[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 149 (Wednesday, October 3, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    INDIA BUGGED BLAIR'S HOTEL ROOM

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 3, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, on August 3, India-West reported that 
during former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to India 
shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the Indian regime bugged Prime Minister 
Blair's hotel room. According to the article, they didn't do a very 
good job of it, either.
  India-West reported that Prime Minister Blair's associate, Alistair 
Campbell, wrote in his book that Blair's people found the bugs but 
decided not to make a fuss about them. According to India-West, 
Campbell writes that ``On his way to the hotel, Blair asked the then 
British High Commissioner in India if the car was bugged only to 
receive a `kind of noncommittal no.' '' Campbell also describes the 
discovery of two listening devices in Prime Minister Blair's hotel 
room. Campbell reported that the bugs couldn't be removed ``without 
drilling the wall,'' so Mr. Blair simply used a different room. He also 
writes about a valet named Sunil who was there wherever Campbell went. 
``I was beginning to wonder whether he had been put there either by 
spooks or by a paper,'' Campbell wrote.
  Madam Speaker, this is an outrage. The fact that India feels the need 
to spy on a democratic leader who is fighting the same war on terror 
that India claims to support shows that India's sympathies do not lie 
on the side of the Free World. It also shows that India's claims to be 
a democracy ring hollow. Perhaps they can hear their claims ring hollow 
in one of their listening devices.
  Those claims are further belied by India's ongoing repression against 
Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and other minorities. We all know that 
India has murdered more than a quarter of a million Sikhs, over 300,000 
Christians in Nagaland, more than 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir, 2,000 to 
5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, and tens of thousands of other minorities 
such as manipuris, Tamils, Bodos, Assamese, Bengalis, Dalits, et 
cetera. We all know of the tens of thousands of political prisoners. 
Harassment and false arrest are common. Some Sikh activists were 
arrested for making speeches and raising a flag! Does that sound like 
democracy to you, Madam Speaker?
  Why do we accept this? America is founded on the idea of freedom for 
all. There is something we can do about the tyranny in India. We owe it 
to the oppressed people there to stop our aid and trade with India 
(especially since more than 836 million people there live on less than 
40 cents per day) and we should demand self-determination for the 
people of Punjab, Khalsitan, Nagalim, Kashmir, and all people seeking 
their freedom. Self-determination is the essence of democracy. Our 
actions can help bring real freedom and prosperity to all the people of 
the subcontinent. Let us do whatever we can.

                [From the Times of India, Aug. 3, 2007]

       Delhi Clumsily Bugged Tony Blair's Room During 2001 Visit

                        (By Rashmee Roshan Lall)

       London.--Indian intelligence clumsily bugged Tony Blair's 
     hotel room in Delhi during the British prime minister's visit 
     to India one month after the 9/11 attacks, his chief spin 
     doctor Alastair Campbell has said.
       In his newly published diaries released in India July 25. 
     Campbell said Blair's entourage found the bugs but decided 
     not to make a fuss. On his way to the hotel, Blair asked the 
     then British High Commissioner in Delhi if the car was 
     bugged, only to receive a ``kind of noncommittal no.'' 
     Campbell writes about Blair's passage to India on Oct. 5, 
     2001.
       Later, he describes an ``incriminating'' discovery of two 
     bugs in the British prime minister's hotel room.
       ``At the hotel, our security service guys had found two 
     bugs in TB's bedroom and said they wouldn't be able to move 
     them without drilling the wall, so TB used a different 
     room,'' he wrote.
       Campbell's revelations are probably the first time someone 
     within the innermost circle of a British prime minister has 
     openly accused the Indian authorities of bugging and dirty 
     tricks. Campbell also claims in the diaries, titled ``The 
     Blair Years,'' that he too was probably spied upon by Indian 
     intelligence, via the services of a ``valet'' named Sunil.
       The ``valet,'' says Campbell drove him ``bananas everywhere 
     I went, he was there. I was beginning to wonder whether he 
     had been put there either by the spooks or a paper.''

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