Council of Khalistan Condemns Promotion of Sectarian Violence by India
Only One Sikh Religion , One Sikh Nation
Khalistan Is Essential

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16, 2007 – The Council of Khalistan condemned the recent violence in Punjab, sparked by an advertisement in the newspaper by Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, in which Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh dressed as Guru Gobind Singh and advertised that he would give Amrit to anyone who asked. This is reserved only for the Panj Piaras. This is an insult to the Sikh religion and clearly backed by the Indian government, said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, the government pro tempore of Khalistan, which leads the struggle for Khalistan’s independence.

"There are no Deras or sects in the Sikh religion. There is only one Sikh religion and Sikh Nation," said Dr. Aulakh. "Fake Babas like Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh are part of the Indian government’s ongoing effort to weaken the Sikh religion and prevent Sikhs from achieving freedom," he said.

Next month marks the anniversary of the Golden Temple massacre, Dr. Aulakh noted. During that attack, young boys ages 8 to 13 were taken outside and asked if they supported Khalistan, the independent Sikh country. When they answered with the Sikh religious phrase "Bole So Nihal," they were shot to death. The Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scriptures, written in the time of the Sikh Gurus, were shot full of bullet holes and burned by the Indian forces.

Former President Bill Clinton wrote in the foreword to Madeline Albright’s book that Indian forces were responsible for the massacre of 38 Sikhs in 2000 in the village of Chithisinghpora. Recently, two leading Sikh activists were arrested for peacefully protesting the construction of a statue to honor Beant Singh, the late Chief Minister who presided over the murder of tens of thousands of Sikhs. In 2005, 35 Sikhs were arrested for making speeches and raising the flag of Khalistan. Sikh farmers are forced by the government to buy supplies and seeds for unaffordably high prices and forced to sell their crops well below market prices.

"These incidents show that we need to free our homeland, Khalistan," said Dr. Aulakh. "Remember what former Akal Takht Jathedar Professor Darshan Singh said: ‘If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.’"

A report issued by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR) shows that India admitted that it held 52,268 political prisoners under the repressive "Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act" (TADA) even though it expired in 1995. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984. There has been no list published of those who were acquitted under TADA and those who are still rotting in Indian jails. Additionally, according to Amnesty International, there are tens of thousands of other minorities being held as political prisoners. MASR report quotes the Punjab Civil Magistracy as writing "if we add up the figures of the last few years the number of innocent persons killed would run into lakhs [hundreds of thousands.]" The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, over 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir, tens of thousands of Christians and Muslims throughout the country, and tens of thousands of Tamils, Assamese, Manipuris, , and others. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs "worse than a genocide."

"Only in a free Khalistan will the Sikh Nation prosper and get justice," said Dr. Aulakh. "When Khalistan is free, we will have our own Ambassadors, our own representation in the UN and other international bodies, and our own leaders to keep this sort of thing from happening. We won’t be at the mercy of the brutal Indian regime and its Hindu militant allies," he said. "Democracies don’t commit genocide. India should act like a democracy and allow a plebiscite on independence for Khalistan and all the nations of South Asia," Dr. Aulakh said."We must continue to pray for and work for our God-given birthright of freedom," he said. "Without political power, religions cannot flourish and nations perish."

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This material is circulated by the Council of Khalistan, which is registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Council of Khalistan, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab.
The material is filed with the DOJ where the required registration is available for inspection. Registration does not indicate approval of the contents by the U.S. Government.