[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16938]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 KASHMIRI LEADER RAISES AUTONOMY ISSUE--OTHER STATE LEADERS FOLLOW HIS 
                                  LEAD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 27, 2000

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, the Chief Minister of Kashmir, 
Farooq Abdullah, recently called for greater autonomy for the state of 
Kashmir. However, Abdullah is closely allied with India's ruling BJP, 
and the BJP government firmly rejected the demand. Other state leaders 
like Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Simrangid Singh Mann asked Chief Badal 
to pass a similar measure in the Punjab Assembly.
  Under India's constitution, Kashmir was supposed to have a special 
status, but India has systematically chipped away at it. How would 
Chief Minister Abdullah make sure that they do not do so under his 
autonomy plan? The Indian government has imposed President's Rule on 
Punjab nine times. How would Punjabi leaders ensure that it would not 
happen again if Punjab has autonomy?
  When India forcibly and illegally occupied Kashmir, they promised 
that there would be a plebiscite on Kashmir's status. That promise has 
not been kept. The Sikhs in Punjab were promised ``the glow of 
freedom'' in Punjab. That promise, too, has been broken. India 
proclaims its democratic principles loudly, but fails to live up to 
them when the time comes.
  Mr. Speaker, the book The Politics of Genocide by Iderjit Singh 
Jaijee reports that the Indian government has murdered over 250,000 
Sikhs since 1984, over 70,000 Kashmiri Muslims, more than 200,000 
Christians in Nagalim, and thousands of others. According to Amnesty 
International, thousands of innocent civilians are being held as 
political prisoners. Christmas of 1998 unleashed a waive of violence 
against Christians that has resulted in church burnings and bombings, 
the murders of priests and missionaries, and other atrocities. Just 
recently, two extensive, independent studies concluded that the Indian 
government killed 35 Sikhs in Chithi Singhpora. Amnesty International 
has also said that India is responsible. How is autonomy going to 
prevent these things from happening?
  America should support self-determination for all the peoples and 
nations of South Asia. We should act against the atrocities by cutting 
off American aid against India until basic human rights are enjoyed by 
all people within its borders. We should declare India a terrorist 
nation. And we should declare our support for self-determination in 
South Asia by calling for a free and fair plebiscite on the question of 
independence. Not autonomy, but independence. That is the only 
solution, the only way to bring true freedom to all the peoples and 
nations of South Asia. If India is truly a democracy, why can't it 
allow the people of Kashmir to have the plebiscite fifty-two years ago? 
Why can't it allow the people of Khalistan, Nagalim, and the other 
nations seeking their freedom to vote on their status the democratic 
way? Is that too much to ask of democracy?

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