[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17031-17032]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                             INDIAN RACISM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 13, 2001

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, last week I made a statement on the excellent 
discussion of India's racist caste system at the World Conference on 
Racism in Durban. At that time I intended to place three articles in 
the Record: an article from the National Post, a press release from the 
Council of Khalistan, and an article from the Information Times. 
Unfortunately, only the article from the National Post made it into the 
Record. Therefore, I would like to place the other two articles in the 
Record at this time for the information of my colleagues.

                 [Council of Khalistan, Press Release]

               India Practices Worst Racism in the World


      Laws Are On the Books Only; Human Rights Are Ignored--Self-
       Determination and Equality Are the Most Basic Human Rights

       Washington, D.C., September 4, 2001--Dr. Gurmit Singh 
     Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, today praised 
     the Dalit and Kashmiri activists who have brought the issue 
     of India's human-rights violations to bear in Durban, site of 
     the World Conference Against Racism. The Council of 
     Khalistan, the government pro tempore of Khalistan, leads the 
     democratic, nonviolent, peaceful struggle to liberate 
     Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared its independence 
     on October 7, 1987.
       ``India practices the worst racism in the form of the caste 
     system,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``The caste system is very 
     reminiscent of the segregation that prevailed in parts of 
     America some years ago, except it is backed by a tyrannical 
     abuse of human rights of Dalits (the black untouchables of 
     India),'' he said. ``Is that the way of a democracy or the 
     way of a totalitarian theocracy.''
       Dr. Aulakh noted that the Dalits, who are considered the 
     lowest caste, are the most oppressed people in the world. He 
     cited the fact that they are not allowed in the temple. He 
     took note of an incident a few years ago when a Dalit 
     constable entered a Hindu temple on a rainy day and was 
     stoned to death by Brahmins. A Dalit girl drank water from a 
     community pitcher and was blinded by her teacher. Dr. Aulakh 
     noted that Dalits are the victims of the worst racism in the 
     world, oppressed by high-caste Brahmins.
       ``Despite the laws abolishing caste, it remains a guiding 
     principle for India's militant Hindu nationalist theocracy,'' 
     Dr. Aulakh said. ``And despite the laws requiring that anyone 
     who is arrested must be charged within 48 hours, India 
     continues to hold political prisoners for many years without 
     charge or trial,'' he said. ``One of the foundations of 
     democracy is the rule of law. In practice, there is no rule 
     of law in India, '' he said.
       More than 52,000 Sikh political prisoners are rotting in 
     Indian jails without charge or trial. Many have been in 
     illegal custody since 1984. Over 50,000 Sikhs have been 
     arrested, tortured, and murdered by the Indian police and 
     security forces, then declared ``unidentified'' and secretly 
     cremated. Indian forces have murdered over 250,000 Sikhs 
     since 1984, according to figures reported in the The Politics 
     of Genocide by Inderjit Singh Jaijee.
       In June, militant fundamentalist Hindu fanatics attacked a 
     train carrying Sikh pilgrims and the Sikh holy scripture, the 
     Guru Granth Sahib. The holy scriptures were burned and the 
     pilgrims were stoned. In May, Indian troops were caught red-
     handed trying to set fire to a Gurdwara (a Sikh temple) and 
     some Sikh houses in Kashmir. In March 2000 during the visit 
     of former President Clinton, the Indian government massacred 
     35 Sikhs in Chitihisinghpora. Two independent investigations 
     have proven that the Indian government carried out this 
     massacre.
       Sikhs ruled Punjab until 1849 when the British forcibly 
     annexed it into British India. No Sikh representative has 
     ever signed the India constitution. India is not one country. 
     It has 18 official languages. It is an empire of many 
     countries thrown together by the British for their 
     convenience. Like the former Soviet Union, it is destined to 
     fall apart.
       ``The Durban conference must address racism and human-
     rights violations in India despite India's objections,'' said 
     Dr. Aulakh. ``Only continued international pressure for human 
     rights, the rule of law, and sovereignty will end the racism 
     in India and allow all the people of South Asia to live in 
     freedom,'' he noted.
       ``If India is the democracy it claims to be, then why not 
     hold a plebiscite on independence in Punjab, Khalistan and in 
     the other nations seeking their freedom from India?'' Dr. 
     Aulakh asked. ``The conference should declare its support for 
     the Dalits and for the freedom movements in Khalistan, in 
     Kashmir, in Nagaland, and elsewhere in South Asia,'' he said. 
     ``Democracies don't practice racism,'' he said. ``Democracies 
     don't commit genocide.''


                   [INFORMATION TIMES, Sept. 1, 2001]

          INDIAN CASTE SYSTEM IS ALSO A MAJOR ISSUE IN DURBAN


    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is Still a slave of His Masters

                         (By Chaliss McDonough)

       Durban, South Africa, 31 August 2001 (VOA): The caste 
     system in India has become a major issue at the U.N. World 
     Conference Against Racism. The Indian Government did not want 
     to discuss the issue, but they may not be able to avoid it.
       Scores of protesters stand in a circle, drumming and 
     chanting, outside the cricket stadium in downtown Durban. The 
     drummers are from India, and they have come to insist that 
     the caste system not be ignored at the UN World Conference 
     Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related 
     Intolerance (31 August--7 2001).
       They are handing out headbands and buttons demanding equal 
     rights for those who belong to India's Dalit community, the 
     so-called ``lowest caste, untouchables.''
       This woman, who gave her name only as Vimele, explains 
     there is still blatant discrimination against Dalit people in 
     India. ``Dalit people cannot enter the temple,'' she says. 
     ``And if you go to a teashop, they have a separated tea 
     shop.''
       Separate living areas, separate burial grounds and 
     restrictions on their movements. Vimele says these are some 
     of the hardships Dalits face every day.
       Vimele came to Durban with the Tamil Nadu Women's Forum. 
     She says Dalit women

[[Page 17032]]

     confront even more discrimination and harassment than men.
       Officially, discrimination based on caste has already been 
     banned in India. But another delegate from Tamil Nadu, Joseph 
     Raj, notes that changing the laws has not changed the system.
       ``In the documents, Constitution and the law, they 
     prohibited discrimination,'' he says. ``But in practice it is 
     there. We have mechanisms within our country, but it has 
     failed to protect our rights.''
       Mr. Raj is pleased with the amount of popular support he 
     and his colleagues are getting in Durban. He points to the 
     large number of non-Indians roaming the conference grounds 
     wearing headbands, jackets and buttons supporting their 
     cause.
       He and other campaigners want the Indian Government to 
     address the issue at the U.N.-sponsored conference, which 
     began Friday. And they want India to put an end to caste 
     discrimination for good.
       U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan briefly touched on the 
     matter during the meeting of non-governmental organizations. 
     He said delegates at the U.N. conference will need to address 
     discrimination based on caste but he failed to use that word 
     to describe it. He simply referred to discrimination based on 
     origin or work, which is commonly seen as a euphemism for 
     caste.
       An activist pressed him further on the matter, but Mr. 
     Annan did not respond. That prompted an angry outcry from 
     some members of the audience.
       Getting public support for the Dalits' cause in Durban may 
     not translate into a solution for caste discrimination. But 
     it seems clear that the activists have accomplished at least 
     one of their goals. They have put the issue in the public eye 
     on a global scale.

     

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