Dr. Aulakh, Others Expose Indian Human Rights

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Dr. Aulakh, Others Expose Indian Human Rights Violations at Congressional Hearing

Self-Determination in Punjab, Khalistan, and Kashmir Is Solution to Problem

Thursday May 13, 2004 (0331 PST)

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 2004 - Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, exposed Indian human rights violations against the Sikhs and other minorities at a Congressional hearing today entitled "Decades of Terror: Exploring Human Rights Abuses in Kashmir and the Disputed Territories." He gave a very emotional,, informative, strong statement. It was a very successful appearance.

"Repression is the official policy of supposedly secular and democratic India," said Dr. Aulakh. "The reality is that India is a Hindu theocracy, not the democracy it claims to be," he said. On October 7, 1987, the Sikh Nation declared its independence from India, naming its new country Khalistan. India's brutal occupation of Khalistan and other minority nations is now internationalized and brought to the attention of the world. On December 5, President Bush told Dr. Aulakh, "I am aware of the Sikh and Kashmiri problem." Dr. Aulakh made it clear to the committee that "freedom for all the minority nations of South Asia is the only way to end the repression and secure full human rights for everyone in that troubled region."

Dr. Aulakh testified that "An Army commander in Amritsar district threatened that he would murder the Sikh men, bring the women to the Army barracks, and 'produce a new generation of Sikhs.' Mr. Chairman, this is disgraceful and extremely insulting to the proud Sikhs. It is unbecoming of an army commander of a nation which claims to b

e the world's largest democracy." He blasted India's policy of Hindutva, the total Hinduization of every aspect of life in India. He noted that Amnesty International has not been allowed into Punjab since 1978. "Even Castro's Cuba has allowed Amnesty International into the country more recently," he said.

Subcommittee Chairman Representative Dan Burton (R-Indiana) opened the hearing with a statement. Congressman Burton said, ""Just as the world is disgusted by the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by United States servicemen and women, we should be disgusted by the tactics that have been systematically employed by Indian military and paramilitary forces." He quoted the U.S. State Department report on India: "Significant human rights abuses included: Extrajudicial killings, including fake encounter killings, custodial deaths throughout the country, and excessive use of force by security forces." Chairman Burton noted "techniques like reprisal killings, burning down of whole villages, and summary executions." He said that "India's insistence on resolving a political problem by force has dragged it down into a campaign of essentially lawless state terrorism."

"We thank Chairman Burton for holding this important hearing," said Dr. Aulakh. "It has been helpful in showing the world the truth about India's claim to be a secular democracy. What India really is is one of the world's most brutal tyrannies," he said.

Other speakers included The Honorable Michael Kozak, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; The Honorable Donald Camp, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of South Asian Affairs; Mr. T. Kumar, Advocacy Director - Asia, Amnesty International; The Honorable Bob Giuda, Chairman of Americans for Resolution of Kashmir and Deputy Majority Leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives; Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Executive Director of the Kashmiri American Council; Mrs. Attiya Inayatullah, a human-rights ac

tivist and aid worker; and Selig Harrison, Director of the Asia Program, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Policy. Sikhs from Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania came to the hearing. Representatives of the Sikh Coalition were in attendance. Such Sikh youth leaders as Amardeep Singh Bhalla, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, Mona Kaur Dhillon, and others, as well as Sikh activists Ranjit Singh, Gurbax Singh Dhillon, Karj Singh Sandhu, Karnit Singh Pannu, and many others attended in an excellent show of Sikh strength.

The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians since 1948, over 87,000 Muslims in Kashmir since 1988, and tens of thousands of Tamils, Assamese, Bodos, Manipuris, Dalits, and others. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs "worse than a genocide." Mrs. Inayatullah testified that in Kashmir, "Since 1989 and as of January 2004 the death toll stands at 87,648. The orphan count is 105, 210, women ages 7-70 molested is a shameful 9297 and another 21,286 reported widowed, with there being no record of the number of youth sexually incapacitated through torture and disabled for life." She said that "Buzz words like cross-border terrorism and fundamentalism will not cover India's guilt." Rep. Giuda noted that "Indian law immunizes its army and police from prosecution for actions committed under color of 'prevention of terrorism', enabling a hideous government-sanctioned repertoire of torture, rapes, murder, arson, and custodial killing. Pakistan allows U.N. observers and human-rights organizations unfettered access to Free Kashmir, while India denies access to substantial parts of IOK. One must ask, 'Why are no observers allowed? What is India hiding?'"

Mr. Kumar said that "torture, including rape, deaths in custody, extrajudicial killings, and 'disappearances' have been perpetrated by agents of the state with impunity." He said that "M

ost families of all backgrounds have experienced some form of loss - of livelihood, of a relative, or of the sense of security of life, liberty, and other fundamental human rights." Dr. Fai reported that "Killings in Kashmir have become so commonplace that they are reported like car accidents in the United States." He described rapes, torture, arbitrary arrests, and other activities. He noted that "freedom to speak, write, or organize around self-determination or criticism of the Indian government for millions of Kashmiris is chimerical." He noted that the Official Secrets Act gives the government authority to suppress criticism of its policies. He said that "India has authorized a police state reminiscent of the Gestapo."

Mr. Harrison stated that India has built "an inflated military force that has committed well-documented atrocities." Secretary Kozak said, "Our annual human-rights report documents our concern and gives examples of the abuses that take place all too frequently."

Dr. Aulakh testified that Indian police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared unidentified and secretly cremated. Khalra was murdered in police custody. His body was never given to his family. The police never released the body of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Ghotna murdered him. Ghotna has not been brought to trial for the murder of Jathedar Kaunke. No one has been brought to justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra. According to a report by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs are being held as political prisoners in India without charge or trial. Some have been in illegal custody since 1984! Amnesty International recently reported at least 100 current torture cases in Punjab. A Sikh leader named Gurnihal Singh Pirzada was arrested on ch

arges that he attended a meeting with "dissidents." Although he denies attending the meeting, he said that it would not be illegal if he did.

Dr. Aulakh noted that history shows that multinational states such as India are doomed to failure. Countries like Austria-Hungary, India's longtime friend the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and others prove this point. India is not one country; it is a polyglot like those countries, thrown together for the convenience of the British colonialists. It is doomed to break up as they did. India is ruled by Hindu theocrats whose agenda is "Hindu, Hindi, Hindutva, Hindu Rashtra," or total Hindu domination of every facet of Indian life. An Indian Cabinet minister said that everyone who lives in India must be a Hindu or subservient to Hindus.

"As Professor Darshan Singh, a former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, said, 'If a Sikh is not for Khalistan, he is not a Sikh'," Dr. Aulakh noted. "We must continue to press for our God-given birthright of freedom," he said. "Without political power, religions cannot flourish and nations perish."

http://paktribune.com/news/index.ppa?id=64801

[Akaali]

We needed that!!

(sorry about the one liner, I couldn't help it) :wub:

[S1ngh]

I met aulakh three times and I was kinda fan of him.. BUT recently him supporting kalaafghanism ppls.. then i turned against him. sorry Sikhi comes first..