[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1125-E1127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AIR INDIA INQUIRY QUESTIONED
______
HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, recently a Canadian writer and editor named
Dr. Awatar Singh Sekhon, Managing Editor of the International Journal
of Sikh Affairs, wrote a detailed response to an article about the 1985
Air India bombings. As you know, those bombings continue to be
controversial more than 20 years later and the Canadian government is
launching yet another inquiry into the matter.
Dr. Sekhon's quite comprehensive letter, which was written in
response to an Edmonton Sun article, is very detailed. It makes a very
strong argument and brings up a lot of very important information on
the case. Before I put it into the Record, I will attempt to summarize
the highlights.
Dr. Sekhon points out that Indian diplomat Mani Shankar says that in
1984, the year before the bombing, the Indira Gandhi government in
India commissioned him ``to portray Sikhs as terrorists.'' This
directive occurred before Operation Bluestar, the June 1984 attack on
the golden Temple in amritsar (the seat of Sikhism) and several other
Sikh Gurdwaras around Punjab, in which 20,000 Sikhs, including over 100
Sikh youth ages 8 to 13, were killed and the Sikh holy scripture, the
Guru Granth Sahib, was desecrated by being shot with Indian Army
bullets. The orders for that operation were given in January 1984,
according to the Sikh Bulletin, October-November 1985. The Air India
operation was part of that campaign. In addition, the newspaper
Hitavada reported that the Indian government paid the late governor of
Punajb, Surendra Nath, the equivalent of $1.5 billion to foment
terrorist activity in Punjab and Kashmir.
Dr. Sekhon refers to the first hijacking of an Air India plane by two
Brahmin brothers named Pandey to secure Indira Gandhi's release from
jail. He notes the penetration of Canada by Indian intelligence in the
1980s.
The letter cites both Zuhajr Kashmeri and Brian McAndrew's excellent
book Soft Target and former Canadian Member of Parliament David
Kilgour's book Betrayal: The Spy That Canada Forgot. Both show India's
responsibility for the bombing. Kashmeri and McAndrew cite the Canadian
Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which said, ``if you really want
to clear the incidents quickly, take vans to the Indian High Commission
and the consulates in Toronto and Vancouver, load up everybody and take
them down for questioning. We know it and they know it that they are
involved.''
Kilgour writes that a Canadian-Polish double agent was approached by
an East German named Udo Ulbrecht, who was working with people
affiliated with the Indian government, to participate in a second
bombing, but he declined to be part of it and the plot never came off.
Dr. Sekhon rightly asks why neither Kashmeri, McAndrew, nor Kilgour has
been asked to testify in the current inquiry. He also requests that the
Indian diplomatic and intelligence personnel who were declared persona
non grata in Canada in the wake of the Air India bombing be summoned
back to testify before the inquiry.
He notes the mass killings of Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Assamese,
Tamils, and other non-Brahmin minorities by the Indian government Their
effort to portray the Sikhs, especially those who speak out peacefully
and democratically for an independent Khalistan, as terrorists is a
pretext for this ``ethnic cleansing.''
He quotes my colleague, the gentleman from California, who said in
this chamber that for Sikhs and Kashmiris, ``India might as well be
Nazi Germany.'' The late General Narinder Singh said that Punjab was a
police state. This has been an extension of the India government's
strategy that was outlined in a memo in 1947 in which India's first
Home Minister V.B. Patel described the Sikhs as ``a lawless people''
and ``a criminal tribe.'' In other words, the Indian government was
trying to discredit and destroy the Sikhs almost from the moment of
independence.
Madam Speaker, the time has come to stop our aid and trade with this
repressive regime and to demand self-determination for the Sikhs of
Punjab, Khalistan, the Muslims of Kashmir, the Christians of Nagalim,
and all the people seeking freedom in South Asia. The essence of
democracy is the right to self-determination, not an ongoing half-
century effort to kill your minority citizens.
I would like to place Dr. Sekhon's letter into the Record at this
time for the information of my colleagues.
The Sikh Educational Trust, International Journal of Sikh
Affairs,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, May 9, 2007.
Ret Air India Flight 182 (Toronto--Montreal--London--Delhi),
June, 23 1985: Enquiry of Justice John Major
Dear Sir, My writing to you relates with some minor and
major comments related to the subject, and also on ``Air
India's Shared Tragedy Lost in the `SILOS' between two
nations by George Abraham (The Edmonton Journal, 8th May,
2007).''
I would like to comment on Abraham's writing ``Prime
Minister (Brian) Mulroney had telephoned his condolences to
his Indian counterpart, Rajiv Gandhi--an act that was based
on a fundamental misunderstanding of who, exactly, had been
victimized, and who, in fact, was to blame.'' Mr. Abraham
seems to be in the grip of part of the problem. As a Canadian
national and belonging to the Canadian Sikh community, it
appears to me that `telephoning to the prime minister of a
country, which had betrayed Canada and the international
community in 1974 (explosion of a nuclear device prepared
from the by-product of a Candu reactor technology for
peaceful and medical purposes) by the Right Hon. Prime
Minister of Canada' was far more important than about 90
percent of the Canadian passengers of the ill-fated aircraft.
It, certainly, is new information that has come out in
Justice Major's enquiry. What a pity our Canadian prime
minister, who put Rajiv Gandhi first rather than thinking and
offering his condolences to the Canadian Sikhs and the
victimized families. This act of Prime Minister Mulroney will
never be forgotten by the Canadian Sikhs. Earlier, his
predecessor, Charles Joseph Clark, had said to the
journalists that ``if you want more information about Sikhs,
go and call these numbers (of the Indian Consulate Toronto
and High Commission in Ottawa):'' What an unacceptable act of
the prime minister, who hands out the telephone numbers of a
foreign mission to get information about Canadian Sikhs.
Should we, the Canadian Sikhs who have been in Canada over a
century, imply that our Canadian administration has no idea
of its Sikh Canadians; or, a foreign mission in Canada has
more information about the Canadian Sikhs, especially when
the Indian Constitution 1950, Article 25, has eliminated the
`Sikh Identity and Sikh Faith'. The latter is one of the
six major faiths of our world.
Does George Abraham know that Mani Shanker Iyer, an Indian
diplomat, said, ``In early 1984, to the hearing of all,
mentioned that at the instance of Indira Gandhi, he was given
an unpleasant job of portraying Sikhs as terrorists.'' A few
days later, Iyer stated that, ``against his wishes he had
done the job?'' This was before ``Operation Bluestar, the
orders for which had been delivered in January 1984'' (The
Sikh Bulletin, October-November 2005, p. 11;
[email protected]).
Based on the two previous enquiries and the present one
which is going on, it appears to me that nothing
extraordinary will come from these enquiries, because the
major things which might yield substantial information and
which might reveal the real cause of the `Air India Explosion
of Flight 182' will never find a place in the enquiry that is
going on. Some of the points that, as I believe, have not
been discussed so far, are summarized below:
1. Why Mr. Zuhaire Kashmeri and Mr. Brian McAndrew, two
Canadian journalists, who gave their views in their title,
Soft Target India's Intelligence Service and its Role in The
Air India Disaster 1989 first ed. and 2005 second ed. ISBN
10:1-55028-904-7 and 13: 978-1-55028-904-6, have not been
called to testify before the enquiry commission?
[[Page E1126]]
2. Why Hon. David Kilgour, former member of parliament,
Speaker of the House of Commons, former Secretary of State
for Asia and Africa, and the author of the title BETRAYAL THE
SPY CANADA ABANDONED 1994 Prentice Hall Canada Inc.,
Scarborough, ON ISBNO-13-325697-9, the title that contained
Chapter 9 and 10, A Bizarre Episode in Rome and A Battle For
Canada, pp.129-163, has not been asked to testify? Hon.
Kilgour writes ``One day, while reading a German newspaper, I
spotted the photograph and description of a wanted terrorist.
I would have known that face anywhere. It was the man who had
conducted the meeting in Rome, plotting to bomb some Air
India flight. I was quite positive it was him; his name was
Udo Ulbrecht or Albrecht, wanted for many terrorist attacks
and kidnappings in West Germany and Western Europe. I was
upset by the whole thing and decided I wanted out of West
Germany as soon as I had done my time.'' In Hon. Kilgour's
title, he further writes ``He was greeted in English, heavily
accented with German, and led into a larger room where a
number of men were already seated and smoking. There were two
Sikhs wearing traditional turbans, another pair who looked
Italian, Paszkowski and the German, who chaired and greeted
them in English as all of them spoke the language with
differing levels of fluency. The German spoke of the need for
international co-operation and how important the mission was
for each of their respective governments. He stressed that
the group must work closely together. ``Some of the tasks,''
he said, ``might appear strange or even incomprehensible to
you. Don't worry about that. Let it be the concern of those
who sent you here. Your role is to carry out orders to the
letter without asking questions.'' Everyone sat quietly and
listened intently. ``The job at hand is, with the use of
explosives, to blow up an Air India plane in Europe. Lives
will be lost but we must not think about it . . . Each of you
will be supplied with documents allowing you to move freely
in Europe, weapons, explosives, money and detailed
instructions. I will meet with each of you personally to
supply you with all these. Wait for me and be prepared for
action at any time.''
3. Under the guise of `Democracy', the Indian
administrations of post-15th of August, 1947 era ((JL Nehru
to Manmohan Sinh) and before becoming the political masters
of the British Empire later known as the British India
Empire, the Brahmins/Hindus (neither a religion nor a
culture; see Dalit Voice, Dalit Sahitya Akademy, Bangore, and
other Sikh and non-Sikh academics), betrayed the
international community and the Sikhs of Punjab, now the
State of Punjab (under the occupation of the alleged Indian
democracy, since the 15th of August, 1947). It must be noted
that the Sikh Raj of monarch Ranjit Singh, 1799 to 14th
March, 1849, was the first Secular and Sovereign country of
South Asia. The Sikhs lost to the British Empire's forces led
by General Gilbert on the 14th of March, 1849. As such, the
``Struggle To Regain Their Lost Sovereignty, Independence and
Political Power of the Sikhs began, by peaceful means taught
by their 10 Masters/Gurus (from Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru
Gobind Singh ji) right on the day they lost to the British
Empire's forces.'' ``The new territory of the British Empire
remained `status less' but on the 29th of March, 1849, the
British agent made a proclamation that the newly conquered
`Sikh Raj' is ``annexed'' but not ``amalgamated'' to the
British Empire for the `administration purpose only'. It
should be noted that the status of the Sovereign and Secular
Sikh Raj of Monarch Ranjit Singh remained as ``annexed''
territory and `not' the art of India under British Empire or
the time British exit from India on the 15th of August, 1947.
It should also be noted that there did not exist the word
`India' in any dictionary or Encyclopedia of the English
language until the British agent made the annexation of The
Sikh Raj to the British Empire on the 29th of March, 1849. As
such, the existence of the `Indian nationality' until the
29th of March, 1849, was out of question. The Sikhs were
`never' Indian nationals, as evident from the Indian
Constitution 1950, Article 25. The Constitution which Sikhs'
elected representatives `rejected' in its draft and final
forms in the Indian parliament in 1948, the 26th of November,
1949, 1950 and more recently on the 6th of September, 1966.
The Canadian news media, along with the international news
media and major democratic administrations like the United
Kingdom., Canada, United States, Australia, etc., never paid
any attention on the ``Sikhs'' Struggle for Independence''
for the reason only known to themselves. Volumes of books and
tens of tons news dispatches have been made by the
journalists virtually `devoid' of the Sikhs' Struggle for
Sovereignty and Sikhs' status in the Indian Constitution 1950
Article 25. which proclaimed the alleged Indian state as the
Republic of India.
Under the umbrella of democracy (or Brahmins autocracy),
India has killed more than 2.3 to 3.2 million Sikhs; over
500,000 Muslims in general; more than 100,000 Muslims of the
Internationally Disputed Areas of Jammu and Kashmir; over
300,000 Christians; tens of thousands of Dalits; 15,000
Tamils, thousands of Assamese and other non-Brahmin, non-
Hindu minorities, since 15th August, 1947. What kind of
democracy in India is this which kills its own citizens?
There are other democracies in our world, like the United
States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and others. Has
anyone of these countries killed its own citizen(s)? How many
Brahmins, Hindus or pro-Brahmins India and its armed forces
killed since its inception?
I would like to hear from the journalists like Madam Kim
Bolan on the genocides of the Sikhs, Muslims, Christians,
Kashmiris and other non-Brahmin and non-Hindu minorities
carried out by the Indian democracy? Does she have any
information or has she written even a single word on India
carrying out genocides of non-Brahmin and non-Hindus since
the 15th of August, 1947? Or, else she loves writing against
the Sikhs.
For Madam Kim Bolan and her national and international
colleagues written specifically or generally on the `fake
hijacking' carried out by the RAW of India (they must examine
the archives of the All India Radio, if they pretend to be
unaware of the activities of the Indian personnel of RAW and
other agencies).
The author was wondering if Madam Kim Bolan and her
journalistic colleagues know that the `first hijacking' of
South Asia' was carried out by two `Brahmin' brothers (the
Pandey brothers), to secure the release of their Congress
leader Indira Gandhi from a jail. Indira Gandhi awarded them,
the Brahmins, with her Congress' nominations to the UP
Legislative Assembly. These criminals were made the `law
makers'. When criminals are made the law makers
intentionally, then what could be expected in a democratic
country, so to speak?
Madam Kim Bolan and other journalists must read Congressman
Dan Rohrabacher of California's remarks appeared in the
United States Congressional Records of the House of
Representatives that ``For the Sikhs, Christians, Muslims and
other non-Hindu minorities, India might as well be a Nazi
Germany.''
4. A community, which is less than 15 percent of the total
population of India, i.e., the Brahmins, Hindus and pro-
Brahmins (3+12=15 percent), deceived and betrayed the Sikhs
of the Sikh Raj of monarch Ranjit Singh, robbed them from
their land (partitioned on the 15th of August, 1947) in the
day light, along with the Sovereign people of states like
Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Faridkot (now in
Punjab), Bikaner (now in Rajasthan), Dalits (who are still
used to remove the human waste from the households and public
places of India), Adivaasis, etc.
5. The journalists and writers like Kim Bolan, George
Abraham, Martin Collacott, Ian Mulgrew, Bharti Mukeherjee,
Clark Blaise, Bill Moyer, etc., are virtually devoid of the
`Sikhs' history from the Sikhs' point of view'. They are
known as staunchly anti-Sikh writers and do not get along
with the Canadian and/or American Sikhs, simply because they
are `devoid' of the Sikh history. Indeed, they are well known
anti-Sikh writers. Why are they anti-Sikhs and write against
the Sikhs, it is only known to them. They cannot exonerate
themselves from the `anti-Sikh' renowned journalists or
writers for the reasons only known to them.
6. Madam Kim Bolan and other Canadian journalists, with the
exception of well respected Zuhaire Kashmeri and Brian
McAndrew, never understood the Canadian Sikh psyche. Why is
it so? Only Madam Kim Bolan, other journalists and one Narula
of the Asia Watch may explain their position, if they so
desire.
7. It goes without doubt that Indian intelligence
penetrated Canada in 1980s. This was done to provide cover
for the Indian administration's intended `attack on the
Sikhs' Darbar Sahib Complex (mistakenly known as the Golden
Temple Complex), which includes the Supreme Seat of Sikh
Polity, The Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar, in the name of a
brutal Indian military ``Operation Bluestar'' of June, 1984.
This was not only an `undeclared' war on the Sikh Nation,
Punjab, but it was carried out to `Exterminate The Sikh
Identity and The Sikh Faith'. One may ask the question did
Indian administration succeed? The answer is `No'; it failed
miserably. Their penetration made the life of the Sikhs of
Canada no less than a hell. Did anybody, especially the
Canadian journalists, with two exceptions, pay any attention
to Sikh nationals of Canada? Every Sikh, who is the follower
of the Sikh religion, believes in the Canadian way of life,
Canadian law, Canadian policy of multiculturalism provided by
the administration of the Right Honourable Pierre Elliot
Trudeau and Canadian values. Whereas, the Indian
administration deliberately made the Sikhs as `terrorists';
on the 10th of October, 1947, just 7-weeks post of the 15th
of August, 1947; the Indian administration of JL Nehu and VB
Patel and their man, Chandulal Trivedi in Punjab `declared'
the ``Sikhs as lawless people'' in a secret memo. The writer
is citing only a few major points out of numerous.
8. Considering the penetration of Indian intelligence in
1980s, not only the RAW personnel (Research and Analysis
Wing), but the Indian administration made use of Sikhs,
especially Akalis like Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Harchand
Longowal, Balwant Ramoowalia, Prakash Singh Badal, Balwant
Singh, Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan (now deceased), Maj-Gen Jaswant
Bhullar, M S Sidhu, Didar Singh Bains of the United States,
Prabhu Dayal Singh, Harjinderpal Singh Nagra and Akalis
(correspondence between R K Dhawan of 1, Safdarjang Road, New
Delhi; the 30th of January--April 25, 1984; please see
Chakravyuh Web of Indian Secularism by Gurtej Singh 2000
ISBN81-85815-14-3).
When democratic administrations employ their `state
intelligence' against their own citizens, then what is the
guarantee that any
[[Page E1127]]
individual or state appointed commission will find a way to
deliver its `just' judgment?
I could write more but I should conclude my writing by
elaborating that (i) the Indian missions' employees/
intelligence workers, who have since been declared persona
non grata or left Canada should be summoned back by the
commission to question them. I have my doubts that the
`Diplomatic Immunity' may play its stumbling block's role and
nothing constructive will come out from any commission; (ii)
the Indian administrations' notoriousness is responsible for
the Air India disaster of 1985; (iii) in fact, there should
be an International Commission to explore and examine the
terrorism, persecution, atrocities, human rights violations,
and genocides committed by the democratic India. I am of the
opinion that Sirdar Gurtej Singh, IAS & IPS (formerly),
Professor of Sikhism and Editorial Advisor of the
International Journal of Sikh Affairs ISSN 1481-5435 may shed
much needed light to the Commission of Justice John Major.
All in all, Indian administrations have been responsible not
only of the Air India Flight 182, but also of other
humanitarian problems, such as Manorama of Assam, who was
raped by the Indian Armed personnel in Assam (Assam situation
discussed at the 5th United Nations Human Rights Council,
Geneva, Switzerland in March 2007).
Best wishes and warmest regards.
Sincerely,
Awater Singh Sekhon,
Managing Editor and Acting Editor in Chief.
____________________