[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16927-16928]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



OPEN LETTER FROM COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN CALLS ON SIKHS TO STOP SUPPORTING 
                             INDIAN TYRANNY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 20, 1999

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, the conflict in Kashmir has been in the news 
a lot lately. The conflict stemmed from an attack on the Kashmiri 
freedom fighters in Kargil. While it looks as if the conflict may be 
receding, there is still fighting. The Sikhs in Punjab are afraid that 
it will spread to Punjab, Khalistan. The fighting will continue as long 
as India uses force to suppress the freedom movements of South Asia.
  While the fighting was at its height, the Council of Khalistan, which 
leads the Sikh freedom struggle, issued an open letter on the 
situation. The letter told Sikh troops that if they died for India, 
they would die as mercenaries, but if they died for Sikh freedom, they 
would die as martyrs. It urged them to go home and join the struggle to 
liberate Khalistan.
  In the letter, the Council of Khalistan pointed out that an Indian 
colonel said that the troops were ``dying like dogs'' and that 60 
percent of the soldiers killed were Sikhs. This is typical of India's 
strategy to keep the minority nations of South Asia within their 
artificial borders. They send draftees from one minority to kill 
another. They don't put Hindu lives at risk. ``Are you willing to die 
for a country that practices a policy of mass cremations against our 
Sikh brothers and sisters, a policy the Indian Supreme Court called, 
`worse than a genocide'?,'' said the letter.
  It is essential that we help bring real peace to South Asia. Both 
India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons, and we must do what we can to 
prevent these weapons from being used. So far, American involvement in 
the situation has been mainly to lean on Pakistan to bring an end to 
the conflict. But it is only India that can end the conflict. Only when 
India stops its efforts to repress the freedom movements can the 
conflict in South Asia end.
  India is anti-American and has tried to organize a security alliance 
against the United States, and in May the Foreign Minister organized 
and led a meeting with Cuba, China, Russia, Serbia, Iraq, and Libya 
``to stop the U.S.'' Amnesty International reported that thousands of 
political prisoners remain in illegal detention without charge or 
trial. Some have been there for 15 years. India has murdered over 
250,000 Sikhs since 1984 in its quest for ``Hindutva.'' It has also 
killed tens of thousands of Christians in Nagaland, Muslims in Kashmir, 
Dalits, and other peoples in this pursuit. Sooner or later, India is 
doomed to break up. I only hope that it does so peacefully. We must not 
allow another Yugoslavia to emerge in South Asia, where nuclear weapons 
are present.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come for our country to support freedom for 
all the people of South Asia. If India cannot learn to respect basic 
human rights as we do in this country, then it should not receive any 
aid or trade from the United States. It is time for the Congress to put 
itself on record in support of the freedom movements in Khalistan, 
Kashmir, Christian Nagaland, and the other nations of South Asia.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to put the Council of Khalistan's open 
letter on Kashmir into the Record for the information of my colleagues.

                                         Council of Khalistan,

                                    Washington, DC, June 16, 1999.


             Open Letter to the Sikh Soldiers and Officers

           Stop ``Dying Like Dogs'' for the Indian Oppressors

                  Will You Be a Martyr or a Mercenary?

            Join the Freedom Movement to Liberate Khalistan

       Khalsa Ji: The Indian attack on the Kashmiri freedom 
     fighters at Kargil again shows the reality of Hindutva. You 
     see the death of your fellow Sikhs on a daily basis. About 60 
     percent of the casualties are Sikhs. When India wants to 
     suppress a freedom movement, they send other minorities to do 
     the dirty work, pitting minorities against each other. 
     Hindustan will just use you and discard you. Do not let 
     yourself be a mercenary for this divide-and-rule strategy by 
     the Indian tyrants.
       India is losing this war. Casualties are mounting. An 
     Indian colonel admitted that the troops are ``dying like 
     dogs.'' A corporal is quoted as saying. ``Even in war we 
     don't have such senseless casualties.'' All these deaths are 
     very tragic, but it is especially sad when Sikh soldiers give 
     their lives for the oppressor. If a Sikh soldier must die, at 
     least die for the Khalsa Panth. If you die for the Khalsa 
     Panth, you will be a martyr. If you die for India, you are 
     just a mercenary.
       What are you dying for? Are you willing to die for a 
     country that has murdered over 250,000 of our Sikh brothers 
     and sisters since 1984? Are you willing to die for a country 
     that desecrated the Golden Temple, shot bullet holes through 
     the Guru Granth Sahib? Are you willing to die for a country 
     that practices a policy of mass cremations against our Sikh 
     brothers and sisters, a policy the Indian Supreme Court 
     called ``worse than a genocide''?
       If you are dying anyway, come home and die for our homeland 
     like the martyrs who were murdered in the Golden Temple 
     attack. It is better to promote the freedom and glory of the 
     Khalsa Panth than to promote Hindutva and the ``territorial 
     integrity'' of India. When human-rights are being violated on 
     such a massive scale, ``territorial integrity'' is not an 
     issue.
       The political creed of India is ``Hindu, Hindui, Hindutva, 
     Hindu Rashtra.'' As the former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, 
     Balram Jakhar, said, ``If we have to kill a million Sikhs to 
     preserve our territorial integrity, so be it.'' When India 
     wants to protect its artificial borders, it is Sikhs who get 
     killed. When we seek freedom, it is Sikhs who get killed. How 
     can Sikhs put their lives on the line for a country like 
     that?
       You are all aware of the plight of Sikhs back home in 
     Punjab. The Indian government has bribed Sikh policemen with 
     cash and promotions to murder their Sikh brothers and 
     sisters. The U.S. State Department reported that between 1992 
     and 1994 the Indian government paid over 41,000 cash bounties 
     to policemen for killing Sikhs. One policeman collected a 
     bounty for murdering a three-year-old boy. Why should Sikhs 
     give their lives for that?
       Are you aware that in 37 border villages back in Punjab, 
     the people have evacuated because they are afraid that his 
     war on the Kashmiri freedom fighters will expand to Punjab? 
     As the people of Kosovo fled from their homes in fear of the 
     Serbian government's brutality, the people of Punjab, 
     Khalistan--your family, friends, and neighbors--are fleeing 
     their homes in fear of the brutal Indian government. There 
     has been a new deployment of troops to Punjab, raising fears 
     that India will launch an attack on Pakistan from the Sialkot 
     sector. If that happens, more Sikhs will lose their lives.
       Every day in Ardas, Sikhs pray ``Raj Kare Ga Khalsa,'' the 
     Khalsa shall rule. Our heritage is ``Khalsa Bagi Yan 
     Badshah,'' the Khalsa rules or it is in rebellion. Our Gurus 
     teach us to oppose tyranny wherever it rears its ugly head. 
     How can Sikhs say that and then go fight for a country that 
     denies our Sikh brothers and sisters the most basic human 
     rights?

[[Page 16928]]

       India's political situation is unstable and it is losing 
     this bloody war. In desperation, it has resorted to using 
     chemical weapons. This is a shame on India. It shows the 
     Indian government's complete disregard for the lives of 
     Sikhs, Muslims, and other minorities. However, the 
     instability provides an opportunity to liberate Khalistan.
       Recently, a group of Sikhs living in Pakistan called for a 
     common front with our Kashmiri brothers to liberate both 
     Khalistan and Kashmir. They said that now is the ideal time 
     for such an effort. They are right. Let us make common cause 
     with the Kashmiri freedom fighters and liberate our countries 
     together.
       Sikhs remember their martyrs and we also remember our 
     enemies. Sikhs ended the regime of the tyrant Indira Gandhi. 
     A brave Sikh named Delawar Singh ended the tyranny of Beant 
     Singh. Would you rather be remembered as a brave Sikh martyr 
     like Delawar Singh or as a traitor like K.P.S. Gill?
       I call on Sikhs in the Indian armed forces, whether 
     officers or soldiers, to stop shooting at the Kashmiri 
     freedom fighters and join the Sikh freedom movement. Stop 
     ``dying like dogs'' for the theocratic Indian state. These 
     Kashmiri freedom fighters have the same as the goal of the 
     Sikh Nation: to live in freedom, peace, prosperity, and 
     dignity.
       Now is the time to join the Sikh freedom movement and 
     liberate Khalistan. You are trained soldiers. The Khalsa 
     Panth needs your services. You will be remembered as the 
     liberators of Khalistan. Remember Gen. Shabeg Singh who gave 
     his life defending the sanctity of Darbar Sahib and the honor 
     of the Sikh Nation. We must free Khalistan. Nations don't 
     survive without political power. This is the opportune time 
     for us. We must not let this opportunity pass.
           Panth Da Sewadar,
                                          Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,
                                                        President.

     

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