[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 14, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SIKHS OBSERVE ANNIVERSARY OF DELHI MASSACRES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 13, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, on November 3, Sikhs from up and down the 
East Coast gathered here in Washington to protest the 23rd anniversary 
of the Delhi massacres. Over 20,000 Sikhs were killed in that massacre, 
which followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Sikh police officers 
were locked in their barracks to keep them from interfering with the 
massacre. State TV and radio called for ``blood for blood,'' inciting 
the people to kill more Sikhs.
  This was a massive atrocity by the Indian regime against the Sikhs. 
It made it clear that the Indian government had no intention of 
treating the Sikhs like people in a free and democratic country ought 
to be treated. Instead, they chose to inflict mass terror on their Sikh 
citizens. This is not the way a democratic government acts, Madam 
Speaker. It is the action of a terrorist regime. India should be 
declared a terrorist regime for acts like this, for creating the 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and for its ongoing subversion of 
Pakistan by sponsoring cross-border terrorism in Sindh, as reported in 
the January 2, 2002 Washington Times.
  Sikhs in attendance at the demonstration raised slogans in support of 
Khalistan as well as slogans in opposition to the massacre. As you 
know, the Sikhs declared their independence from India on October 7, 
1987. Khalistan is their country, but it remains occupied by over half 
a million Indian forces. I would like to know why ``the world's largest 
democracy'' insists on maintaining authoritarian control of Khalistan 
instead of allowing the people there to have a free and fair vote on 
its status. This congress should put itself on record in support of 
such a vote, as well as the plebiscite that was promised to the 
Kashmiri people in 1948 and has never occurred. Nagalim, too, seeks its 
independence from India. The Nagas should also be granted the right to 
vote on their status. What would be wrong with that, if India is the 
democracy it says it is? And if India is the democracy it says it is, 
then why are so many peoples trying to get out from under its rule?
  In addition to demanding that India allow the right to self-
determination (which is the essence of democracy), we should demand 
that basic human rights be observed in ``the world's largest 
democracy.'' The Delhi massacre is just one example of how basic human 
rights are ignored there. The murders of over 250,000 Sikhs, over 
90,000 Kashmiri Muslims, more 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, more 
than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, and tens of thousands of other 
minorities, including Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils, and 
others speak loudly on the lack of human rights in India. So does the 
fact that Amnesty International has not been allowed into Punjab since 
1984. This situation cannot continue.
  We should cut off our aid and trade with India until it allows basic 
human rights, including but not limited to the right to self-
determination, to all people under its rule.
  Madam Speaker, the Council of Khalistan issued an excellent and 
informative press release on the Delhi massacres and the demonstration 
that was held this month. I recommend it to all my colleagues and I 
would like to place it in the Record at this time.

   Sikhs Remember Delhi Massacres With Very Successful Demonstration

       Washington, D.C., November 13, 2007.--Sikhs from around the 
     East Coast gathered by the Gandhi statue at the Indian 
     Embassy in Washington, DC on November 3 to commemorate the 
     Delhi massacres of November 1984 in which over 20,000 Sikhs 
     were murdered while the police were locked in their barracks 
     and the state-run television and radio called for more Sikh 
     blood.
       The rally was attended by Sikhs from Philadelphia, 
     including Dr. Bakhshish Singh Sandhu, S. Karj Singh, and S. 
     Dharam Singh, as well as Sikhs from New Jersey, Baltimore, 
     Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, and other locations. New 
     York Sikhs led by Sardar Avtar Singh Pannu also participated. 
     The attendees spoke, carried signs, and chanted slogans. 
     Slogans included ``Khalistan Zindabad'' (``Long live 
     Khalistan''), ``India free Khalistan'', ``India stop killing 
     minorities'', ``India free Kashmir'', ``India free Christian 
     Nagaland'', and others.
       The Delhi massacres were a brutal chapter in India's 
     repression of the Sikhs, according to Dr. Gurmit Singh 
     Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, which is 
     leading the demonstration. ``This brutal, government-inspired 
     massacre clarified that there is no place in India for 
     Sikhs,'' Dr. Aulakh said. On October 7, 1987, the Sikh Nation 
     declared its independence from India, naming its new country 
     Khalistan. In the twenty years since then, India has 
     continued its illegal occupation of Khalistan and stepped up 
     the repression of the Sikhs while the Sikh Nation has 
     continued to work to achieve its birthright.
       History shows that multinational states such as India are 
     doomed to failure. Countries like Austria-Hungary, India's 
     longtime friend the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, 
     and others prove this point. India is not one country; it is 
     a polyglot like those countries, thrown together for the 
     convenience of the British colonialists. It is doomed to 
     break up as they did.
       The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 
     1984, more than 300,000 Christians since 1948, over 89,000 
     Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of 
     Tamils, Assamese, Manipuris, Dalits, and others. The Indian 
     Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs 
     ``worse than a genocide.''
       Indian police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh 
     Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of 
     Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, 
     tortured, and murdered, and then their bodies were declared 
     unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police 
     custody. His body was not given to his family.
       The police never released the body of former Jathedar of 
     the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh 
     Ghotna murdered him. Ghotna has never been brought to trial 
     for the Jathedar Kaunke murder. No one has been brought to 
     justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh 
     Khalra.
       According to a report by the Movement Against State 
     Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs are being held as political 
     prisoners in India without charge or trial. Some have been in 
     illegal custody since 1984! Tens of thousands of other 
     minorities are also being held as political prisoners, 
     according to Amnesty International. We demand the immediate 
     release of all these political prisoners.
       ``Only a sovereign, independent Khalistan will end the 
     repression and lift the standard of living for the people of 
     Punjab,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the 
     Council of Khalistan. ``Democracies don't commit genocide. As 
     Professor Darshan Singh, a former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, 
     said, `If a Sikh is not for Khalistan, he is not a Sikh','' 
     Dr. Aulakh noted. ``We must continue to press for our God-
     given birthright of freedom,'' he said. ``Without political 
     power, religions cannot flourish and nations perish.''

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