[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20723]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 20723]]

                          EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS

             COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN MARKS 15 YEARS OF SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 15, 2002

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, this week the Council of 
Khalistan, which leads the fight to free the Sikhs from the repression 
of India, marked its fifteenth anniversary. It was founded on October 
7, 1987, when the Sikh Nation declared its independence and named their 
new country Khalistan.
  The repression that has been inflicted on the Sikhs and other 
minorities in India before and after that declaration is well 
documented. The Indian regime has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 
1984, according to the book ``The Politics of Genocide'' by Inderjit 
Singh Jaijee. A report from the Movement Against State Repression notes 
that over 52,000 remain in Indian jails as political prisoners without 
charge or trial. Some of them have been held since 1984. Another 50,000 
have simply been made to ``disappear.''
  Sikhs are not the only ones. Christians, Muslims, Bodos, Assamese, 
Manipuris, and others have felt the brunt of Indian oppression, with 
tens of thousands of them losing their lives. That is why there are 
seventeen freedom movements in India. The Council of Khalistan, while 
it focuses on the Sikh struggle, has spoken out for freedom and an end 
to the repression for all these peoples and nations.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to take the occasion to congratulate 
the Council of Khalistan on its 15 years of service.

                          ____________________