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“NO RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1140-E1141 on May 26, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NO RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA
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HON. DAN BURTON
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Thursday, May 25, 1995
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the human rights situation in India. As we have reached the half-way point in our debate on the foreign aid authorization bill, this is a very appropriate time to raise this issue.
Tuesday night, the House approved my amendment to deny development aid to any nation that votes against the United States more than 75 percent of the time at the United Nations. One of the countries that votes against us at the U.N. 80 to 90 percent of the time every year is India. It is no coincidence that India is also one of the world's worst human rights abusers. For years, I have criticized the atrocities committed by Indian security forces against Sikhs in Punjab, Muslims in Kashmir, and Christians in Nagaland. My strong feelings about this issue is one of the main reasons I offered my amendment. Any country that consistently votes against us at the U.N. and systematically violates the human rights of innocent civilians should not be receiving foreign aid from us.
Indian security forces in Punjab and Kashmir routinely torture political prisoners, gang rape women, and abduct innocent people to demand ransoms from their families. In Kashmir, the army just this month burned to the ground a centuries old mosque during a Muslim holiday. They routinely burn down entire neighborhoods and villages. In Punjab, torture and murder victims are thrown into canals, usually with their hands and feet still tied. Dozens of bodies are found every time a canal is drained for repairs.
Mr. Speaker, we must demand that India respect the human rights of all people, and grant them freedom, democracy, and basic human rights. Until India stops the abuses and begins to vote with us, even occasionally, at the United Nations, we should not be giving that country our foreign aid.
I ask unanimous consent to insert in the Record at this point a summary of human rights abuses in India prepared by my office, and a summary prepared by Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh of the Council of Khalistan, who has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Sikh people.
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Don't Support Indian Tyranny With American Tax Dollars
Here are some relevant facts about India and Indian-occupied Khalistan:
India votes against the United States at the United Nations 84 percent of the time, more than any other U.S. aid recipient.
India is helping Iran build up it military arsenal.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Indian newspapers recently reported that 25,000 Sikhs were either cremated as ``unclaimed bodies.'' or thrown in canals and rivers.
The White Paper on State Terrorism in Punjab cites S.S. Ray, Indian Ambassador to the U.S., as the ``butcher of Bengal'' and the ``butcher of Punjab.''
Over 41,000 cash bounties were paid to police officers for killing Sikhs, according to the US State Dept.
Over 120,000 Sikhs killed since 1984.
Over 150,000 Christians killed since 1947. Over 43,000 Kashmiri Muslims killed since 1988.
Tens of thousands more languish in Indian prisons without charge or trial.
Amnesty International reports hundreds of Sikhs have disappeared.
Asia Watch reports ``virtually everyone detained in Punjab is tortured.''
Police operate over 200 torture centers (police stations) in Punjab, Khalistan.
Police routinely pick up Sikh youths and demand ransom of tens of thousands of rupees for their safe release. Otherwise, the youths are tortured and killed.
Sikhs who die of torture are listed as being killed in an
``encounter'' with the police.
Despite the recent repeal of TADA, the other ``Black Laws'', giving the regime sweeping powers to detain anyone for any reason and kill Sikhs without fear of persecution, remain on the books.
India has not allowed Amnesty International to conduct an independent human-rights investigation in Punjab, Khalistan, since 1978.
India recently attacked an ancient mosque in Kashmir which houses the mausoleum of the venerated Sheik Nooruddin Wali. In December 1992, Hindus destroyed the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.
In June 1984, India attacked the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest shrine of the Sikh Nation.
The Chicago Tribune reports that a nun was stabbed 36 times by right-wing Hindu fundamentalists. By these actions, India displays its religious intolerance.
The Indian newspaper Hitavada reported in November that the late Governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, was paid $1.5 billion by the Indian regime to foment terrorism in Punjab, Khalistan, and in Kashmir.
The State Department says that the human-rights situation is getting worse.
india's nuclear threat to world peace
India has recently announced successful tests of the Akash antiballistic missile, India's equivalent of the Patriot.
India has deployed Prithvi missiles, which have a range of 250 kilometers, on the Pakistani border and has successfully tested other missiles like Agni, Thrishul, etc.
Last year, India launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which can be made to carry nuclear warheads.
India spends over 20 percent of its research and development budget on the development of nuclear weapons. Only 2 percent goes to education and health.
khalistan's right to self-determination
No Sikh has ever signed the Indian constitution.
The Sikh leadership declared Khalistan independent on October 7, 1987.
The movement to liberate Khalistan is peaceful, democratic, and nonviolent.
Former Member of Parliament Simranjit Singh Mann has been held in a windowless cell for four months for the ``crime'' of speaking out for Khalistan.
The Supreme Court of India ruled that asking for Khalistan is not a crime.
According to India Abroad, 96 percent of the Sikhs in Punjab, Khalistan did not vote in India's February 1992 elections there.
India has 500,000 troops in Punjab, occupied Khalistan, alone--more than Britain had in the entire subcontinent during its rule.
Khalistan, Kashmir, and Nagaland continue to be denied their right to self-determination.
India has 18 official languages. It is a polyglot like the former Soviet Union. It is not one country.
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Human Rights in India at a Glance: Disregard for Religious Sites and
Figures
May 1995--Indian troops in Kashmir burn to the ground the centuries-old walnut wood mosque in Charar-e-Sharies, along with hundreds of homes around it.
December 1992--Hindu mobs destroy the historic Babri Mosque in Ayodhya as Indian troops stand by and watch.
December 1992--Gurdev Singh Kaonke, one of the most revered leaders of the Sikh religion, is arrested, tortured and killed in police custody.
June 1984--Indian soldiers launch an all out attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. 38 other temples throughout Punjab are attacked, killing thousands of Sikhs.
what human rights groups say
Asia Watch: ``Virtually everyone detained in Punjab is tortured.'' [[Page E1141]]
Amnesty International: ``Torture (in Punjab and Kashmir) and illtreatment is widespread and in some cases systematic, resulting in scores of deaths in police custody.''
State Department Human Rights Report (1994): Over 41,000 cash bounties were paid to police in Punjab for extrajudicial killings of Sikhs between 1991 and 1993.
Graphic Examples of Torture and Murder, Punjab and Kashmir
Extrajudicial murders of Sikh youth are a common occurrence. Between 1986 and 1994, 6,017 unidentified Sikh victims of Indian police were cremated in the District of Amritsar alone. There are 13 districts in Punjab. It has been estimated that security forces have had over 25,000 unidentified Sikhs cremated or dumped in rivers during this period.
In January 1995, the water level of the Sirhind Canal was lowered for repair work. One dozen bodies of young Sikh torture victims were found at the bottom of just one shore section of the canal with the hands and feet bound. There are hundreds of miles of the canals through the province.
In January 1993, Indian paramilitary forces in Kashmir burnt to death at least 65 Kashmiri civilians in the town of Sopore. Soldiers deliberately set fire to five separate areas of the town. They also dragged shopkeepers out of their shops and shot them in the streets. The torching of entire Kashmiri villages by Indian forces is a common tactic.
In 1994, Sikh activist Kanwar Singh Dhami was imprisoned along with his pregnant wife and son. He and his wife were tortured in front of each other. When the police were unable to extract an untrue confession from Mr. Dhami, they hung his wife up by her heels (she was six months pregnant) forcing her to have a miscarriage.
In Amritsar district in 1993, Indian police brought a Sikh youth they had tortured and thought was dead to the hospital for an autopsy. After the police left, the doctors discovered that the young man was miraculously still alive and revived him. The police returned several hours later after hearing that the man was alive. They took him out of the hospital, killed him again, and brought him back to the same hospital for his autopsy.
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