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PRESS RELEASE: COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN,
WASHINGTON DC
U.S. Congress: India Is a
"Hostile Country"
Letter Urges President to Press Indian
Prime Minister on Self-Determination for Khalistan, Human Rights,
Release of Political Prisoners
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 13, 2000 A bipartisan group of 17
Members of the U.S. Congress have written a letter to President
Clinton urging him to press Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, who arrives for a state visit today, on issues of
self-determination for Khalistan, human rights, and release of
political prisoners. The letter called India "a hostile
country."
"We call on you to press Prime Minister Vajpayee on the
issues of human rights and self-determination for Khalistan,
Christian Nagalim, Kashmir, and all the minority nations and
peoples living under Indian rule," the Members of Congress
wrote. The Members noted the recent incident in which a priest in
Gujarat was kidnapped, tortured, and dragged naked through the
streets. This incident is part of a pattern of repression against
Christians that has been going on since Christmas 1998, they
noted. They also took note of the massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chithi
Singhpora during the President‚s visit to India in March,
which two independent investigations have proven was carried out
by the Indian government. They wrote about the murders of over
250,000 Sikhs since 1984, over 70,000 Muslims since 1988, more
than 200,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, and tens of
thousands of other minorities by the Indian government. "We
cannot accept this kind of brutality and tyranny from a
government that claims to be democratic," they wrote.
They also wrote, "India is a hostile country. Last year the
Indian Defense Minister led a meeting with Cuba, China, Iraq,
Serbia, Russia, and Libya to construct a security alliance to
stop the U.S.‚" they noted. They also wrote that India
introduced the nuclear arms race to South Asia and that it
supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The lead sponsor of the letter was Representative Edolphus Towns
(D-NY). Other co-signers include Representative Wally Herger
(R-Cal.); Representative Donald M. Payne (D-NJ); Representative
Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.); Representative Cynthia McKinney
(D-Ga.); Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.); Representative
Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the Government Reform and
Oversight Committee; Representative Randy (Duke) Cunningham
(R-Cal.); Representative James Traficant (D-Ohio); Representative
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa); Representative John T.
Doolittle (R-Cal.); Representative Philip M. Crane (R-Ill.);
Representative James Rogan (R-Cal.); Representative Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.); Representative James Oberstar (D-Minn.);
Representative George P. Radanovich (R-Cal.); and Representative
Peter King (R-NY).
Indian security forces have murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since
1984, according to figures compiled by the Punjab State
Magistracy and human-rights organizations. These figures were
published in The Politics of Genocide by Inderjit Singh Jaijee.
About 50,000 Sikh political prisoners are rotting in Indian jails
without charge or trial. Many have been in illegal custody since
1984. India is in gross violation of international law. Since
1984, India has engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing in
which about 50,000 Sikhs were murdered by the police and secretly
cremated, according to Justice Ajit Singh Bains, chairman of the
Punjab Human Rights Organization, in an interview broadcast on
"Ankhila Punjab" radio in Toronto, Canada. The Indian
Supreme Court described this campaign as "worse than a
genocide."
"On behalf of half a million Sikhs in the United States, I
would like to thank Congressman Towns and every Member who signed
this letter," said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the
Council of Khalistan, the government pro tempore of Khalistan,
the Sikh homeland that declared its independence from India on
October 7, 1987. "We thank our friends in both parties for
their support for freedom in South Asia. This letter can help
focus the attention of the United States and India on the
important democratic values of self-determination and human
rights," he said. "The willingness of these Members of
Congress to call India a hostile country also advances freedom in
South Asia by helping to frustrate India‚s drive for
hegemony in the region," he said. He predicted that
"the breakup of India draws closer every day and Khalistan
will be free in this decade."
September 12, 2000
The Honorable Bill Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be visiting you
from September 13 to September 17. It is important that you press
him on the issue of the persecution of Christians, Sikhs,
Muslims, and other minorities by the Indian government.
Press Trust of India reported on August 25 that a Christian
priest in Gujarat was kidnapped, tortured, and paraded through
town naked. This attack was not an isolated incident. Since
Christmas 1998, priests have been murdered, nuns have been raped,
a missionary and his two sons were burned to death in their van
by members of the RSS, which is the parent organization of the
ruling BJP, schools and prayer halls have been attacked and
destroyed. Yet the Indian government refuses to take any action
against the people who perpetrate these atrocities.
During your trip to India, 35 Sikhs were murdered in the village
of Chithi Singhpora, Kashmir. The Ludhiana-based International
Human Rights Organization investigated this and separately the
Movement Against State Repression and the Punjab Human Rights
Organization conducted an investigation. Both of these
investigations have proven that the Indian government carried out
this massacre. The Indian government has admitted that the five
Muslims they killed on the claim that they were responsible for
the massacre were innocent. Now they have arrested two more
people, claiming that they were responsible for this massacre.
Yet despite the fact that so-called "militant" groups
almost always claim responsibility for incidents they are
responsible for, nobody has emerged to claim responsibility for
the killings in Chithi Singhpora.
The Politics of Genocide by Inderjit Singh Jaijee reports that
the Indian government has murdered more than 250,000 Sikhs since
1984. These figures were derived from figures put out by the
Punjab State Magistracy. India has also killed more than 200,000
Christians in Nagaland since 1947, over 70,000 Kashmiri Muslims
since 1988, and tens of thousands of Dalits, Assamese, Tamils,
Manipuris, and others. According to Amnesty International, there
are thousands of political prisoners being held in illegal
detention without charge or trail in "the world's largest
democracy."
India is a hostile country. Last year the Indian Defense Minister
led a meeting with Cuba, China, Iraq, Serbia, Russia, and Libya
to construct a security alliance "to stop the U.S."
India openly supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It
tested five nuclear warheads, beginning the nuclear arms race to
South Asia. And it refuses to allow the Sikhs, Kashmiris,
Christians, and other minority nations and peoples decide their
own political future in a free and fair vote, as democratic
countries do. America has repeatedly granted this opportunity to
Puerto Rico and Canada has permitted Quebec to do so. Why can't
the "world's largest democracy" settle these issues the
democratic way?
America is the bastion of freedom for the world. We cannot accept
this kind of brutality and tyranny from a government that claims
to be democratic. We call on you to press Prime Minister Vajpayee
on the issues of human rights and self-determination for
Khalistan, Christian Nagalim, Kashmir, and all the minority
nations and peoples living under Indian rule.
Sincerely,
Hon. Edolphus Towns, M.C. Hon. Wally Herger, M.C.
Hon. Donald M. Payne, M.C.
Hon. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, M.C.
Hon. Cynthia McKinney, M.C.
Hon. Roscoe Bartlett, M.C.
Hon. Dan Burton, M.C.
Hon. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, M.C.
Hon. James Traficant, M.C.
Hon. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, M.C.
Hon. John T. Doolittle, M.C.
Hon. Philip M. Crane, M.C.
Hon. James Rogan, M.C.
Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, M.C.
Hon. James Oberstar, M.C.
Hon. George P. Radanovich, M.C.
Hon. Peter King, M.C.