[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 106 (Thursday, June 28, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               FORMER MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ARRESTED AGAIN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 28, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, recently the government of Punjab erected a 
statue to honor Beant Singh, the late Chief Minister of Punjab, who 
presided over the murders of over 50,000 Sikhs and the secret 
cremations of Sikhs in Punjab at the behest of the Indian government. 
Longtime Sikh activist and former member of Parliament Simranjit Singh 
Mann showed up with some associates to protest the honor given to this 
brutal, barbaric ruler. During the protest, they tried to hang a 
picture of Dilawar Singh, who killed Beant Singh, on the statue. 
Dilawar Singh is considered by the Sikhs to be a martyr. For this act 
of protest, they were arrested.
  Mr. Mann is also one of the people who was arrested in 2005 for the 
crime of making speeches in support of Khalistan, the independent Sikh 
homeland, and raising the flag of Khalistan. I fail to see what crime 
was committed in any of these acts.
  Coupled with the recent arrest of Dr. Sukhpreet Singh Udhoke for 
publishing articles critical of the Chief Minister, Mann's arrest makes 
it clear that for minorities such as the Sikhs, free speech, free 
assembly, and a free press do not exist in India. For minorities such 
as Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, and others, India is far from the 
democracy it claims to be. For them, it's a police state just like the 
Soviet Union or Nazi Germany.
  Mann's arrest and Udhoke's arrest violate India's constitution as 
well as all the principles of freedom and democracy. We cannot stand 
idly by and let these arrests go by without taking any action.
  What can we do? We can and should cut off our aid and trade with 
India until all people there are allowed to enjoy basic human rights 
and civil rights. We can and should publicly 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 
in the form of a free and fair vote on their status. Self-determination 
is the essence of democracy. Unfortunately, ``the world's largest 
democracy'' denies this essential right to its minority citizens. We 
have a strong voice. Let us raise it in support of these minorities.
  The Council of Khalistan has issued a very informative press release 
on the arrest of Mr. Mann and his associates.

                 Simranjit Singh Mann Must Be Released

       Washington, DC, June 28, 2007.--The Council of Khalistan 
     today demanded the immediate release of former Member of 
     Parliament Sardar Simranjit Singh Mann and his associates who 
     tried to hang a picture of Beant Singh's assassin on the 
     late--Chief Minister's statue in Jalandhar. Beant Singh, who 
     received less than 7 percent of the vote, was installed as 
     Chief Minister by the Indian government. He presided over the 
     murders of more than 50,000 Sikhs. He was the person who 
     instituted the policy of secret cremation, in which young 
     Sikhs were arrested, murdered in police custody, then 
     declared unidentified'' and secretly cremated and the 
     families never received their bodies. This barbaric policy 
     was exposed by human-rights activist Sardar Jaswant Singh 
     Khalra. As a result of his report, Khalra was arrested and 
     murdered while in police custody. His body was also secretly 
     cremated and was never given to his family.
       Recently, the Punjab government under Parkash Singh Badal 
     erected a statue of Beant Singh in Jalandhar. Sardar Mann and 
     his associates were arrested when they tried to hang a 
     picture of his assassin, Dilawar Singh, on it.
       ``The arrest of Simranjit Singh Mann and his associates is 
     another blow to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly in 
     India. basic rights of free people,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh 
     Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. ``If a group 
     of people can't even hold a peaceful demonstration without 
     being arrested, then what rights do they really have? Where 
     is India's often and loudly proclaimed commitment to 
     democracy? Mann and his associates must be released 
     immediately.''
       Mann was previously arrested in 2005, along with other Sikh 
     activists, for making speeches in support of Khalistan and 
     raising the Khalistani flag. He came to prominence after the 
     Indian government's military attack on the Golden Temple and 
     37 other Gurdwaras in June 1984, in which over 20,000 Sikhs 
     were killed, including Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Mann 
     resigned from the police, saying that he could not serve a 
     government that would attack the Golden Temple. In 1989, Mann 
     wrote to the chief Justice of India, ``reiterating my 
     allegiance to the Constitution and territorial integrity of 
     India,'' according to Chakravyuh: Web of Indian Secularism by 
     Professor Gurtej Singh IAS, which reprints the letter. He 
     also served as a Member of parliament from Punjab around that 
     time. In the mid-1990s, Mann was arrested for peaceful 
     political activities by the Indian government and the Council 
     of Khalistan secured his release. In 2000, Mann came to the 
     United States with the blessing of the Indian government, 
     escorted through the United States and Canada by Amarjit 
     Singh of the Khalistan Affairs Center. He spoke to a group on 
     Capitol Hill in Washington DC and while speaking in New York, 
     he said that the office of the Council of Khalsitan in 
     Washington, DC should be closed. Since then, he has continued 
     his political activism in Punjab, Khalistan. Neither Amarjit 
     Singh nor the Khalistan Affairs Center has uttered a word of 
     protest against Mann's arrest. Mann's grandfather gave a 
     siropa to General Dyer, the British general who was in charge 
     of the army that massacred over 1,300 Sikhs at Jalianwalia 
     Bagh. A few years ago, Queen Elizabeth apologized to the 
     Sikhs for the massacre during her visit to Punjab.
       ``The arrest of Simranjit Singh Mann and his associates 
     shows that there is no freedom of speech in Punjab or in 
     India,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``This underlines the need for a 
     free, sovereign, independent Khalistan. In a free Khalistan, 
     no one would be arrested for peaceful political activity,'' 
     he said. ``In a free Khalistan, no one would erect a statue 
     to honor those who carry out genocide against the Sikh 
     religion and the Sikh Nation. These arrests should make it 
     clear to Sikhs that even if you cooperate with India. they 
     will use you and throw you away,'' said Dr. Aulakh.
       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), which expired in 1995. 
     Many have been in illegal custody since 1984. According to 
     Amnesty International, there are tens of thousands of other 
     minorities being held as political prisoners in India. 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, Dalits, Bodos, and others. The Indian 
     Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs 
     ``worse than a genocide.''
       ``The arrests of Simranjit Singh Mann and Dr. Sukhpreet 
     Singh Udhoke show that it is urgent to liberate Khalistan 
     from Indian rule as soon as possible,'' said Dr. Aulakh. 
     ``The time is now to launch a Shantmai Morcha to free 
     Khalistan.''

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