[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17817-17818]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    STOP THE VIOLENCE AGAINST SIKHS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 24, 2001

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I was distressed to hear that on Saturday, 
September 15, a Sikh named Balbir Singh Sodhi, who owned a gas station 
in Mesa, Arizona, was murdered at his place of business. It appears 
that he was killed because of his turban and beard, which are required 
by the Sikh religion. Apparently, his killer thought that Mr. Sodhi was 
a follower of Osama bin Laden.
  This was just one of well over 100 acts of harassment or violence 
against Sikhs in the week since the terrorist bombings of the Pentagon 
and the World Trade Center. A list of these acts can be found by 
visiting http://www.sikh.org/hatecrime.
  This past Tuesday, just one week after the terrorists carried out 
their brutal acts, the Council of Khalistan held a press conference at 
the National Press Club to denounce these crimes against Sikhs and 
other minorities. Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, the President of the Council 
of Khalistan, made some excellent remarks. He called on the Attorney 
General to investigate and called on the victims of these crimes to 
contact their local prosecutors and police. At this time, I would like 
to insert Dr. Aulakh's remarks into the Record so that we can all have 
a better understanding of this problem.

                   Remarks of Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh

       Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media: Thank you for coming 
     today. I want to talk to you about a very important issue. 
     Then I will be open-for questions. Sikh Americans, Muslim 
     Americans, Christian Americans, our neighbors and countrymen, 
     are being harassed and acts of violence are being committed 
     against them merely because of their religious or ethnic 
     heritage. All Americans should join together to condemn these 
     cowardly acts.
       On behalf of the 2 1--million strong Sikh Nation and more 
     than 500,000 Sikhs in the United States, I strongly condemn 
     these acts of violence. I condemn the violence against Muslim 
     Americans and I condemn the attacks on Sikh Americans. There 
     have been

[[Page 17818]]

     over 100 acts of harassment or violence against Sikhs. A Sikh 
     man was murdered in Mesa, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, over 
     the weekend. Balbir Singh Sodhi, who owned a Chevron gasoline 
     station, was shot to death at his business. Some time later, 
     the same gunman shot a Lebanese gasoline station owner. We 
     demand that the man who killed Balbir Singh Sodhi. be 
     prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
       Attackers threw a brick through the window of a local Sikh, 
     Ranjit Singh of Fairfax, Virginia. Another local Sikh, Sher 
     Singh, was arrested by police in Rhode Island after the 
     attack, but was released the next day. A couple of young 
     Sikhs were attacked in Brooklyn, New York. Sikh businesses 
     have been stoned and cars have been burned. An Egyptian 
     Christian man was shot in San Gabriel, California. A 
     Pakistani Muslim who owned a grocery store was shot in 
     Dallas.
       What a group of terrorists did Tuesday was a terrible crime 
     and an act of war against America, but it was done by a group 
     of individuals who are no more typical of their religion than 
     Timothy McVeigh is typical of Christianity. Members of 
     minority religious communities are being targeted for 
     violence, and this is unacceptable, especially in America.
       Sikhs are not Muslims. We are not Hindus. Like Hinduism, 
     Christianity, Islam, and any other religion, we are an 
     independent, monotheistic religion with our own symbols. 
     Among those are a turban and beard. That does not make us 
     followers or associates of Osama bin Laden, yet we are being 
     targeted for violence in the wake of the atrocities last 
     Tuesday.
       We appreciate the support of Congressmen Dan Burton, 
     Edolphus Towns, and all our other friends in the Congress who 
     condemned the acts of violence against the Sikhs and other 
     minorities. Their statements in the Congressional Record are 
     available here.
       I call on Attorney General John Ashcroft to look into this 
     nationwide pattern of violence and I urge the victims of 
     these attacks to call their police departments and their 
     local prosecutors. This is the best way to ensure that those 
     who perpetrate this violence are appropriately punished. 
     Let's not let America descend to the level of those who 
     attacked it.

     

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