy the Sikh religion by any and all
means at their disposal? We must end Indian control of our
government, society, and institutions. That control is what
the Golden Temple attack was designed to cement. We must
stand up and say no. Remember Maharajah Ranjit Singh, who led
a powerful, secular Sikh state that was independent from 1765
to 1849. Let us have a new birth of freedom, in our homeland,
Khalistan.
The Indian government is scared of the Sikh Nation's
aspiration for freedom. Recently, it set off an incident in
which Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh dressed up as Guru Gobind
Singh and advertised in the newspaper, offering to give Amrit
to anyone, a function reserved for the Panj Piaras after Guru
Gobind Singh baptized them. In addition, it recently put up a
statue of Beant Singh, former Chief Minister of Punjab, who
presided over the killing of a majority of the 250,000-plus
Sikhs who have been murdered. Simranjit Singh Mann and Wassan
Singh Zaffarwal were arrested for peacefully protesting the
statue. In 2005, 35 Sikhs were arrested for making speeches
and raising the flag of Khalistan. All these repressive acts
are in the spirit of the Golden Temple attack and continue
the repression. They are evidence that we must free Khalistan
now.
Let us remind the Indian government that we have not
forgotten the atrocities committed against the Khalsa panth
at the Golden Temple and from then on. It is time to reclaim
our freedom. India must act like the democracy it claims to
be and grant a free and fair plebiscite on the issue of
Khalistan under international supervision. It must stop
arresting Sikh activists for peaceful political activity. And
we must honor the spirits of Bhindranwale and all the others
killed at the Golden Temple and the 37 other Gurdwaras by
launching a Shantmai Morcha to liberate our homeland,
Khalistan, once and for all. Until then, we will continue to
suffer under India's brutal repression. Let's see to it that
our Sikh brothers and sisters finally enjoy the glow of
freedom. I ask Sikhs of all shades and political affiliations
to join hands to free Khalistan. Remember the words of the
former Jathedar of the akal Takht Sahib, Professor Darshan
Singh, that ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a
Sikh.''
Sincerely,
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,
President,
Council of Khalistan.
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