[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E133-E134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

INDIA: CANDIDATE FOR A TERRORIST STATE

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HON. DAN BURTON

of indiana

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing to note that
India's actions of late have had the effect of undermining our war
against terrorism. India's massive military buildup has forced Pakistan
to pull troops away from the Afghan border, creating a potential
opportunity for Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders to escape.
India claims that this act is in response to Pakistan's failure to
turn over alleged terrorists to them, but Pakistan has been cracking
down on terrorists and has jailed many of them so far. It will not turn
over non-Indians to India, however. India also blames Pakistan for the
attack on its parliament, even though India has a record of committing
acts of terrorism in the guise of various minorities. Two independent
investigations have proven that they did so in Chithisinghpora in March
2000, when they murdered 35 sikhs. The book Soft Target asserts that
the Indian government was responsible for shooting down an Air India
airliner in 1985, killing 329 people. In addition, India created the
militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which our government
has labeled a ``terrorist organization,'' and put up its leaders in
Delhi's finest hotel, according to India Today, India's leading
newsmagazine. Internet journalist Justin Raimondo has reported that
Defense Minister George Fernandes supplied money and arms to the LTTE.
On January 2, columnist Tony Blankley, writing in the Washington Times,
reported that the Indian government sponsors cross-border terrorism in
the Pakistani province of Sindh.
The time has come for India to release its political prisoners.
According to the Movement Against State Repression (MASR), India
admitted to holding 52,268 Sikhs as political prisoners in ``the
world's largest democracy.'' In addition, according to Amnesty
International, tens of thousands of other minorities are also being
held in jail.
India has also been guilty of terrorism against the minorities within
its own borders. The newspaper Hitavada reported on November 1994 that
the Indian government paid $1.5 billion to the late governor of Punjab,
Surendra Nath, to foment terrorist activity in Kashmir and Punjab,
Khalistan.
If we are going to win the war on terrorism, we must eliminate it
wherever it shows up. That includes countries that claim to be
democratic. I call on the White House to urge India to end its support
for terrorism. In addition, it is time to cut off U.S. aid to India and
to declare our support for a free and fair plebiscite in Punjab,
Khalistan, in Christian Nagaland, in Kashmir, and in the other minority
nations under Indian occupation on the subject of independence.
Mr. Speaker, on January 7, the Council of Khalistan published a press
release urging that India be declared a terrorist state. I would like
to place it into the Record at this time.

[Press Release from the Council of Khalistan, Jan. 7, 2002]

Declare India a Terrorist Nation--It Sponsors Domestic and
International Terror

India Must Free Over 52,000 Sikh Political Prisoners

Washington, DC.--``The time has come to declare India a
terrorist nation,'' Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the
Council of Khalistan, said today. The Council of Khalistan
leads the Sikh Nation's struggle for independence and is the
government pro tempore of Khalistan, the Sikh homeland, which
declared its independence from India on October 7, 1987.
``India pays lip service to the war on terrorism, but it is a
terrorist nation itself,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``If America is
committed to eradicating terrorism everywhere, that must
include India, a major sponsor of international and domestic
terrorism,'' Dr. Aulakh said.
Columnist Tony Blankley, writing in the Washington Times on
January 2, wrote that India sponsors cross-border terrorism
in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Internet journalist
Justin Raimondo recently reported that Indian Defense
Minister George Fernandes raised money for the militant
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which the U.S.
government has labelled as a ``terrorist organization,'' and
provided arms for them. Journalist Tavleen Singh, writing in
India Today, India's premier newsmagazine, reported that the
Indian government created the LTTE and put up its leaders in
the finest hotel in Delhi.
The Deccan Chronicle reported on December 14 that the
Indian government knew of the terrorist attack on its
Parliament, which killed 13 people, in advance and that the
government did nothing to stop it. No Members of Parliament
were killed in the attack, but the victims were lower-caste
people. This shows government involvement in the incident.
India seeks to use this attack as a pretext for a war against
Pakistan. Indian cabinet members have said that Pakistan
should be incorporated into India. ``Sikhs and Kashmiris will
be the main victims of war,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``This is part
of India's design. India is putting the stability of the
entire South Asian region at risk for its own hegemonic
ambitions,'' he said.
``We condemn terrorism in all forms, wherever it comes
from,'' he said. ``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 . . . 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. ``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.
The book Soft Target, written by two respected Canadian
journalists, shows that the Indian government blew up its own
airliner in 1985 to provide a pretext for more repression
against Sikhns. 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. The Indian government has
murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984. Over 75,000 Kashmiri
Muslims have been killed since 1988. 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.
In August 1999, U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said that
for Sikhs, Kashmiri Muslims, and other minorities ``India
might as well be Nazi Germany.''
India has also repressed Christians. More than 200,000
Christians have been killed since 1947. 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 by firing their
weapons at it.
``Now is the time for Sikhs, Kashmiris, Nagas, and other
nations to claim their freedom,'' he said. ``Now is the time
for a Shantmai Morcha (peaceful agitation) for the
independence of Khalistan,'' he said. ``If India is truly the
democracy it claims, then it should allow a free and fair
vote on this issue,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Sikhs are a separate
nation and ruled Punjab up to 1849 when the British annexed
Punjab. The nations and

[[Page E134]]

peoples of South Asia must have self-determination now.''

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