[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16265-16266]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 DR. AULAKH, PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN, MAKES PRESENTATION AT 
                     LONDON INSTITUTE OF SOUTH ASIA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 27, 2006

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, recently the London Institute of South Asia 
held an event to honor author Professor Gurtej Singh, who has a 
significant book on the repression in India. In connection with that, 
they held a seminar on the topic of a separate electorate in India for 
minorities. Dr. Gunnit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of 
Khalistan, spoke at the Institute in connection with the seminar. He 
spoke about the struggle to liberate Khalistan, the Sikh homeland. As 
you know, Mr. Speaker, Khalistan declared its independence on October 
7, 1987. Yet Indian repression of the Sikh Nation continues to this 
day.
  Dr. Aulakh spoke out against a separate electorate within India for 
the Sikhs, arguing that only full independence will allow the Sikhs to 
live in peace, prosperity, dignity, and freedom. He said that 
independence for Khalistan is inevitable, noting the recent marches, 
seminars, and other events showing the rising tide of support for 
freedom for Khalistan. And the politicians in Punjab have noticed and 
are beginning to speak out for Khalistan. That is a good sign. Even the 
Congress Party government of Punjab explicitly asserted the sovereignty 
of Punjab when it cancelled the agreements allowing the transfer of 
Punjabi water to non-riparian states last year.
  He reported on the repression of the Sikhs that continues to show up 
in the form of the Indian Government destroying Sikh farms with 
bulldozers, farms that Sikh farmers had worked their lives for, only to 
see a lifetime of work destroyed by the Indian regime. This repression 
takes the form of arresting people for raising the flag of Khalistan, 
even though the Indian courts have ruled that wearing the saffron of 
Khalistan or raising a flag is not a crime. But the Indian Government 
apparently believes that it is not bound by the law, a position held 
not by democratic, but totalitarian governments. As my friend from 
California has said, for minorities, ``India may as well be Nazi 
Germany.''
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot sit idly by and let this repression continue. 
I know that there are many pressing problems on the world stage that 
require our attention, such as the situation in Lebanon and the 
continuing fight against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we must 
not let the necessity of attention and action in these important 
situations allow us to let Indian repression slip under the radar. It 
is our duty to the principles on which this country was founded to 
support freedom everywhere in the world, not just in the hot spots. It 
is time to take action, Mr. Speaker. America should cut off aid and 
trade with India until all people there are allowed to live in freedom. 
And we should support real democracy, the kind India claims to believe 
in, in the form of a free and fair plebiscite in Punjab, Khalistan, in 
Nagalim, in Kashmir, and wherever people seek their freedom in South 
Asia.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to place the Council of Khalistan's press 
release on Dr. Aulakh's visit to the London Institute of South Asia 
into the Record at this time.

  Dr. Aulakh Speaks to London Institute of South Asia--Book Award to 
                         Professor Gurtej Singh

       Washington, D.C., July 12, 2006.--Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, 
     President of the Council of Khalistan, spoke last month at 
     the London Institute of South Asia (LISA.) He went there for 
     a ceremony honoring Professor Gurtej Singh IAS for his book, 
     Tandev of the Centaur, which won the LISA Book Award. The 
     seminar addressed the topic of a separate electorate for 
     Indian. minorities. Dr. Aulakh spoke on the topic of the 
     liberation of Khalistan. He said that the idea of CI separate 
     election could be good for some minorities but was something 
     that would hold back the struggle for freedom of minority 
     nations that are dominant in their areas. He gave four radio 
     interviews on Punjabi stations that are listened to 
     worldwide.
       Professor Gurtej Singh said, ``As part of my narration [for 
     the book], I found myself suggesting a theory indicating the 
     spurious nature of India's struggle for freedom. I am aware 
     that it renders the main activities of the Congress Party and 
     its leaders to an exercise in collaboration. But I am in good 
     company in coming to that conclusion. Michael Edwards, in his 
     The Myth of the Mahatma. has clearly shown that the British 
     really feared the `Western style revolutionaries' whom Gandhi 
     effectively neutralized. The Administration considered Gandhi 
     as an ally of the British as a neutralizer of rebellion.''
       ``This book does not clarify everything, but it clarifies a 
     lot,'' said Brigadier Usman Khalid, Director of LISA. ``It 
     lays the foundation for friendship between two irrepressible 
     nations of the subcontinent--the Muslims and the Sikhs. The 
     national cohesion that exists within the Muslims and the 
     Sikhs cannot be replicated in the caste based Brahminic 
     society,'' Brigadier Khalid said, ``Indian secularism is 
     'fraudulent; Indian nationalism is a pious hope without 
     foundation or purpose. The book nails those lies. It is a 
     great starting point for the `freedom for all in South 
     Asia.'''
       ``Despite the Indian Government's massive efforts over two 
     decades to crush the Khalistani freedom movement and the 
     other freedom movements, there remains strong support for 
     Khalistan in Punjab and the surrounding Sikh areas,'' Dr. 
     Aulakh said. He noted the anniversary of the attack on the 
     Golden Temple and the atrocities that were committed in 
     Operation Bluestar. He took note of the arrests of Sikh 
     leaders in Punjab for making speeches and hoisting the flag. 
     He noted that Khalistan slogans were raised inside the Golden 
     Temple recently. He noted the seminars organized by Atinder 
     Pal Singh and took note of the atrocities committed by the 
     Indian government. such as the kidnapping and murder of 
     Jaswant Singh Khalra, the murder of Akal Takht Jathedar 
     Gurdev Singh Kaunke, tearing apart the driver of Saba Charan 
     Singh, and the mass cremation of Sikhs. He cited the 
     Chithisinghpora massacre, the bombing of an Indian Airlines 
     flight in 1985, and other atrocities committed by the Indian 
     government.
       A report issued by the Movement Against State Repression 
     (MASR) shows that India admitted that it held 52,268 
     political prisoners under the repressive ``Terrorist and 
     Disruptive Activities Act'' (TADA) even though it expired in 
     1995. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984. There as 
     been no list published of those who were acquitted under TADA 
     and those who are still rotting in Indian jails. 
     Additionally, according to Amnesty International, there are 
     tens of thousands of other minorities being held as political 
     prisoners. The MASR report quotes the Punjab Civil Magistracy 
     as writing ``if we add up the figures of the last few years 
     the number of innocent persons killed would run into lakhs 
     [hundreds of thousands.]'' The Indian government has murdered 
     over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians 
     in Nagaland, over 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir. tens of 
     thousands of Christians and Muslims throughout the country, 
     and tens of thousands of Tamils, Assamese, Manipuris, and 
     others. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian 
     government's murders of Sikhs ``worse than a genocide,''
       Government-allied Hindu militants have burned down 
     Christian churches and prayer halls, murdered priests, and 
     raped nuns. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) described the 
     rapists as ``patriotic youth'' and called the

[[Page 16266]]

     nuns ``antinational elements.'' Hindu radicals, members of 
     the Bajrang Dal, burned missionary Graham Stewart Staines and 
     his two sons, ages 10 and 8, to death while they surrounded 
     the victims and chanted `Victory to Hannuman,'' the Hindu 
     monkey-faced God. The Bajrang Dal is the youth arm of the 
     RSS. The VHP is a militant Hindu Nationalist organization 
     that is under the umbrella of the RSS.
       ``The genocidal policies of the Indian government are aimed 
     at eliminating all these groups,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Self-
     determination must be the standard,'' he said. ``Short of 
     that, it is hard to see how the freedom of all people in 
     South Asia will be protected.''
       We thank the London Institute of South Asia for including 
     Dr. Aulakh in its presentations. We would like to thank 
     General Khalid, Dr. Awatar Singh Sekhon, V.T. Rajshekar, and 
     all the trustees of the Institute for inviting Dr. Aulakh to 
     make this presentation.

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