[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16907]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    INDIA COALITION PARTNER THREATENS TO ENGULF COUNTRY IN VIOLENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN T. DOOLITTLE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 2000

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, last week, Bal Thackeray, founder and 
head of Shiv Sena, threatened to engulf India in violence if he is held 
accountable for his part in thousands of deaths in 1992.
  Shiv Sena is a coalition partner of the ruling BJP. Shiv Sena has 
been assigned responsibility for the bombing of the Ayodhya mosque in 
Uttar Pradesh.
  How could a democratic country accept a violent, intolerant person 
like this into the government? It is bad enough that the allies of the 
government commit atrocities and no one is ever held to account. Now a 
coalition partner says that he will engulf the country in violence. 
This shows that violence and intolerance are the prevailing way to life 
in India. Minorities are suffering from the intolerance of militant 
Hindu fundamentalists.
  A wave of violence against Christians has swept India since Christmas 
1998. The most recent incident was the bombing of two churches in the 
state of Karnataka. The violence against Christians has been so severe 
that they appealed to the international community for help. Churches 
have been burned and now bombed. There have been attacks on prayer 
halls, Christian schools, and other Christian institutions. Militant 
Hindu nationalists burned missionary Graham Staines and his two young 
boys to death in their jeep while they were sleeping.
  These atrocities show the truth about India. If it is ``the world's 
largest democracy,'' how can it allow atrocities like this to keep 
occurring with nobody being held responsible? As the world's only 
superpower and the bastion of freedom for the world, we should take 
action. We should stop aid to India until all people within its borders 
enjoy human rights. And we should put the Congress on record in support 
of self-determination for the people of Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagalim, 
and all the countries seeking their freedom from India.
  I submit the article on Mr. Thackeray into the Record, Mr. Speaker. I 
hope everyone will read it.

         [From the New York Times International, July 17, 2000]

              Protests by Hindu Group Raise Fear in India

       BOMBAY, July 16 (Reuters)--Much of Bombay was shut down 
     today by fear and protests over the possible prosecution of a 
     militant Hindu leader in connection with riots that left more 
     than 2,000 people dead in 1992.
       Supporters of Bal Thackeray, the leader of the Hindu 
     nationalist party Shiv Sena, took to the Streets Saturday 
     after the Maharashtra State government decided to let the 
     police prosecute him in the countrywide rioting. That 
     violence, directed mainly at India's Muslim minority, erupted 
     after the destruction of a mosque in the town of Ayodhaya, 
     and Shiv Sena got most of the blame.
       Police officials said no action had been taken to arrest 
     Mr. Thackeray. but many shops closed and people stayed 
     indoors here and in other parts of the state as Shiv Sena 
     supporters pelted buses with stones and blocked commuter 
     train services.
       Today Mr. Thackeray appealed for calm, but on Saturday he 
     was quoted as saying, ``Not only Maharashtra but the entire 
     country will burn'' as a result of the decision, which he 
     called ``an incitement to communal riots.''

     

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