SIKHS CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
(Extensions of Remarks - September 19, 2006)

HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006

Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan recently published an open letter showing that the effort to liberate Khalistan from Indian occupation is closer than ever to success. It took note of the speeches and the raising of the flag in support of Khalistan, of the seminar that was given that promoted Khalistan, and numerous other activities that have moved forward the peaceful effort to liberate Khalistan.

The letter argues that Khalistan is the only issue facing the Sikhs. It cites examples of people living in tyranny who put their differences aside to oust the tyrants and urges the Sikh nation to learn from those examples and do the same. It calls on the political leaders in Punjab, Khalistan, to focus their attention on the issue of liberating Khalistan from Indian occupation rather than the lesser issues that so often command their attention.

I recommend this letter highly, Mr. Speaker. It provides an excellent overview of the situation in Punjab, Khalistan.

Mr. Speaker, we must do our part to ensure freedom to the people of Khalistan and all the oppressed people of south Asia and the world. This is critical if we are proclaiming the American values of freedom, democracy, and human rights, which are cornerstones of American foreign policy. In pursuit of that goal, we should end our aid to India and our trade with India until it respects the basic human rights of all people under its control, treating them fairly, equally, and with dignity. And we should actively support democracy for the people of Khalistan and all the occupied nations, such as Kashmir, Nagalim, and others, in the form of democracy and self-determination. They should have a free and fair vote on their status, the democratic way. Does India have a problem with democracy for the people it rules? If so, it is not worthy of our support.

I would like to put the Council of Khalistan's open letter into the RECORD for the information of my colleagues and the American people.

SIKH LEADERSHIP MUST UNITE TO FREE KHALISTAN
August 14, 2006.

DEAR KHALSA JI: As I write this letter, we are again approaching Indian Independence Day. Although it is a celebration for the uppercaste Hindus, it is a black day on the calendar for Sikhs and other minorities suffering under the boot of Indian repression. Over 52,000 of our Sikh brothers and sisters remain in illegal Indian custody as political prisoners without charge or trial. More than a quarter of a million of our fellow Sikhs have been murdered by the Indian government. Similar genocide has been inflicted on Christians, Muslims, and other minorities. Is this what India celebrates? Are they celebrating bloodshed, violence, brutality, and tyranny? Unfortunately, that is the way it looks. How does a democracy justify that kind of celebration?

The flame of freedom continues to burn brightly in the heart of the Sikh Nation. No force can suppress it. The arrests last year and earlier this year of Sikh activists, mostly from Dal Khalsa, merely for raising the Khalistani flag and making pro-Khalistan speeches shows that the movement to free our homeland is on the rise. It has gotten the attention of the world. The seminar organized by former Member of Parliament Sardar Atinder Pal Singh, who has publicly asked why we can't have Khalistan, also moved the cause of freedom for Khalistan forward. We are closer to freedom than ever before, despite the ongoing repression.

Recently, a coalition of Sikh leaders led by Simranjit Singh Mann has come together to oppose both Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal. While it is good to oppose both of these leaders, who are puppets of the brutal Indian regime, the small, incremental proposals that the Mann-led coalition is making do little to solve the basic problems of the Sikh Nation. The real issue is Khalistan. That is why these 35 Sikhs face charges from the Indian government for raising the Khalistani flag and speaking for Khalistan, not merely for opposition to Badal and Amarinder. As worthwhile as it may be to oppose them, it is diverting the attention of the Sikh Nation from the real issue of Khalistan.

India is trying to subvert Khalistan's independence by overrunning Punjab with non-Sikhs while keeping Sikhs from escaping the brutal repression in Punjab. We must redouble our efforts to free our homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. That is the only way to keep these atrocities from continuing and to protect the Sikh Nation. This is a direct challenge to the Sikh leadership, irrespective of their party affiliation. Yet the new coalition wants to practice politics as usual, within the Indian system. That will never achieve freedom, dignity, security, or prosperity for the Sikhs of Punjab, Khalistan. They must speak out forcefully for Khalistan or their efforts are useless. Please do not waste the Sikh Nation's time on other issues that divert our attention from liberating Khalistan. Those issues can and should be dealt with after Khalistan is free. But until then, no other issue matters to the future of the Khalsa Panth.

Other nations that have faced repression have taught us the lesson that these politicians need to learn. When Nicaragua suffered under a repressive government in the 1980s, the opposition factions put aside their differences and worked together to free the people from the repression of the Ortega regime. A similar thing is happening in other countries around the world today. They know that these differences, as important as they may be, are for a later day. First, they must secure freedom.

Any organization that sincerely supports Khalistan deserves the support of the Sikh Nation. However, the Sikh Nation needs leadership that is honest, sincere, consistent, and dedicated to the cause of Sikh freedom. But we should only support sincere, dedicated, honest leaders. The Council of Khalistan has stood strongly and consistently for liberating our homeland, Khalistan, from Indian occupation. For over 20 years we have led this fight while others were trying to divert the resources and the attention of the Sikh Nation away from the issue of freedom in a sovereign, independent Khalistan.

Mr. Mann is not trustworthy. He is conniving with the Indian government. His letter pledging support for ``the constitution and territorial integrity of India'' is reproduced on page 185 of Chakravyuh: Web of Indian Secularism. Last year, he was escorted around America by Amarjit Singh. At a Vaisakhi celebration in New York in 2000, he called for the Council of Khalistan office to be closed. He has accused Dr. Awatar Singh Sekhon and me of being Indian government agents!

All factions of the Akali Dal are to be viewed with suspicion. The Akali Dal has lost all its credibility. The Akali Dal conspired with the Indian government in 1984 to invade the Golden Temple to murder Sant Bhindranwale and 20,000 other Sikh during June 1984 in Punjab. If Sikhs will not even protect the sanctity of the Golden Temple, how can the Sikh Nation survive as a nation?

The Akali leaders also walked out when I predicted at a seminar around the celebration of Guru Nanak's birthday that Khalistan will soon be free, a prediction that was greeted with multiple enthusiastic shouts of ``Khalistan Zindabad.'' How will these Akalis account for themselves? Remember the words of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Professor Darshan Singh: ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.'' Khalistan is the only way that Sikhs will be able to live in freedom, peace, prosperity, and dignity. It is time to start a Shantmai Morcha to liberate Khalistan from Indian occupation.

Never forget that the Akal Takht Sahib and Darbar Sahib are under the control of the Indian government, the same Indian government that has murdered over a quarter of a million Sikhs in the past twenty years. These institutions will remain under the control of the Indian regime until we free the Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan, from Indian occupation and oppression and sever our relations with the New Delhi government.

The Sikhs in Punjab have suffered enormous repression at the hands of the Indian regime in the last 25 years. Over 50,000 Sikh youth were picked up from their houses, tortured, murdered in police custody, then secretly cremated as ``unidentified bodies.'' Their remains were never even given to their families! More than a quarter of a million Sikhs have been murdered at the hands of the Indian government. Another 52,268 are being held as political prisoners. Some have been in illegal custody since 1984! Even now, the capital of Punjab, Chandigarh, has not been handed over to Punjab, but remains a Union Territory. How can Sikhs have any freedom living under a government that would do these things?

Sikhs will never get any justice from Delhi. Ever since independence, India has mistreated the Sikh Nation, starting with Patel's memo labelling Sikhs ``a criminal tribe.'' Wbat a shame for Home Minister Patel and the Indian government to issue this memorandum when the Sikh Nation gave over 80 percent of the sacrifices to free India.

How can Sikhs continue to live in such a country? There is no place for Sikhs in supposedly secular, supposedly democratic India. Let us work to make certain that 2006 is the Sikh Nation's most blessed year by making sure it is the year that we shake ourselves loose from the yoke of Indian oppression and liberate our homeland, Khalistan, so that all Sikhs may live lives of prosperity, freedom, and dignity.
Sincerely,

Sincerely,

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh
President
Council of Khalistan