[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 26172]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       SEEKING PROTECTION FOR KASHMIRI PANDITS DURING CEASE-FIRE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I wanted tonight to spend a few minutes 
saying, first of all, that I am pleased that the Government of Pakistan 
has positively responded to India's month-long cease-fire in Kashmir.

                              {time}  1845

  I think many of us know that about a week ago, India declared a 
cease-fire unilaterally, hoping that it would get a positive response 
from Pakistan as well as from some of the secessionist or separatist 
organizations that operate within Kashmir. We have found out over the 
weekend that Pakistan did decide, as the foreign secretary said, to 
observe maximum restraint with regard to its troops that were deployed 
along the disputed border in Kashmir.
  Last week, Mr. Speaker, I wrote to the Pakistani ambassador in 
Washington asking his government to accept India's call for a cease-
fire, and I was very pleased again to hear that Pakistan's foreign 
secretary had indicated now that they will also observe it. In 
addition, I thought it was particularly relevant that the All Parties 
Hurriyat Conference had indicated that they might be prepared to begin 
talks or negotiations with India with regard to Kashmir. Certainly 
having them come back to the table and have discussions with the Indian 
government with regard to Kashmir is a positive sign. Between the 
Pakistani actions and the actions of the All Parties Hurriyat 
Conference, we might actually see some positive developments over the 
next few weeks or the next few months with regard to peace in Kashmir.
  However, in the midst of all this, I found it very unfortunate that 
the Kashmiri Pandits, the Hindus as well as the Sikhs, who are a 
minority in Kashmir, continue to be the victims of violence. Over the 
weekend again, we heard, in fact, on Friday that four sleeping Hindu 
children between the ages of 3 and 15 years old were shot and killed in 
a remote Kashmiri mountain village. This is the third attack on 
Kashmiri Pandits in less than a week since India declared the cease-
fire.
  Again, why is it that the minorities in Kashmir, the Pandits, the 
Hindu minority as well as the Sikhs who have also suffered and some 
have been killed over the last week since the cease-fire, continue to 
be the subject of these attacks? I can only hope that with the joint 
cease-fire that now appears to be in existence and the fact that there 
may be talks with some of the separatist groups, that the violence 
against minorities such as the Pandits and the Sikhs will stop, because 
for too long they have been the victims, if you will, more than any 
other group, of the problems and of the violence and of the continued 
dispute over Kashmir.
  Mr. Speaker, today I wrote a letter to the Pakistani ambassador in 
Washington not only thanking him for deciding to go ahead with the 
cease-fire but also asking that steps be taken to try to end the 
violence against the Pandits. I wrote a similar letter to the Indian 
ambassador in Washington, not only commending him and Prime Minister 
Vajpayee for sticking with this Ramadan cease-fire for the month but 
also asking that steps be taken by the Indian government to try to 
protect the Kashmiri Pandits as well.
  I wanted to add, Mr. Speaker, that the Prime Minister of India, Mr. 
Vajpayee, has to be commended not only for unilaterally declaring the 
cease-fire last week but also for doing so despite the fact that the 
separatist militants continued with their violent acts over this last 
week and despite the fact that many domestic opponents criticized his 
action. Prime Minister Vajpayee has told me many times that he cares 
for the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits and understands that there will 
never be peace in Kashmir unless they can live in their homes without 
fear. I also ask once again that when any peace talks take place over 
the next few weeks, that the status of the Pandits and their security 
also be raised in the context of those peace talks. If we are ever 
going to see toleration of all religions in Kashmir, it is certainly 
necessary that steps be taken now to protect them, to protect their 
security, and that reference be made to their status in the context of 
any peace talks that might take place.

                          ____________________