[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 20] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page 27976] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]TERRORIST ATTACK ON INDIAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNED--ATTACK IS INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE OF REPRESSION IN INDIA ______ HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS of new york in the house of representatives Wednesday, December 19, 2001 Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleagues and all decent people of the world in condemning the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament. I extend my sympathies to the victims and their families. Terrorism is never acceptable. We are currently at war against terrorism, as we should be. However, India is a country that has practiced terrorism against the peoples living within its borders. It has a pattern of terrorism. Remember that two government officials there were quoted last year as saying that Pakistan should be absorbed into India. It is clear that India seeks hegemony over all the peoples and nations of South Asia. In May, Indian troops were overwhelmed by villagers, both Sikhs and Muslims, while they were trying to set fire to a Sikh Gurdwara and some Sikh houses in Kashmir. Independent investigations by the International Human Rights Organization and jointly by the Punjab Human Rights Organization and the Movement Against State Repression have conclusively shown that the Indian government carried out the massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chithisinghpora in March 2000 while former President Clinton was visiting India. Its police broke up a Christian religious festival with gunfire. According to the excellent book Soft Target, written by two respected Toronto reporters, the Indian government blew up its own airliner in 1985, killing 329 innocent people. According to a report in the Hitavada newspaper, India paid the late Governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, $1.5 billion to create terrorism in Punjab, Khalistan and in Kashmir. We must work to stop terrorism wherever it occurs. India's terrorism is no exception. We should stop our aid to India until it stops its repression of the Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, and other minorities, and we should declare our public support for self-determination for all the people of South Asia in the form of a free and fair plebiscite on the question of independence. A report published this past May by the Movement Against State Repression showed that the Indian government admitted that 52,268 Sikh political prisoners are rotting in Indian jails without charge or trial. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984. The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according to the Politics of Genocide by Inderjit Singh Jaijee. Over 75,000 Kashmiri Muslims and over 200,000 Christians have been killed. Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan has published an excellent press release on this attack. I would like to share it with my colleagues by inserting it into the Record now. [From the Council of Khalistan, Dec. 14, 2001] Council Of Khalistan Condemns All Terrorism--Terrorist Attack on Indian Parliament Is a Product of Indian Repression (By Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Tenth Master) India Must End Its Repression Instead of Blaming Pakistan-- Newspaper Says Indian Government Knew of Attack in Advance Washington, DC--The Council of Khalistan today condemned the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament, but called on the Indian government to join the fight against terrorism worldwide and to end its own terrorism against minorities. ``We condemn terrorism in all forms, wherever it comes from,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, the government pro tempore of Khalistan, the Sikh homeland, which declared its independence from India on October 7, 1987. ``We strongly condemn this terrorist action and we condemn the Indian government's terrorism that gave rise to this act,'' he said. ``When you repress people long enough, they strike back. India's repression of minorities made this incident inevitable.'' The Deccan Chronicle reported today that the Indian government knew of the attack in advance and did nothing to stop it. This shows government involvement in the incident. yet the Indian government has blamed Pakistan for the attacks. India will use this incident as an excuse for more repression of the minorities, such as the Sikhs of Khalistan, the Muslims of Kashmir, the Christians of Nagaland, and others. ``India must stop blaming Pakistan for everything that goes wrong in India and end its own terrorism against the Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and other minorities,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``It is time for India to release more than 52,000 Sikh political prisoners and the tens of thousands of other political prisoners and end its repression,'' Dr. Aulakh said. The book ``Soft Target,'' written by two Canadian journalists, proves that the Indian government blew up its own airliner in 1985 to generate more repression against Sikhs. In November 1994, the newspaper Hitavada reported that the government paid the late governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, $1.5 billion to generate terrorist activity in Punjab and Kashmir. ``I salute Pakistani President Musharraf for risking his political life by supporting America and the world in its fight against terrorism. It is time for India to get on board,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``I call on India to join the fight against terrorism and I call on the Sikh leadership in Punjab to stop making coalitions with the Indian government and work for freedom for the Sikhs and the other minority nations of South Asia,'' he said. ``There is a very good reason that there are 17 freedom movements within India's current borders.'' The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984. According to a report in May by the Movement Against State Repression, India admitted that 52,268 Sikh political prisoners are rotting in Indian jails without charge or trial. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984. Over 200,000 Christians have been killed since 1947 and over 75,000 Kashmiri Muslims have been killed since 1988. The Indian Supreme Court described the situation in Punjab as ``worse than a genocide.'' In May, Indian troops were caught red-handed trying to set fire to a Gurdwara (a Sikh temple) and some Sikh houses in Kashmir. Two independent investigations have proven that the Indian government carried out the March 2000 massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chithisinghpora. U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has said that for Sikhs, Kashmiri Muslims, and other minorities ``India might as well be Nazi Germany.'' India has also repressed Christians. Two leaders of the ruling BJP said that everyone who lives in India must either be a Hindu or be subservient to Hinduism. Priests have been murdered, nuns have been raped, churches have been burned, Christian schools and prayer halls have been destroyed, and no one has been punished for these acts. Militant Hindu fundamentalists allied with the RSS, the pro-Fascist parent organization of the ruling BJP, burned missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons to death. In 1997, police broke up a Christian religious festival with gunfire. ``Nations that do not have political power vanish,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Sikhs are a separate nation and ruled Punjab up to 1849 when the British annexed Punjab. The nations and people of South Asia must have self-determination now.'' ____________________