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[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 93 (Thursday, June 8, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1184-E1185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  THE GOLDEN TEMPLE MASSACRE: SELF DETERMINATION AND INDEPENDENCE FOR 
                               KHALISTAN

                                 ______

                          HON. PHILIP M. CRANE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, June 7, 1995
  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues the terrible conditions that the people of Khalistan must 
endure on a daily basis. June 3-6 marks the 11th anniversary of the 
Golden Temple Massacre, where the Indian army massacred thousands of 
Sikhs. The situation has not improved, and the Indian police routinely 
use torture, murder, and rape to oppress the Sikh people. This 
religious intolerance and ethnic warfare amounts to genocide and must 
stop.
  We need only look at the former Soviet Union to understand why a 
society based on ethnic repression cannot work. After the collapse of 
the Soviet Union, the republics were finally able to break free and 
exist in peaceful democratic states. It has been predicted that India 
will suffer the same fate and it is our duty to support and encourage 
the people of the Sikh Nation. The following remarks by Dr. Gurmit 
Singh Aulakh should be read to fully understand the importance of the 
situation.
                                         Council of Khalistan,

                                     Washington, DC, June 3, 1995.
     Remarks of Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President, Council of 
         Khalistan, on the Eleventh Anniversary of the Golden 
         Temple Massacre, at Washington, DC.
       I am glad to see so many people her today. As you know, the 
     Sikh Nation celebrated its 296th birthday this past Vaisakhi 
     Day. That was a joyous occasion; today is a sad one. We all 
     know about the oppression the Sikh Nation has suffered under 
     India's tyrannical occupation of our homeland, Khalistan. At 
     least 120,000 Sikhs have been murdered in India since 1984. 
     Tens of thousands of Sikhs remain in prison. In many rural 
     areas, where the killings are most frequent, whole villages 
     are emptied of their most able bodied young men.
       The bloody massacre we commemorate today helped to clarify 
     for the Sikh Nation its true place in Hindustan's sham 
     ``democracy.'' The oppression and bloodshed inflicted on the 
     Sikh Nation by the brutal Indian tyrants make it crystal 
     clear that there is no place for Sikhs in India. For 
     ourselves and for out children, we must liberate Khalistan. 
     Only a free and independent Khalistan will insure that the 
     Sikh Nation can live in peach, prosperity, and freedom.
       Freedom for Khalistan is coming soon. It is inevitable. Dr. 
     Jack Wheeler of the Freedom Research Foundation, who 
     predicted the Soviet collapse, predicted almost a year ago 
     that within ten years, India will cease to exist as we know 
     it.
       When Sikhs read about India's recent destruction of one of 
     Kashmir's most sacred mosques, we felt a familiar pain 
     remembering how we felt when thousands of our Sikh brethren 
     were slaughtered in the Golden Temple massacre.
       In the country that bills itself as ``the world's largest 
     democracy,'' military forces are being used to attack the 
     faith, identity, and even the very being of the Sikh nation. 
     But instead of breaking the Sikh nation, as the tyrants of 
     Hindustan had hoped, it has led to a resurgence of the Sikh 
     faith in our struggle for dignity and
      freedom. The Golden Temple massacre crystallized a desire in 
     the Sikh nation for a free and sovereign Khalistan.
       As you all know, today marks the anniversary of that act of 
     wanton desecration. From June 3 through 6, 1984, 15,000 
     troops of the Indian army launched a surprise military attack 
     on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest shrine of the 
     Sikh people. Simultaneously, they attacked 38 other Sikh 
     temples throughout Punjab, Khalistan. These attacks, timed on 
     a holy day for the Sikh nation, left 20,000 Sikhs dead. Many 
     innocent, unarmed men, women and children, who had come only 
     to pray on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev 
     Ji, were gunned down in the very temples in which they sought 
     peace and solace.
       The operation took 72 hours to complete. A news blackout in 
     Punjab was initiated immediately before the attack. In the 
     Temple complex itself, hundreds of Sikhs were forced into 
     rooms designed to hold no more that 20 or 30 people. Most 
     died of asphyxiation. Many Sikh women were raped before being 
     killed.
       In one episode, one hundred Sikh boys, students at the 
     temple who were between 8 and 12 years old, were lined up 
     along the sacred pool that surrounds the Temple. The Indian 
     army officers asked each boy, one by one, if he supported 
     Khalistan. One by one, each boy would cry out Bulleh So 
     Nihal! (``Everyone cry out and be contented!''), and the rest 
     would respond Sat SRI Akal (``God is Truth!''). One by one, 
     each boy was shot in the head. Yet the Indian regime claimed 
     that ``Not a single woman or child was wounded in the 
     operation proper at the hands of the Army personnel.''
       Other Sikhs were herded together, their turbans were 
     removed and used to tie their hands behind their backs. They 
     were blindfolded and their unshorn beards were stuffed into 
     their mouths. They were then killed by machine gun fire. 
     Bodies were piled together and shipped to nearby Gobindgarh 
     fort, where they were drenched in kerosene and burned. The 
     stench of smoldering bodies permeated in the area for two 
     weeks. Sant Bhindranwale and 20,000 other Sikhs lost their 
     lives.
       The damage to the Temple complex was extensive. We cannot 
     forget how the Akal Takht, the throne of timeless God, was 
     severely damaged and the Temple's library building was 
     destroyed. Priceless original manuscripts written by the 
     Gurus were burnt. The Golden Temple itself was riddled with 
     bullet holes, many precious stones inlaid upon its walls 
     removed by Army personnel.
       In the mopping up operations, the Indian forces planted 
     sophisticated weapons inside the Golden Temple in an effort 
     to legitimize the action. The Golden Temple was utterly 
     desecrated. In the 400-year history of the Golden Temple, no 
     ruler had done the kind of damage the Indian Government meted 
     out in the 72-hour massacre. The Guru Granth Sahib, the holy 
     book of the Sikh religion, had bullet holes in it. This is 
     Indian religious tolerance.
       Eleven years later, we remember. The Sikh nation can never 
     forget the brutal massacre and desecration that took place 
     during those dark days. We cannot forget, and the memory 
     reminds us that we must take back our homeland from the 
     tyrannical Indian regime. We must liberate Khlistan from the 
     grip of oppression, and we should do so very soon. It is our 
     destiny. Raj Karega Khlasa! Khalistan will be free.
       Eleven years later, the killing has not stopped. Virtual 
     martial law and press blackouts have been in place almost 
     continuously [[Page E1185]] since 1984. In November 1984, 
     after Sikh bodyguards assassinated Prime Minister Indira 
     Gandhi, Congress party and government sponsored rioting broke 
     out in cities all over India. 40,000 Sikhs lost their lives, 
     20,000 Sikhs in New Delhi alone. Sikhs were pulled out of 
     shops, homes, trains and buses, and burned alive. For three 
     days, television stations throughout India, all State 
     controlled, aired the simple message, Blood for Blood.
       Indian newspapers recently reported that 25,000 bodies have 
     been cremated and listed as unclaimed by the Indian regime 
     since 1990. In Amritsar district alone, over 6000 bodies were 
     listed as unidentified. This is one of 13 districts in 
     Punjab. A mass grave which held the remains of 400 Cambodians 
     shook the world, as it should have. Why does the mass 
     cremation of 25,000 in Punjab, Khalistan, get ignored? These 
     Sikhs were brutally tortured and murdered by the Indian 
     police, then cremated to hide the evidence.
       Sikhs are not the only victims. Indian ``democracy'' has 
     murdered over 150,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, over 
     43,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands 
     of Assamese, Manipuris, and other tribal people. According to 
     the State Department's 1994 report on human rights, between 
     1991 and 1993 the Indian regime paid over 41,000 cash 
     bounties to police officers for killing Sikhs. Many
      people simply ``disappear.'' It is the great unknown 
     holocaust.
       These atrocities are part of a pattern of oppression by the 
     corrupt Indian regime. According to the Indian magazine 
     Sunday, for every case of human rights violations that is 
     reported, another thousand go unreported.
       I am sure that you know what happened to Simranjit Singh 
     Mann. On December 26, Sardar Mann made a speech calling for a 
     peaceful, democratic, nonviolent movement to liberate 
     Khalistan. He asked the 50,000 Sikhs in his audience to raise 
     their hands if they agreed with him. All 50,000 did so. For 
     this blatant act of free speech, Mann was arrested under the 
     so-called ``Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act'' (TADA). 
     Although the regime has repealed TADA, and despite a Supreme 
     Court ruling that asking for Khalistan is not a crime, Mann 
     remains in a windowless cell almost five months after he was 
     arrested. This is typical of the kind of tyranny practiced 
     against the Sikh nation by the Indian regime.
       According to the government of India, all Sikhs are 
     terrorists. The regime has even outlawed the Sikh baptismal 
     ceremony of amrit. Most Sikhs have a friend or relative who 
     has been imprisoned, tortured or killed by police, ostensibly 
     because they are terrorists. This is the myth that justifies 
     the Indian government's bloody campaign of ethnic cleansing. 
     The world is beginning to realize that Sikh terrorism is a 
     myth. On November 6, the Indian newspaper Hitavada reported 
     that the Indian regime paid the late governor of Punjab, 
     Surendra Nath, $1.5 billion to foment terrorism in Punjab and 
     Kashmir, then blame it on ``Sikh militants.'' Again, Indian 
     ``democracy'' is exposed.
       This oppression must stop. On October 7, 1987, the Sikh 
     nation declared its independence from India, forming the 
     separate country of Khalistan. Sikhs ruled Punjab from 1710 
     to 1716 and from 1765 to 1849. Punjab belongs to the Sikhs. 
     Sikhs own 95 percent of the land in Punjab, Khalistan. Over 
     two-thirds of the population of Punjab is Sikh. No Sikh has 
     ever signed the Indian constitution. In the Indian-run 
     elections in Punjab, Khalistan, in February 1992, 96 percent 
     of the Sikhs there did not vote, according to India Abroad. 
     India's occupation of Khalistan is destroying our homeland. 
     The Sikh Nation has made its desire for freedom clear. We 
     want our country back. We want to live in peace, and we want 
     to live apart from India in a free, democratic society.
       Every day the world is exposed to the brutality of India's 
     occupation of Khalistan. In May 1994, Human Rights Watch/Asia 
     and Physician for Human Rights released a report entitled 
     Dead Silence: The Legacy of Abuses in Punjab. The report 
     quotes a police officer as saying, ``Once I became a police 
     officer in Punjab, I realized that torture is used routinely. 
     During my five years with the Punjab police, I estimate 4,000 
     to 5,000 were tortured at my police station alone.'' Another 
     policeman was quoted as saying that 500 people were killed at 
     his police station in five years. At least 200 of these 
     torture centers currently operate in Indian-occupied 
     Khalistan.
       In 1947, when India achieved independence, three nations 
     were to receive power. The Hindus got India, the Muslims got 
     Pakistan, and the Sikh Nation was to receive a state of our 
     own. But the Sikh leadership at the time made the critical 
     mistake of taking our share with India on the solemn promises 
     of Gandha and Nehru that Sikhs would enjoy ``the warm glow of 
     freedom'' in Punjab and that no law affecting Sikh rights 
     would be passed without Sikh consent. Almost immediately, 
     those promises were broken and the repression of our people 
     began.
       India is not one nation. It is a conglomeration of many 
     nations thrown together for administrative purposes by the 
     British. It is the last vestige of colonialism. With 18 
     official languages, India is doomed to disintegrate just as 
     the former Soviet Union did. Freedom for Khalistan and all 
     the nations living under Indian occupation is inevitable. The 
     Sikh Nation's demand for an independent Khalistan is 
     irrevocable, irreversible, and nonnegotiable. But we are 
     willing to sit down with the Indian regime anytime to 
     demarcate the boundaries of Khalistan. It is time for India 
     to recognize the inevitable and withdraw from Khalistan.
       An independent Khalistan will help make South Asia nuclear-
     free. Punjab, Khalistan, produces 73 percent of India's wheat 
     reserves and 48 percent of its rice reserves. As a country 
     where it takes three days' pay to buy a box of cereal, India 
     will have to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty because it 
     needs food. Once India disarms, Pakistan will have no reason 
     not to do so as well. Khalistan will sign the NPT and a 100-
     year friendship treaty with the United States.
       In the past eleven years, there have been thousands of 
     cases of Sikh deaths and torture at the hands of Indian 
     police and security forces. According to domestic and 
     international human rights groups, the following are 
     frequently used torture methods by the Indian government:
       A log of wood made heavier by weights is placed on the legs 
     of the detainee
      and rotated up and down.
       The legs of detainees are often stretched and then the 
     thigh muscles are beaten until they tear.
       Body joints are beaten with a heavy baton.
       Electric shocks are applied to genitals resulting in 
     impotency.
       Sikh women and girls are raped, then usually killed or 
     rendered infertile.
       Family members are forced to watch while violence is 
     inflicted on other family members. Often the parents must 
     watch as their children suffer.
       Husbands are forced to beat their wives and vice versa.
       Pregnancies are forcibly terminated.
       Security officials sponsor death squads throughout Punjab. 
     Typically, these agents arrive in unmarked cars, dressed in 
     plain clothes and carry automatic weapons. The death squads 
     pick up suspects and take them to interrogation centers.
       According to Asia Watch, ``virtually everyone detained in 
     Punjab is tortured.'' Sikhs who die of torture are routinely 
     listed as having died in fake ``encounters'' with the police. 
     Behavior like this is the reason that Amnesty International 
     has been barred from conducting an independent human-rights 
     investigation in Punjab, Khalistan since 1978. Even Fidel 
     Castro's Cuba has allowed Amnesty International into the 
     country more recently.
       Eleven years after the Golden Temple massacre, the human 
     rights situation has only gotten worse. Our history and the 
     history of other minority nations under Indian occupation 
     teach us that freedom for Khalistan, Kashmir, and Nagaland is 
     the only way to prevent further massacres like the one in the 
     Golden Temple.
       Secular democracy in India is a myth. The plight of 
     minority nations in India is a direct result of Indian 
     government's racial and ethnic intolerance. A Brigadier 
     General of the Indian Army made clear the actual, if 
     unofficial, policy of the Indian government he said that he 
     would execute the mayors of all six villages, kill all the 
     adult males, and confine all the women to army camps, that 
     they would reproduce with Hindus and thereby ``breed a new 
     race.''
       No longer can genocide be an accepted norm of democracy. 
     Let me close with a poignant quotation from a former world 
     leader, one that expresses the very situation in which Sikhs 
     find themselves.:
       A government that has to rely on the Criminal Law Amendment 
     Act and similar laws, that suppresses the press and 
     literature, that bans hundreds of organizations, that keeps 
     people in prison without trial, and that does so many things 
     that are happening in India today, is a government that has 
     ceased to have even a shadow of a justification for its 
     existence.
       These were the words that Jawaharlal Nehru used to describe 
     the British Administration in India in 1936. What is the 
     difference between the India of 1936 and the India of 1995? 
     I'll tell you. Our small homeland of Punjab, Khalistan has 
     500,000 security forces. The British never stationed that 
     many troops in the entire Indian subcontinent. And the 
     British, in the century in which they ruled Punjab, never 
     came near slaughtering the 120,000 Sikhs India has 
     slaughtered in the last eleven years.
       The free countries of the world support peace, justice, and 
     freedom. I call on all Americans to support freedom for 
     Khalistan. All the Sikh Nation asks is the same freedom that 
     Americans enjoy.
       On this anniversary of the Golden Temple massacre, Sikhs 
     will never forget the brutal desecration of our most sacred 
     shrine. I know that by 1999, which will be the 300th 
     anniversary of the birth of the Sikh nation, the truth will 
     be known, and the Sikh nation will celebrate that year in a 
     free and sovereign Khalistan.
       Khalistan Zindabad! India out of Khalistan!
       

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