[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 26662-26663]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   INDIAN POLICE TRY TO STOP SIKHS FROM VISITING RELIGIOUS SHRINE IN 
         PAKISTAN--SIKHS REALIZE NEED FOR INDEPENDENT KHALISTAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 14, 2000

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, many of us have spoken to the House about the 
oppression of Sikhs and other minorities in India. I am distressed to 
have to report yet another incident.
  Last month, thousands of Sikhs gathered from around the world to 
celebrate the birthday of the first Sikh guru, Guru Nankana Sahib, in 
his birthplace, Nankana Sahib, which is in present-day Pakistan. My 
good friend Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of 
Khalistan, was among those in attendance. The government of Pakistan 
had issued 3,200 visas for Sikhs from Punjab to come across the border 
and visit Nankana Sahib for this very important religious occasion. At 
the Attari, railroad station on the border between India and Pakistan, 
a group of 6,000 police with sticks called lathis charged the 3,200 
Sikhs. They sprayed them with tear gas. Only 800, one-fourth of the 
number granted visas, were allowed to go to Nankana Sahib. Three-
fourths were prevented from attending this religious event.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, this is purely a religious event. There was no 
politics involved. It was an observance of a religious occasion at a 
religious shrine, not a rally against the government of India. There 
was no good reason to prevent these Sikhs from attending this religious 
event except to intimidate them and create a climate of fear because of 
their religion. Freedom of religion is one of the essential freedoms of 
a democratic state, yet this action makes it clear again that religious 
freedom does not exist in India. It may exist in theory, it may be 
written in Indian law, but in actual fact there is no religious freedom 
for Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and other minorities. In practice, the 
real policy of the militant Hindu nationalist Indian government, no 
matter who is charge, is to create a Hindu state and wipe out all other 
religious expressions. As former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar pointed 
out, there is no difference between the ruling BJP and the opposition 
Congress Party. The effect for religious minorities is the same.
  Since 1984, according to Inderjit Singh Jaijee's The Politics of 
Genocide, over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered in India. India has 
killed more than 200,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, over 70,000 
Kashmiri Muslims since 1988, and tens of thousands of other minorities. 
There is only one way to put an end to the killing and the oppression, 
as the Sikhs who were attacked at the Attari station can tell you. It 
is to allow the people of Khalistan, the people of Kashmir, the people 
of Nagalim, and all the nations of South Asia to live in freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to tell the truth about India. Despite its 
pretense of democracy, it is a theocratic Hindu state where human 
rights for minorities are a matter of personal whim and political 
expediency. Such a country must

[[Page 26663]]

be declared a violator of basic religious rights, with all the 
penalties that entails. It must be declared a terrorist nation, as 21 
of us wrote to President Clinton earlier this year, and a hostile 
country, as 17 of us wrote in another letter. Given this abysmal record 
the United States must stop its aid to India and demand a free and fair 
plebiscite in Punjab, Khalistan, in Kashmir, in Nagaland, and 
throughout India to decide the future of these Indian-held states in a 
democratic way. These measures will help to ensure that the glow of 
freedom can finally shine on all the people of South Asia.
  I would like to submit the Council of Khalistan's open letter on this 
incident into the Record at this time. It is very informative, and I 
urge everyone to read it.

                                         Council of Khalistan,

                                 Washington, DC, December 7, 2000.

 Police Harass Sikh Pilgrims to Discourage Them From Visiting Nankana 
                                 Sahib


There Is No Place for Sikhs in Indian ``Democracy''--Professor Darshan 
Singh Said at Nankana Sahib, ``If a Sikh Is Not a Khalistani, He Is Not 
                                a Sikh''

       Khalsa Ji: Last month, it was my privilege to attend the 
     531st birthday celebration of Guru Nanak Sahib. I would like 
     to thank everyone involved for their hospitality. However, 
     some Sikh pilgrims from Punjab who tried to attend this 
     important religious event were not so cordially treated. A 
     majority of the Sikhs were stopped at the Attari railway 
     station on the border by 6000 police with lathis. 3200 
     pilgrims were beaten by the police and tear gas was used. 
     Only 800 were allowed to visit Nankana Sahib. It was very 
     clear to the Sikhs that the Indian government does not want 
     Sikhs to visit Guru Nanak's birthplace. These Sikhs from 
     Punjab realize that they need a free and independent 
     Khalistan so that no one can ever again stop them from 
     participating in the birthday celebration of Guru Nanak in 
     Nankana Sahib.
       This harassment of Sikhs shows us again that we need a 
     sovereign, independent Khalistan to visit our holy shrines, 
     to protect our rights, our security, and our dignity. Under 
     Indian rule, Sikhs are not even allowed to visit Guru Nanak's 
     birthplace to celebrate his birthday. Sikhs are slaves under 
     Indian rule. As long as India continues to occupy our 
     homeland, our slavery will continue. There is only one 
     solution: a sovereign, free, and independent Khalistan. Only 
     in a free Khalistan can Sikhs live in freedom, dignity, 
     prosperity, and peace. Without political power, nations 
     perish. Professor Darshan Singh Ragi, former Jathedar of the 
     Akal Takht, said, ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not 
     a Sikh.'' We must reclaim our lost sovereignty. If the BJP 
     wants Hindu Raj, then why does it object to Khalsa Raj?
       The Sikh Nation is sovereign and ruled Punjab up to 1849 
     when the British took over. Punjab was recognized by most of 
     the world's major powers at that time. It was a truly 
     democratic, truly secular state, rule of the Punjabis, by the 
     Punjabis, for the Punjabis. Maharajah Ranjit Singh had 
     Muslims and Hindus in his cabinet and among his generals. 
     Under his rule, religious shrines of all religions were 
     built, with his support. This is the kind of state that India 
     claims to be, but is not. Behind the pretense of secular 
     democracy, India is a Hindu theocratic state that oppresses 
     Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and others.
       The Sikhs outside India are Khalistanis. They are the ones 
     who will free Khalistan. The present Akali leadership is 
     under Indian government control. India will only allow Akali 
     leaders to come out of India if they toe the line of the 
     Indian government. These Akali leaders are not welcome in 
     foreign countries.
       None of the political parties will lead Punjab, Khalistan 
     to freedom. The Shiromani Akali Dal, under the leadership of 
     Chief Minister Badal, is in political coalition with the 
     militant Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 
     which is part of the RSS, an organization founded in support 
     of Fascism. Badal has not even kept the modest promises that 
     he made to get elected: to free the political prisoners and 
     to hold police officers responsible for their actions in the 
     genocide against the Sikh Nation. Gurcharan Singh Tohra, 
     leader of the All-India Akali Dal, worked with the Indian 
     government prior to the attack on the Golden Temple and 
     surrendered to the Indian forces when they came into the Sikh 
     Nation's holiest shrine. Simranjit Singh Mann was elected to 
     Parliament with the support of Badal after promising not to 
     mention Khalistan. At the Sikh Day Parade in New York, Mann 
     would not join in when the crowd chanted ``Khalistan 
     Zinbabad.'' Even U.S. Congressman Major Owens joined in. Yet 
     Mann would not do so. This revealed his true colors. In 1989, 
     he wrote to the Chief Justice of India pledging his support 
     for India's constitution and territorial integrity.
       The Congress Party is no better. It is the party that 
     conducted the invasion and desecration of the Golden Temple. 
     Recently, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar said that 
     there is no difference between the BJP and Congress, and he 
     is right.
       India's genocide against the Sikh Nation highlights the 
     problem the Sikh Nation faces without our own raj. The Indian 
     government continues its effort to try to wipe the Sikh 
     religion out of existence. A free Khalistan is essential for 
     the survival of the Sikh Nation.
       There are still 50,000 Sikhs rotting in Indian jails 
     without charge or trial. Yet the Sikh leaders have remained 
     silent. According The Politics of Genocide by Inderjit Singh 
     Jaijee, over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered at the hands of 
     the Indian government according to the Punjab State 
     Magistracy, yet the Sikh leadership remains silent. Why can't 
     they start a Shantmai Morcha to free the Sikh political 
     prisoners?
       The massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chithi Singhpora shows that 
     without sovereignty, the Indian oppression of the Sikh Nation 
     will continue. Two exhaustive investigations have proven that 
     the Indian government is responsible for this massacre. Now 
     the Indian government has even admitted that the alleged 
     militants they killed were innocent. This atrocity underlines 
     the need for a sovereign, independent Khalistan. The Indian 
     government has demonstrated that it can conduct massacres of 
     Sikhs whenever and wherever it wants. The Khalsa Panth must 
     answer this wake-up call and free Khalistan.
       Punjab is a police state. None of the political parties 
     will bring us Khalistan. If we do not show courage and 
     liberate Khalistan, the coming generations of Sikhs will also 
     live in slavery. They will not forgive us if we do not 
     liberate our homeland.
       In Panjab, they will not procure your rice crop. Farmers 
     are forced to buy fertilizer at extremely high prices; then 
     the government buys up all their produce at artificially low 
     prices to keep the farmers poor even though Panjab, with just 
     two percent of the population, produces over 60 percent of 
     India's wheat and rice reserves. The farmers of Punjab should 
     not have to live that way. In a free Khalistan, we can sell 
     our produce anywhere in the world to maximize our profit. We 
     will not have to have our water diverted to non-riparian 
     states. Free Khalistan will bring economic prosperity for the 
     farmers of Punjab in particular and other Punjabis in 
     general. Indian rule only means economic deprivation and 
     slavery.
       India claims that it is a democracy, but there is more to 
     democracy than elections. Democracies don't commit genocide. 
     If India is a democracy, then why won't it allow the people 
     of Punjab, Khalistan, Kashmir, and the other minority nations 
     it occupies to vote on their political status in a free and 
     fair plebiscite?
       India is very unstable. India is on the verge of 
     disintegration. It will disintegrate by the year 2010. 
     Kashmir is going to be free from Indian control soon. As soon 
     as Kashmir is free, Khalistan will follow it. The only way to 
     escape Indian slavery is to liberate Khalistan. New Sikh 
     leadership must emerge to free the Sikh Nation. They should 
     demand self-determination. They should raise the slogan 
     ``India Quit Khalistan'' and start Shantmai Morcha until we 
     achieve freedom. We have now seen how the India government 
     controls Sikh institutions and the entire Sikh leadership in 
     Punjab.
       Unless the Sikh Nation brings back the Sikh spirit and 
     fight for truth and justice as practiced by Guru Nanak, the 
     Khalsa Panth will not prosper. Remember Guru required the 
     Khalsa to remove evil. Only in a free Khalistan will Sikhs be 
     able to live as required by the Guru. Only in a free 
     Khalistan can the Sikh religion flourish. Only then can the 
     Sikh Nation finally enjoy the glow of freedom that is our 
     birthright. Let us join hands to accomplish our goal of a 
     free Khalistan by 2010.
       Khalsa Ji, the responsibility is ours. We must start a 
     Khalsa Raj Party and begin a Shantmai Morcha to liberate 
     Khalistan. We must stop supporting leaders who are under the 
     control of the brutal Indian government. We must remember our 
     heritage, ``Khalsa Bagi Yan Badshah.'' Let us commit 
     ourselves to liberate Khalistan and control our own destiny 
     so that the Sikh Nation can flourish and prosper. Support 
     only those new leaders who are honest, dedicated, fearless, 
     and committed to freedom for Khalistan. Any other course is 
     support for keeping the Khalsa Panth in slavery.
           Sincerely,

                                      Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

                                                        President,
                                             Council of Khalistan.

     

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