[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10254]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 10254]]

               RSS BOMBS CHRISTIAN WOMEN'S PRAYER MEETING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 7, 2000

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on May 31 Newsroom.org reported that a May 21 
bomb blast that injured 30 Christians during a prayer meeting was 
apparently carried out by the RSS, the pro-Fascist, militant Hindu 
fundamentalist organization that is the parent organization of the BJP, 
the party that leads India's government.
  According to the Newsroom report, which was brought to me by the 
President of the Council of Khalistan, Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, the 
bomb exploded during a meeting of the Women's Club, a Christian group. 
An extensive investigation by the All-India Christian Conference showed 
that the Sangh Parivar, a branch of the RSS, was responsible for the 
incident despite police claims that it came about as a result of strife 
within the Christian community. The Catholic Bishops' Conference has 
written to the Indian government demanding action.
  This bombing is the latest in a string of violent attacks on 
Christians and other religious minorities. According to the article, 
``the community is being threatened with anonymous letters and 
telephone calls ordering citizens to stop Christian prayers.'' Anti-
Christian slogans have been painted on walls all over town.
  In the light of incidents like this against Christians, Sikhs, 
Muslims, and other minorities, the United States must act. Our aid to 
India, one of the largest recipients of American aid, must be stopped 
until all people's rights are respected. India should be declared a 
terrorist state and punished accordingly. Congress should call for a 
free and fair plebiscite under international supervision to allow the 
Christians, Sikhs, and other minority nations under Indian rule to 
enjoy self-determination, as a democracy should.
  I would like to place the article from Newsroom into the Record. I 
urge my colleagues to read it and see the reality of religious freedom 
in India.

       Christians in India Claim Bombing Is Part of Hate Campaign

       NEW DELHI, India, 30 May 2000 (Newsroom)--A bomb blast that 
     injured 30 people in the coastal state of Andhra Pradesh last 
     week was part of a campaign of hate by Hindu extremists, 
     leaders of a Christian organization claim.
       The blast at a prayer meeting in the Women's Club at 
     Machilipatnam on May 24 was not the result of strife within 
     the community as police first said, according to a team 
     assembled by the All India Christian Council (AICC). The AICC 
     has presented its report to Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister 
     Nara Chandrababu Naidu, who said in a press release that he 
     has directed police to review the investigation.
       ``We have already written to Prime Minister Atal Behari 
     Vajpayee about this,'' Father Dominic of the Catholic 
     Bishop's Conference of India (CBCI) said. ``With the report 
     we hope the government will take it seriously.''
       The incident follows a series of attacks against Christian 
     institutions, priests, and nuns in the states of Uttar 
     Pradesh, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh.
       The AICC team--composed of an advocate, a pastor, and a 
     community representative--said it found disturbing elements 
     of a deliberate hate campaign by the Sangh Parivar, the 
     extended family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a 
     Hindu nationalist organization that is the ideological parent 
     of India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party. Provocative 
     statements and signs have been painted on the walls in the 
     town, the AICC said.
       The community is being threatened with anonymous letters 
     and telephone calls ordering citizens to stop Christian 
     prayers in the schools or face dire consequences, according 
     to the AICC.
       Police previously attributed the bombing to rivalry between 
     two local pastors. After interviewing Christians belonging to 
     both congregations, the AICC concluded that police were 
     incorrect. Local police have since said that senior officers 
     who made the earlier statements did so in haste.
       ``Going by the facts, evidence, and circumstances, in our 
     opinion the cause of the blast is a handiwork of 
     fundamentalists who conspired and executed a meticulous 
     precision blast without leaving any evidence to the site,'' 
     the AICC report said. The bomb was not an ``ordinary (crude) 
     one but it appears to be either a time bomb or a remote 
     bomb,'' according to the report.

     

                          ____________________