[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16018-16019]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                CONGRATULATIONS TO COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 1, 2001

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan, led by my friend 
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, recently completed 15 years of service and I 
would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Council of 
Khalistan. Dr. Aulakh is a well-known presence around here. He has been 
working these halls for 15 years, advocating the cause of freedom for 
the Sikhs of Punjab, Khalistan, who are being subjected to brutal 
tyranny by the Indian government.
  The Sikhs and other minorities like the Christians, Muslims, Dalit 
``untouchables,'' and others have been killed by the tens of thousands, 
held as political prisoners in large numbers--over 52,000 Sikhs alone, 
according to a recent report from the Movement Against State 
Repression--and subjected to other atrocities like violent attacks on 
religious institutions like Christian churches and schools, the Golden 
Temple, and the Babri mosque, attempts to burn down a Gurdwara and some 
houses, the Staines murder. In the face of these atrocities democratic 
India does nothing.
  It is because of the efforts of activists like Dr. Aulakh that these 
matters come to light. He is a major leader in the human-rights 
movement and the leader of the Sikh community. I salute him for his 
tireless efforts and submit the following articles.

              Concern at New Threats to Religious Freedom

       [The following statement was issued in New Delhi and 
     Hyderabad on Sunday, 29th July 2000 by All India Christian 
     Council President Dr Joseph D'Souza and Secretary General 
     John Dayal in the wake of reports of draconian changes in the 
     Foreign Contributions regulation act, the Private members 
     Bill in the Lok Sabha against freedom of faith, the incidence 
     of Vishwa Hindu Parishad goons ``arresting'' Christian 
     workers in Varanasi, the forcible ``re-conversion'' of Orissa 
     Christians under the combined pressure of the VHP and the 
     Orissa Police.]
       The All India Christian Council calls upon Civil Society, 
     the national Human Rights Commission and fellow citizens to 
     take united action to counter a series of recent incidents in 
     several Indian states by Fundamentalist extremists of the 
     Sangh Parivar, as well as by police forces acting at their 
     behest, in which the civil rights of Christian individuals 
     and groups have been violently attacked. The Council is 
     deeply concerned that the central and state governments, 
     instead of taking urgent steps to restore confidence among 
     the terrorised minorities, have seemingly condoned such 
     actions. The Centre is in fact, according to media reports, 
     bringing forward legislation that will further and more 
     seriously affect religious minorities in the country and 
     their work, and injure Constitutional guarantees.
       The Council has declared it will extend all legal 
     assistance to the victims who have been terrorised, specially 
     in the states of Orissa, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and 
     Rajasthan.
       The most ominous incident has taken place in Varanasi in 
     the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the state government 
     controlled by the Bharatiya Janata party has condoned 
     military training with firearms provided to elements of the 
     Sangh Parivar in recent months. In that city on 24th July 
     2001, a Christian religious worker was among five persons 
     ``detained'' by self styled vigilantes of the Vishwa Hindu 
     Parishad. The five men had come to the city to attend a 
     meeting. The City Superintendent of Police, who had the five 
     men released, admitted they were innocent of the charges of 
     conversion levied against them. The police have however taken 
     no action against the VHP goons who terrorised the Christian 
     group.
       VHP groups are also terrorising the inmates of an ashram in 
     Kota district of Rajasthan which is home to over 1,500 
     destitute and orphaned young people from various parts of the 
     country. Death threats have been made against Bishop M A 
     Thomas and officials of the Ashram. Many other similar cases 
     have been reported from other states.
       In Orissa, ruled by a coalition in which the BJP is a 
     partner, the police have looked on while Tribal Christians 
     are being coerced

[[Page 16019]]

     into ``reconverting'' to Hinduism. The Police have evoked the 
     infamous and ironically named Freedom of Religion Act 
     selectively against the Christians but not against their 
     tormentors. As the media has reported, 17 adult persons had 
     some time ago become Christians, and had told the police they 
     had done so of their own free will, without any duress or 
     allurement. The police, acting at the behest of local 
     religio-political goons, however, chose to prosecute them and 
     registered cases against them. Emboldened by this, the local 
     fundamentalist elements intimidated the Christians, 
     organising social ostracisation against them. Reports suggest 
     that the authorities tacitly supported the ``reconversion.'' 
     The council has deplored the blatant religious partisanship 
     of the local police and civil administration.
       It is quite clear that these elements are getting 
     strengthened by the attitude of the Central government. The 
     minority communities, specially Christians are alarmed, at 
     the failure of the Central government to denounce a Private 
     Members bill moved by one of their party members in the Lok 
     Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, which seeks a ban on 
     religious conversions, which in effect means a ban on freedom 
     of faith. This bill evoked dark memories of a similar 
     Hitlerian OP Tyagi Bill in the late Seventies which the 
     government, of which the current Bharatiya Janata party was a 
     part, had extended its support.
       The council has also strongly criticised the government's 
     reported plan to enact new laws to strangle foreign donations 
     and grants to minority, specially Christian, institutions and 
     organisations. The existing Foreign Contributions Act, FCRA, 
     is already being used as a weapon by the BJP government to 
     target Christian groups and to stifle all protest. We fear 
     the proposed laws are being designed to entirely curtain the 
     educational and public welfare work of the Christian church 
     in India. Christian groups have been thoroughly investigated 
     in the law two years and have been found innocent, and yet 
     extremist groups as well as ruling political parties have 
     persisted a hate campaign against us using disinformation, 
     half truths and malicious lies.
       We call upon Civil Society, the national Human Rights 
     Commission and all fellow citizens to unite in fighting this 
     erosion of civil liberties and constitutional guarantees.

                                  ____
                                  

                        Have You Done Enough???

       The anti-Christian Bill is in the Parliament. This is a 
     place where even very sensitive Bills have been passed by 
     manipulations, ignorance and negligence. Pandemoniums are 
     created to pass Bills by voice votes. Bills become Acts in a 
     second as opposition stages a walkout.
       Have you heard your representative opposing the Bill? Have 
     you heard the Christian MP's forum responding? Have you read 
     about the Bill in your newspaper? Have you heard any of the 
     church leaders speaking out? Now the burden is upon you. Do 
     you know that it is the Sikh leader Gurmit Singh Aulakh who 
     dedicates all his energies to bring up the issue of Christian 
     persecution before the American legislative bodies?
       How many Indian Christians have you seen lobbying against 
     the persecution of Christians at the UN organisations or the 
     US Committees?
       Do you know that it is dalits, atheists and even moslems 
     who have taken up the issue of the present Bill which is 
     bound to affect the Christians the most? Dr. Satinath 
     Choudhry is one of the earliest to respond. The objections to 
     the Bill have appeared before the secular and dalit E-fora 
     even before the head of any Church has even taken note of the 
     Bill. Fascism is here and now. The very rights of individuals 
     are at stake. Have you done enough???

     

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