[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E435-E436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN COMMENTS ON PUNJAB ELECTIONS

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HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

of new york

in the house of representatives

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, the Council of Khalistan recently issued a
press release on the elections in Punjab and the victory of the
Shiromani Akali Dal. Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council
of Khalistan, noted the unfortunate cycle between the Congress party,
which was primarily responsible for the genocide against Sikhs, and the
Shiromani Akali Dal, which is in coalition with the Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the political arm of the
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Singh (RSS), an organization formed in support of
the Fascists of Europe which has been responsible for acts of violence
against minorities. The RSS also published a booklet on how to
implicate minorities such as Sikhs, Christians, and others in false
criminal cases. An alternative to these two parties is sorely needed.
The Sikh nation needs leaders who are committed to protecting their
interests.
As you know, Madam Speaker, former President Bill Clinton, in his
foreword to Madeline Albright's book, wrote that 38 Sikhs in
Chithisinghpora were murdered while he was visiting by Hindu militants.
New York Times reporter Barry Bearak has concluded that the Indian
government's forces were responsible. Although the killers dressed as
``militants,'' they spoke to each other in the language of the Indian
army. It appears that this is just another of the many incidents where
either the Indian military or its paid ``Black Cats'' paramilitary
units have been caught carrying out terrorist incidents in the guise of
alleged ``militants.''
Remember that according to India Today, India's leading news
magazine, it was the lndian government itself that created the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, identified by the U.S. government as
a terrorist organization.
Madam Speaker, the essence of democracy is the right to self-
determination. It is time for India to end the repression of its
minorities and allow them to exercise their basic democratic right to a
free and fair vote on the question of independence. This Congress
should put itself on record demanding that India do so. Further, we
should cut off our aid to India and our trade with that country until
full human rights, including the right to self-determinatlon, are
enjoyed by all the people there.
Madam Speaker, I request permission to place the Council of
Khalistan's press release on the Punjab ejections into the Record at
this time.

[From the Council of Khalistan--Press Release]

Akali Dal Wins Punjab Elections--Must Put Interests of Sikh Nation
First--Khalistan Is the Only Solution

Washington, DC., Feb. 28, 2007.--The Shlromani Akali Dal,
under the leadership of Parkash Singh Badal, won the state
elections for the Punjab Legislative Assembly, winning 48 of
117 seats to 44 for the Congress party, 19 for the Bharatiya
Janata Party, 5 Independents. and one seat still to be
elected. Since the Akalls and the BJP are coalition partners,
this puts the Akall coalition back in charge with a 67-seat
majority. As a reward, the BJP got the position of Deputy
Chief Minister.
``It is sad that the people of Punjab are re-enacting the
cycle of choosing between the Congress Party, which presided
over the massacre of Sikhs and the Akalis, whose coalition
partner, the BJP, wants to wipe out the Sikhs and all
minorities,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the
Council of Khalistan. ``Captain Amarinder Singh is to be
given credit for doing some pro-Sikh things like cancelling
the water agreements that permitted the diversion of Punjab's
water to non-riparian states,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``But he is
still trapped by the Congress Party. Badal, who presided over
the most corrupt government in Punjab's history, has pledged
clean government. He has promised free electricity for Punjab
farmers and Rs4 per kilo for wheat flour and Rs20 per kilo
for lentils to the poor. Let's see if he keeps his word, Dr.
Aulakh said.
``Radal is the head of a Sikh religious and political body.
His party controls the Gurdwaras in Punjab. That's where he
got the money to buy the alcohol for his election,'' Dr.
Aulakh said. He noted that the BJP, the Akalls' coalition
partner, is the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak
Sangh (RSS). a pro-Fascist organization that has worked to
eliminate minorities from India. ``Is Badal on the side of
the Sikhs or the RSS?'' Dr. Aulakh asked. He called on the
Badal government to get Chandigarh back for Punjab. ``Punjab
built Chandigarh to be its capital. It properly belongs to
us. The government of Punjab should be pressing to get our
capital back,'' he said.
``Remember that the Akalls once called on the Sikh Nation
to carry out `the long struggle to liberate Khalistan,' ''
Dr. Aulakh said. ``These elections show why we must liberate
Khalistan from Indian occupation and oppression,'' said Dr.
Aulakh. ``That is the only way for Sikhs to protect ourselves
from India's brutality. Elections under the Indian
constitution will only perpetuate it. The only way that the
repression will stop and Sikhs will live in freedom, dignity,
and prosperity is to liberate Khalistan,'' said Dr. Aulakh.
``As Professor Darshan Singh, former Jathedar of the Akal
Takht, said, `If a Sikh is not a Khallstani, he is not a
Sikh.','' Dr. Aulakh said.
After human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra exposed
the Indian government's policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in
which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and
murdered, then their bodies were declared unidentified and
secretly cremated, the police kidnapped him. Khalra was
murdered in police custody. No one has been brought to
justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh
Khalra. Rajiv Singh Randhawa, who was the only witness to the
Khalra kidnapping, has been repeatedly subjected to police
harassment. This includes being arrested for trying to hand a
piece of paper to then-British Home Secretary Jack Straw in
front of the Golden Temple. The police never released the
body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke
after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna murdered him. He was never
punished for this crime.
In 1994, the U.S. State Department reported that the Indian
government had paid over 41,000 cash bounties for killing
Sikhs. A report by the Movement Against State Repression
(MASR) 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 Supreme Court called the Indian
government's murders of Sikhs ``worse than a genocide.'' The
MASR report states that 52,268 Sikhs are being held as
political prisoners in India without charge or trial, mostly
under a repressive law known as the ``Terrorist and
Disruptive Activities Act'' (TADA), which expired in 1995.
Many have been in illegal custody since 1984. There has been
no list published of those who were acquitted under TADA and
those who are still rotting in Indian jails. Tens of
thousands of other minorities are also being held as
political prisoners, according to Amnesty International. Last
year, 35 Sikhs were charged and arrested in Punjab for making
speeches in support of Khalistan and raising the Khalistani
flag. ``How can making speeches and raising a flag be
considered crimes in a democratic society?'' asked Dr.
Aulakh.
India is on the verge of disintegration. Kashmir is about
to separate from India. As L.K. Advani said, ``If Kashmir
goes, India goes.'' History shows that multinational states
such as India are doomed to failure. ``Countries like
Austria-Hungary, India's longtime friend the Soviet Union,
Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and others prove this point.
India is not one country; it is a polyglot liKe those
countries, thrown together for the convenience of the British
colonialists. It is doomed to break up as they did. There is
nothing in common in the culture of a Hindu living in Bengal
and one in Tamil Nadu, let alone between them and the
minority nations of South Asia,'' Dr. Aulakh said.
``Freedom is the God-given right of every nation and every
human being,'' said Dr. Aulakh. He noted that the Indian
government was already spinning the results. ``Their wholly-
owned U.S. Congressman, Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) has
already portrayed the elections as a rejection of Khalistan,
even though the voters defeated the Congress Party, which is
against Khalistan,' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Congressman Pallone
sounds like he is being compensated by the Indian regime,''
Dr. Aulakh noted. ``Sikhs must be allowed to have a free and
fair plebiscite on the issue of Khalistan. In a democracy,
you cannot continue to rule against the wishes of the
people,'' he said. ``The essence of democracy is the right to
self-determination. Currently, there are 17 freedom movements
within India's borders. It has 16 official languages. It
cannot hold

[[Page E436]]

together for very long,'' he said. ``We hope that India's
breakup will be peaceful like Czechoslovakia's, not violent
like Yugoslavia's,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Earlier this year,
Montenegro, which is less than a million people, became a
sovereign country and a member of the United Nations,'' he
said. ``Now it is the time for the Sikh Nation of Punjab,
Khalistan to become independent. We must free Khalistan
now.''

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