[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1129-E1130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INDIA MUST STOP PROMOTING SECTARIAN VIOLENCE
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HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, India is again promoting sectarian violence
in pursuit of its continued control of the Sikhs and other minorities.
A fake baba named Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, who is sponsored by the
Indian government, created a sect called Dera Sacha Sauda, one of many
sects set up to divide the Sikh people. He took out a newspaper ad in
which he dressed up as Guru Gobind Singh and offered to perform the
rite of Amrit, which not anyone can perform, for anyone who contacted
him. Performing this rite is reserved for specific religious leaders.
This ad caused massive protests, as it was an insult to the Sikh
religion. Those demonstrations turned violent. A man named Kanwaljit
Singh was murdered by the followers of the Dera when he went there to
confront them about Ram Rahim's behavior.
[[Page E1130]]
This marks an ongoing practice of promoting violence in the minority
communities so as to divide and rule them. As they did in Gujarat a few
years ago, the Hindu government set in motion bloodshed to keep the
minority community--Muslims then, Sikhs now--divided.
Madam Speaker, this is reprehensible, unacceptable, and undemocratic.
It is outrageous behavior for any government and it should not be
supported by countries like ours. We must stop aid and trade with India
and we must support freedom for Khalistan and the other nations seeking
their freedom from Indian rule.
The Council of Khalistan put out a good press release condemning the
Indian government's incitement of sectarian violence.
Council of Khalistan Condemns Promotion of Sectarian Violence by India
Washington, DC, May 16, 2007.--The Council of Khalistan
condemned the recent violence in Punjab, sparked by an
advertisement in the newspaper by Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim
Singh, the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, in which Baba Gurmit Ram
Rahim Singh dressed as Guru Gobind Singh and advertised that
he would give Amrit to anyone who asked. This is reserved
only for the Panj Plaras. This is an insult to the Sikh
religion and clearly backed by the Indian government, said
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of
Khalistan, the government pro tempore of Khalistan, which
leads the struggle for Khalistan's independence.
``There are no Deras or sects in the Sikh religion. There
is only one Sikh religion and Sikh Nation,'' said Dr. Aulakh.
``Fake Babas like Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh are part of the
Indian government's ongoing effort to weaken the Sikh
religion and prevent Sikhs from achieving freedom,'' he said,
Next month marks the anniversary of the Golden Temple
massacre, Dr. Aulakh noted. During that attack, young boys
ages 8 to 13 were taken outside and asked if they supported
Khalistan, the independent Sikh country. When they answered
with the Sikh religious phrase ``Bole So Nihal,'' they were
shot to death. The Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy
scriptures, written in the time of the Sikh Gurus, were shot
full of bullet holes and burned by the Indian forces.
Former President Bill Clinton wrote in the foreword to
Madeleine Albright's book that Indian forces were responsible
for the massacre of 38 Sikhs in 2000 in the village of
Chithisinghpora. Recently, two leading Sikh activists were
arrested for peacefully protesting the construction of a
statue to honor Beant Singh, the late Chief Minister who
presided over the murder of tens of thousands of Sikhs. In
2005, 35 Sikhs were arrested for making speeches and raising
the flag of Khalistan. Sikh farmers are forced by the
government to buy supplies and seeds for unaffordably high
prices and forced to sell their crops well below market
prices.
``These incidents show that we need to free our homeland,
Khalistan,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``Remember what former Akal
Takht Jathedar Professor Darshan Singh said: `If a Sikh is
not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.' ''
A report issued by the Movement Against State Repression
(MASR) shows that India admitted that it held 52,268
political prisoners under the repressive ``Terrorist and
Disruptive Activities Act'' (TADA) even though it 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.
Additionally, according to Amnesty International, there are
tens of thousands of other minorities being held as political
prisoners. 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 government has murdered
over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984. 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 Tamils, Assamese, Manipuris, and
others. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian
government's murders of Sikhs ``worse than a genocide.''
``Only in a free Khalistan will the Sikh Nation prosper and
get justice,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``When Khalistan is free, we
will have our own Ambassadors, our own representation in the
UN and other international bodies, and our own leaders to
keep this sort of thing from happening. We won't be at the
mercy of the brutal Indian regime and its Hindu militant
allies,'' he said. ``Democracies don't commit genocide. India
should act like a democracy and allow a plebiscite on
independence for Khalistan and all the nations of South
Asia,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``We must continue to pray for and
work for our God-given birthright of freedom,'' he said.
``Without political power, religions cannot flourish and
nations perish.''
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