SAN JOSE: The Sikh American Information Center in press statement said that it has learned that the House Sub Committee on Human Rights has decided to hold a joint hearing with the House Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs on the subject of human rights abuses in South Asia. Although the topics of actual discussions will depend upon what the member Congressmen will bring up, recent abuses in Indian occupied Kashmir and the continuing excesses against Sikhs in Punjab are expected to come into focus. An actual date for the hearing is not determined at this time but it is expected to be held within a two week timeframe.
It is our understanding the press release went on to say that pressure from various Congressmen; postcards, letters and telephone calls from the Sikh and Muslim community leaders were instrumental in convincing the committee officials of the need for a hearing on this important topic. We see the grassroots work by the community at large as the critical component of the overall effort and hereby appeal to Sikhs all over United States to immediately contact their Congressman asking for his active participation in this momentous hearing in the U.S. Congress.
The aide said that the subcommittee’s decision to hold a hearing had also been prompted by recent reports in The Washington Post. The New York Times and several other newspapers on the situation in Kashmir that members had found quite troubling. The aide also acknowledged that the chairman of the subcommittee Rep Gus Yatron (DPa) had been contacted by several members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, urging that he convene such a hearing.
Among them, the aide said, was Rep Dan Burton who has introduced legislation that calls for development aid to India to be cut off unless New Delhi permits Amnesty International and other human rights groups into the country.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 6, 1990
