[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 191 (Thursday, December 13, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DR. AULAKH, PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN, HAS SUCCESSFUL TRIP TO 
                                 EUROPE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 13, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, recently, Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, 
President of the Council of Khalistan, made a very successful trip to 
Great Britain and Belgium. Belgium is the European headquarters of the 
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's shadowy ``intelligence 
service.''
  Dr. Aulakh spoke at three Gurdwaras and the crowds responded 
enthusiastically. They chanted pro-Khalistan slogans and they 
overwhelmingly supported the message of freedom for Khalistan, the Sikh 
homeland. This was a blow to the Indian occupation and oppression in 
Punjab, Khalistan.
  Their support should be rewarded, Madam Speaker. We should go on 
record supporting a free and fair vote on the matter. And we should 
stop our aid to India until such time as they recognize basic human 
rights.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to add the Council of Khalistan's recent 
release on Dr. Aulakh's European visit to the Record at this time.

              Dr. Aulakh's Visit to Europe Very Successful

       Washington, DC, Dec. 6.--Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President 
     of the Council of Khalistan, has recently returned from a 
     very successful trip to Europe. He traveled to Gurdwaras in 
     Belgium and Great Britain. He spoke at the Gurdwaras in Sint-
     Truiden in Belgium and in Slough and Birmingham in the United 
     Kingdom. Belgium is the European headquarters of India's 
     Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
       At every stop, slogans of ``Khalistan Zindabad'' filled the 
     air. Enthusiastic crowds greeted Dr. Aulakh's message of 
     freedom for Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared its 
     independence from India on October 7, 1987.
       ``I would like to thank my hosts in Europe for helping to 
     make the trip so successful,'' Dr. Aulakh said. The show of 
     support for liberating the Sikh Nation, Khalistan, from 
     Indian occupation shows that the flame of freedom burns 
     brightly in the hearts of the Sikh Nation despite India's 
     many years of oppression.''
       India has refused to allow so much as a vote on the matter 
     of independence for Khalistan. It has refused to grant the 
     people of Kashmir the plebiscite on their status that they 
     were promised in 1948. It continues to kill and harass Sikhs 
     and other minorities.
       The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 
     1984, more than 300,000 Christians since 1948, over 90,000 
     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 Sardar Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran 
     Singh Ghotna murdered him. Ghotna has never been brought to 
     trial for Jathedar Kaunke's 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.
       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 desire to reclaim the sovereignty that Guru Gobind 
     Singh declared for us still resides in every Sikh heart,'' 
     said Dr. Aulakh. ``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. ``Khalistan must and will be free soon.''

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