[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 2] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 1673-1674] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]SIKHS, MUSLIMS MURDERED IN KASHMIR ______ HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS of new york in the house of representatives Thursday, February 8, 2001 Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I was disturbed when I read that more violence is taking place in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Some Sikh policemen murdered a Muslim rickshaw driver after he demanded that they pay their fare. In retaliation, five Sikhs were killed by a Muslim gunman. Then one more was killed while participating in a protest march. Now the Indian government has imposed a curfew in Jammu and Kashmir. Recently, the Indian government has been recruiting members of the terrorist, vigilante commandos called the Black Cats into the police. This is apparently a reward for doing a good job of killing Sikhs and other minorities. The police who carried out the rickshaw murder are former Black Cats. It is an open secret that the former Black Cats have infiltrated Sikh and Kashmiri organizations for the purpose of setting them against each other. As in the case of last March's massacre of 35 Sikhs at Chithi Singhpora, the relevant question that must be asked is who benefits? Mr. Speaker, neither the Sikhs nor the Muslims benefit from these killings. The only beneficiary is the theocratic, fundamentalist Hindu nationalist government of India and its divide-and-rule strategy. This looks like a clear effort to set the Sikhs and the Kashmiri freedom fighters against each other to keep both movements weak, divided, and unable to liberate their people. Sikhs have not usually been targets of the violence in Kashmir. These murders and the tragedy at Chithi Singhpora are the only recent incidents involving Sikhs. They are outside the usual pattern. In addition, some of the participants in the protest threatened to harm a mosque. The Sikhs have not harmed any religious places, but the Indian government has a pattern of it. They invaded the Sikhs' holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, and 38 other Gurdwaras in 1984. The BJP destroyed the Babri mosque to put a Hindu temple where it sat. Since Christmas 1998, Christian churches and prayer halls have been attacked and burned. All of these acts have been carried out by the Indian government or by persons associated with the RSS, which is the parent organization of the BJP, the party that leads the coalition government. BJP officials have said that anyone living in India must either be a Hindu or be subservient to Hindus. These murders have been condemned by the Kashmiri freedom fighters and by the Council of Khalistan, which leads the Sikh freedom movement. No organization has come forth to take responsibility for the killings, another parallel to the massacre at Chithi Singhpora. Mr. Speaker, one doesn't have to look very hard to find the hand of the Indian government on these terrible killings. This appears to be part of the Indian government's pattern of terrorism and repression against Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and other minorities. In that light, this Congress should cut off American aid to [[Page 1674]] India until the repression ends and human rights are restored and we should support a free and fair plebiscite to decide democratically the future of Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagalim, and all the countries seeking their freedom from India. That is how to let the glow of freedom shine all over South Asia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit an article from Reuters News Service on the Kashmir murders into the Record. [From the Reuters News Service, Feb. 5, 2001] Kashmir Capitals Put Under Curfew After Killings Jammu, India, Feb. 4 (Reuters).--Indian authorities imposed curfews on the two capitals of troubled Jammu and Kashmir state on Sunday after gunmen shot dead six Sikhs and wounded five others. Srinagar, the state's summer capital, was brought under a curfew from Sunday following the killing of the Sikhs in the city's Mahjoor Nagar area the day before. Similar measures were announced in the winter capital Jammu. ``An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Jammu city from Monday in view of the heightening tension following the killing of the Sikhs,'' Deputy Commissioner of Police R.K. Goel said. He said the curfew was imposed after Sikh groups had called for a general strike on Monday. A group of Sikhs threw stones at shops and cars and blocked traffic in Jammu on Sunday to protest against the killings. A police official said in Srinagar that security had been tightened in Sikh areas of Kashmir, the only Indian state with a Muslim majority. Separatist rebellion broke out in the Himalayan region in 1990, among Islamic groups seeking either independence or union with neighbouring Pakistan. Authorities say more than 30,000 people have died in the conflict since. The Sikh minority, who make up 300,000 of the state's eight million people, have usually been spared violence, which pits Islamic rebels against government forces, Hindus and pro- Indian Muslims. No group claimed responsibility for Saturday's gun attack on the group of Sikhs. Last March, 35 Sikhs were shot dead by unidentified gunmen as U.S. President Bill Clinton visited India. KASHMIRI SEPARATISTS CONDEMN KILLINGS Several Kashmiri separatist groups expressed grief over the latest killings and said they were aimed at harming their struggle for freedom from Indian rule. ``We appeal to the Kashmiri Sikhs not to leave the (Kashmir) Valley and foil the designs of those who want to malign our freedom struggle,'' Abdul Majid Dar, chief commander of the guerrilla group Hizbul Mujahideen, said in a statement. Kashmir's main separatist alliance, All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, condemned the killings, a spokesman of the alliance said. The attack on Sikhs came a day after Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf held their first talks in more than a year, prompted by the devastating earthquake in Western India. In New Delhi, Bangaru Laxman, president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said the killings were a desperate attempt by militant groups to sabotage Vajpayee's peace initiative. India recently extended a unilateral ceasefire which began last November 28 in Kashmir. Most militant Muslim groups rejected it and vowed to press on with their fight. ``The terrorist organisations must understand that the Indian government has the necessary will and the capabilities to completely crush the evil designs of the terrorist,'' Laxman said. ``Therefore, the government's peace initiatives need not be misunderstood as government's weakness.'' Vajpayee is sending a three-member team to Srinagar on Monday to investigate the incident.