[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

                                 ______
                                 

                          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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