[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 6384-6385] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]SIKHS MARCH TO CELEBRATE 300TH BAISAKHI DAY ______ HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS of new york in the house of representatives Tuesday, April 13, 1999 Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, April 10, the Sikhs of the United States marched to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the initiation of the Khalsa Panth. The march, which was led by Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh and the Council of Khalistan, was a celebration of all the Sikhs in this country. Similar celebrations have been held or are being held in other countries. This was a major milestone for the Sikh Nation. I congratulate the Khalsa Panth (Sikh Nation) on their auspicious 300th Baisakhi Day. The Sikhs received congratulations from several of my colleagues including our own Minority Whip, and also from the Mayor of Washington, DC, Anthony Williams. I note that the Governors of Texas and New Jersey have also proclaimed ``the Year of the Khalsa.'' It is good to see such bipartisan support for the Sikhs, who are being subjected to brutal atrocities and repression in India. Justice Ajit Singh Bains, Chairman of the Punjab Human Rights Organization, and General Narinder Singh from Punjab, Khalistan, spoke to the event. Their remarks were very well received, from what I am told. I wish I could have joined my Sikh friends at this march, but I was not able to do so. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on this important anniversary. I look forward to greeting many of them at the upcoming Vaisakhi Day parade in New York. This anniversary has attracted worldwide attention. The Washington Post and many other important media outlets covered this event. At this march, the Sikhs of America raised their voices loudly for freedom. The heritage of the Sikh Nation is freedom. They ruled Punjab from 1765 to 1849. It was noted at the march that the last of the Sikh Gurus, Guru Gobind Singh, gave them a sense of national identity 300 years ago. It was pointed out that every day the Sikhs pray that they shall again rule their homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. Sikhs are a separate people, both religiously and culturally. They are not a part of Hindu [[Page 6385]] India. No Sikh representative has ever signed the Indian constitution. Many of us in this House, from both parties, have been calling for an end to American aid to India until it respects basic human rights and for a free and fair vote on the political status of Punjab, as well as notes on the status of Kashmir, Nagaland, and all the nations living under Indian rule. This auspicious anniversary would be a good time to renew that call and renew our efforts to bring freedom, peace, and prosperity to all the people of South Asia. I insert the Washington Post article in the Record. [From the Washington Post, Apr. 11, 1999] Sikhs Parade and Pray for Separate Nation (By Caryle Murphy) Chanting praises to their greatest guru and walking behind a giant model of their Golden Temple, several thousand Sikhs marched down Constitution Avenue yesterday to celebrate the 300th anniversary of their religion's most sacred event, the creation of the first community of Sikh believers. Five bearded Sikh priests bearing long daggers and dressed in saffron-hued turbans, led the colorful Khalsa March '99 from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol. A float carried the Sikh scripture, Granth, which was covered by a silver canopy decorated with flowers. The march, which drew many of the Washington area's 7,000 Sikhs and others from across the country, was mainly to honor Sikhism. ``I came to celebrate our religion and what it's given to humanity,'' said Permeil Dass, 24, of Cleveland, who works in a community computer center. ``Our religion is very modern,'' she added, noting that it opposes inequality between human beings, the worship of idols and use of intoxicants. But yesterday's day-long event was as much political as religious, with speakers at a pre-parade rally calling for an independent Sikh nation--to be named Khalistan--in the northwest Indian state of Punjab, home of the Sikh religion. The Indian government opposes a separate Sikh state in Punjab. ``In the Sikh religion, religion and politics are inseparable,'' said Gurmit Singh Aulakh, head of the District-based Council of Khalistan, one of the groups sponsoring yesterday's event. ``We are aware that without political power no religion can flourish.'' Among the banners carried in the parade were ones that said, ``To Save Sikhism, Sikhs Want-Khalistan'' and ``A Sikh Nation, On the Move.'' In an interview, San Diego resident Harinder Singh indicated that nationalism, as much as religious devotion, had brought him to yesterday's event. ``This is the least we can do to have some political voice around the world,'' the 36-year-old software engineer said. The message he hoped to deliver, he added, was that ``sooner or later [Khalistan] is going to happen.'' On Friday, the Indian Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission T.P. Sreenivasan, said celebrations of the Sikh religion are ``something we heartily support.'' As for political demands voiced at the parade, Sreenivasan added: ``This is a free country. But that is not the purpose of the march.'' In a 1984 crackdown on Sikh militants, Indian police raided their Golden Temple at Amritsar. In retaliation, Sikh bodyguards killed Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi five months later. Yesterday's event, which Aulakh estimated drew 25,000 Sikhs, commemorated the day in 1699 when the 10th and greatest Sikh teacher, Guru Gobind Singh, initiated Khalsa Panth, the ``Brotherhood of the Pure.'' Khalsa Panth is the community of those who commit themselves to the tenets of Sikhism. In creating Khalsa Panth, Gobind broadened authority within the religion and took the final step, Sikhs believe, in the centuries-long establishment of their religion, which began in the 1400s with the first Sikh teacher, Guru Nanak. Before yesterday's march, the Sikhs gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where many waved small U.S. flags and saffron-colored flags with the blue Sikh symbol of Khalsa. On state, musicians played Sikh songs on the harmonium and drums called ``tabla.'' Dressed in long, flowing tunics with matching pantaloons, women wound their way up a red carpet to kneel and kiss their holy scripture, dropping offerings of a dollar or two. Later, all stood in place with hands folded and heads bowed for a communal prayer. Then it was time to march. ____________________