India suffered a major setback in US Congress over her nuclear policy on June 13, 1991, when the House of Representatives voted by a huge margin to put her on the “same boat” as Pakistan and deny American aid unless New Delhi obtains a Presidential certification that it is not developing “additional” nuclear explosive devices.

The lawmakers’ decision to extend to India the Pressler law that has so far been applicable only to Islamabad came in the form of an amendment to the foreign assistance bill covering two fiscal years beginning October 1991.

The vote on the amendment, jointly sponsored by Republican Robert Lagomarsino and Democrat Charles Wilson, was 242 to 151. Among those who voted in favour of the amendment were 126 Democrats, 115 Republicans and one independent. 106 Democrats and 35 Republicans voted against.

“Mr India’ to India’s rescue Stephen Solarz, whom late President Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan had once described as “Mr India”, made a vigorous but vain effort to persuade his Congressional colleagues to reject the amendment. He could not repeat the feat he had achieved nearly two years ago when the house very narrowly rejected a move by Republican Congressman Wally Herger to deny India development assistance until progress was achieved in its human rights record.

The sponsors of the amendment applying the Pressler law to India insisted that it was not anti-India, but only “we will be treating India no differently than we treat Pakistan.” That made sense because the nuclear arms race in South Asia was between India and Pakistan, and unilateral arms control ‘‘does not work”. What was required was a regional approach, they said.

Reflecting a clear tilt against India came as a shock to officials of the Indian mission there.

The Indian ambassador, Abid Hussein, who was away on an official tour, had in the recent past lobbied hard on the Capitol Hill, explaining to the lawmakers India’s nuclear policy and the human rights situation in the country, it was acknowledged during the debate. But his effort apparently failed to make a dent since the majority of Congressmen were clearly inclined to the view that in Projecting its nuclear non-proliferation policy in South Asia, the United States must be evenhanded. Stephen Solarz, who chairs the house subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, argued that if symmetry was the Purpose of the Lagomarsino amendment, it should be extended to other countries which had nuclear weapons or which had similar nuclear programmes. Why stop with India?, Why not China, why not Israel, why not South Africa ?

Solarz said adoption of the amendment was not going to stop Pakistan’s nuclear programme, certainly not India’s

Programme, but “it will have very adverse consequence for Indo-American relations.

Hundred percent with India”

Democrat member Mel Levine said the question of symmetry could be appropriately raised between India and China. What was needed was a comprehensive Proposal for South Asia, but this amendment was about India alone. He questioned the wisdom of cutting of programmes which were extremely important for India and whose relations with the United States were improving substantially over the last several years.

Solarz’s spirited intervention on behalf of India brought the wry comment from Republican Dan Burton that “Mr Solarz is doing a very good job of defending India. Without him on the floor, India will suffer, he is hundred per cent with them on any issue.”

In a related action, the house also approved an amendment proposed by Republican Wally Herger calling on the Indian government to extend to international human rights organisations like Amnesty International and Asia Watch access to Punjab and Kashmir to examine allegations of human rights abuses by the Indian security forces. He welcomed the “acknowledgement” by the house that India must address the serious problem of human rights violations. He could not accept the argument that instability in India was an inappropriate time for imposing sanctions on the country. Instability was no excuse for the security forces and the police to indulge in killings and atrocities, Herger said.

Congressman Wilson, who had co-sponsored the Lagomarsino amendment, compared Pakistan’s support in the Gulf war and in Afghanistan with the stand of India which, he said, had sided with the Soviet Union throughout the cold war, and which was bullying its smaller neighbours. What the amendment sought was merely equity between India and Pakistan in regard to nuclear non-proliferation.

A Republican Senator from South Dakota, Larry Pressler’s amendment, which had made American aid to Pakistan subject to it not possessing nuclear weapons, now has been extended to India.

Pressler in the Congress had said that “In fairness to Pakistan, the Government of India has been less than forthcoming in its efforts to address proliferation issues on the sub-continent.”

“We must keep in mind that it was India not Pakistan that exploded a nuclear device in the early seventies” he said.

Indian Army must respect human rights

In another amendment, vitally concerning India’s domestic affairs, Congress asked the Bush Administration that the training, the USA provides to India’s armed forces must adhere to international recognized standards of human rights.

The amendment to the US Foreign Aid Bill, which was proposed by Congressman Wally Herger, was adopted in the house along with the controversial move dragging India into the non-proliferation Pressler law which governed the US military and economic assistance to Pakistan. The move by Herger, a known supporter of the Khalistani lobby, which went unnoticed earlier, seeks to establish policy guidelines for the § 3,45,000 military training programme with India.

It formed part of en bloc amendments which the house accepted to the $ 25.9 billion Foreign Aid Bill.

“l am hopeful that the strong message the house is sending to the Indian Government about human rights abuses by Indian security forces will be heard loud and clear in Delhi’, Herger later said in a statement.

Of the about $100 million that India would receive as aid from the USA in the fiscal year 1992, beginning October 1, $ 3,45,009 had been earmarked for military training.

In his speech in the house, Herger had said he would prefer that Congress went even further and imposed sanctions on India at this juncture. “I, for one, believe (political) instability is no excuse for the Indian authorities detaining tens of thousands of its citizens without trial, as has been reported by The New York Times”, he added.

“If, the next year, we do not see an improvement in India’s human rights record, i will be back urging my colleagues to join me in an effort to make further US assistance to India conditional on respect for human rights”, Herger added. A commitment forgotten

Earlier, he referred to the unfulfilled promise of the now defunct V.P. Singh Government to permit the Amnesty International to visit Punjab and Kashmir and investigate alleged police atrocities in the two Border States.

In fact, the issue was reopened by the Janata Dal Ministry. George Fernandes, the then union minister, during his visit to the USA had promised an Amnesty investigation, in sharp contrast to the previous Congress Government’s policy of not permitting foreign groups to “meddle into India’s domestic affairs’.

However, India’s troubles with the US Congress appear to be far from over. According to reports, the house may take up yet another bill of Herger seeking to deny most-favour education (MFN) trade status to India in the USA. Also pending before the house is Republican Congressman Dan Burton’s bill seeking to cut off American developmental assistance to Delhi.

Both the measures are concerned with the alleged violation of human rights and favour an Amnesty investigation into them which India had declined.

This move by the US House of Representive was aimed at asking the American government to teach the Indian armed forces the importance of observing human rights.

The amendment, among other things, observed that international human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Asia Watch had documented numerous instances of human rights violations by the Indian security forces against the Indian people especially in Punjab and Kashmir. Such abuses reportedly included rape, torture, detention without charge or trial, summary executions, disappearances and so called encounter killings. Direction to secretary of state

The US Congress also urged the American Secretary of State to raise Indian human rights abuses with the Government of India.

Meanwhile, India on June 24 rejected the US amendment saying that it cast “unwarranted slur” on the Indian armed forces. This was stated by an External Affairs Ministry spokesman adding that “Indian armed forces need no lessons from others in compassion, morality and application of human rights and humanitarian standards”.

“There is (therefore) no question of the Government of India accepting any conditionalities”, the spokesman underlined. He further explained that the US amendment actually referred to an exchange programme in the name and style of international Military Training Programme.

The amendment, passed as part of the foreign aid authorisation bill for 1992-93, spoke of the need for the Indian Armed forces to cultivate “an enhanced understanding and appreciation of and the ability to apply, international recognized human rights and humanitarian standards”. According to Indian Express (June 25) report, India has chosen not to condemn this move on Capitol Hill in Washington, because New Delhi does not wish to send signals that could be misunderstood by the White House. It is said that the amendments viewed in New Delhi in the overall context of certain other developments such as the gathering opinion in the US against a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir. A psycho-political setback to India

What it really means is that $ 22 million in the US development aid will be withheld for the fiscal year 1992 93, unless India is able to prove its non-nuclear status. Although the sum is miniscule in relation to India’s economy yet it makes a lot of difference in the international field. Psycho-political setback to India.

Wally Herger’s amendment to the foreign aid bill attaching Conditions to the $ 3,45,000 that India was set to receive through the international military education and training (IMET) programme, is a major setback to India.

Even as the US Congress continued censuring India for its violations of human rights, there is no let-up in state repression in India. Tens of thousands of Indian security forces are deployed in Punjab. Thousands of Sikhs and non-Sikhs have been killed during the past few years. A large number of Sikh activists have been killed at the hands of the security forces. The paramilitary and the police forces have been responsible for grave human rights abuses. The Indian Army deployed in Punjab in garb of routine defence exercises often engages itself in “encounters” with the Sikhs. No one from the military cr paramilitary forces responsible for extrajudicial actions has so far been punished.

No let-up in state repression

Despite protests by political groups and non-party organisations in Punjab. Violent activity at the hands of military, paramilitary and police forces remains unchecked. Rather it has been stepped up in the wake of the proposed elections to Lok Sabha and Punjab Assembly. Security forces excesses against civilians are on the increase. According to official figures, 93 Sikh militants were killed at the hands of the security forces during January 1991. In the month of February this figure went up to 169. The killing of militants by the State was further stepped up in March and the killed numbered 202. A monthly watch by PHRO

During April, 1991, the number of Sikhs killed by the security forces in Punjab was 193. Of them, 155 were shown killed in “encounters” with the police or security forces, 29 in intergroup rivalry and nine by taking poison. The exact number of Sikhs and non-Sikhs killed by individual groups and the State-sponsored secret death squads known as “Cats” as well as counter-militants groups encouraged by the government (like Indian National Army. Indian Lions, Sarabha Brigade, Red Brigade) cannot be determined by any voluntary Organisation. It needs investigations at the government level. PHRO has been demanding judicial enquiries into all incidents of violence since its inception in 1985 but to no avail. PHRO during the month of April took up a number of cases for investigation. Its headquarters at Ludhiana received information that a joint police party from Samrala and Sahnewal! police stations along with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel over 200 in number led by Samrala Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP Surjit Singh Pannu, Inspectors Saroop Singh and R.N. Sharma raided and searched Kotgangurai village on the night of April 1, 1991, at about 3 am. The villagers including women and children were slapped and beaten with rifle butts. The police picked up one Amrik Singh (son of Sardara Singh) and rounded up ex-Sarpanch and Headmaster Har Bhagat Singh (60), Bhajan Singh (50), Gajjan Singh (62), Manjit Singh (20) and Pritam Singh (50). All persons, except Amrik Singh, were set free after interrogating them for three days. Amrik Singh was removed to an unknown place.

In the meantime, PHRO sent telegrams to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Punjab Home Secretary seeking their immediate intervention as the Parents feared liquidation of their son Amrik Singh at the hands of the security forces. It also constituted a two-member team comprising Mohinder Singh Grewal and Anmol Singh Grewal to enquire into the matter. And the people of Kotgangurai organized themselves against this highhandedness of the police. They sent messages to about a dozen villages in the area. People from various villages collected at the Ludhiana-Chandigarh highway and_ started blocking traffic at 10 a.m. at three different places near Katani, Neel on and Tedhewal villages. The villagers in thousands jammed traffic in protest against ransacking the village and abduction of the Sikh youth by the security forces. It was on assurance of the

Samrala DSP that Amrik Singh would be sent home in the evening, the blockade was lifted. On that very day (April 1) at5 p.m. Amrik Singh was brought to his village by the police in a vehicle but was taken away after a round of the village. The same night at 10 p.m. the police again invaded the village. The police vehicles remained moving around the village. The villagers remained indoors due to fear. During this period they heard a sound of bullets near the house of Amrik Singh. In the morning of April 2, they saw blood stains and pieces of flesh behind Amrik Singh’s house. They all were stunned fearing that Amrik Singh might have been killed by the police last night. The village panchayat and next-of-kin of Amrik Singh approached the Samrala Police to enquire about the boy. The police did not respond. What killed the Brahman ?

The PHRO investigation team visited the spot, talked to the villagers including Sarpanch Bant Singh, Jagjit Singh and Bhagat Singh and met Amrik Singh’s relatives. They recorded the statements of the witnesses and victims of police excesses. According to the investigation team, it was Suresh Chand, a special police officer (SPO) and not Amrik Singh, who was accidently injured in the firing on that night. He was admitted to the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, where he succumbed to his injuries on April, 5. On the contrary he was shown killed in an armed encounter with the militants the same night at Paut village near Jharr Sahib Gurdwara. Suresh Chand (son of Jit Ram), a Brahman, belonged to Sehela village in Samrala sub-division of Ludhiana district. A traffic hold-up pays off

The mass protest and the continued efforts by the villagers and PHRO proved effective and Amrik Singh was ultimately produced by the police in a court at Ludhiana on April, 15 after he was kept in illegal custody for 14 days. He was harassed and brutally tortured in the police custody. At the moment he is in Nabha high security jail.

Meanwhile on April 8, sarpanches and panches of Ludhiana district decided to protest against the police repression in the villages as the ransacking of the Kotgangurai village was not the only isolated act by the security forces. This type of terror was let loose on dozens of villages in every district of Punjab in the past.

Accordingly the villagers supported by various political and non-party groups, sat on dharna (sit-in) on April 14 before the Deputy Commissioner Ludhiana, protesting against the high-handedness of the police. “Comrades” as police touts

Why was the terrtor let loose by the police on the people of Kotgangurai village ? In the course of investigations by the PHRO it was revealed that members of the Punjab Dehati Mazdoor Union, a pro-C.P.I. outfit from a nearby Bhoepur village, were hand in glove with the Samrala

Police Chief, Surjit Singh Pannu they are also known as the activists of Sarabha Brigade. They are working under the command of Comrade Amolak Singh, the convenor of Anti-repression and Communalism Front, Punjab. These groups of the so called Communists are encouraged by the State to confront the Sikh political activists who are advocating Khalistan. The police equip them with arms and ammunition.

After receiving this information the PHRO team met several persons of Sanghe and Bhoepur villages including sarpanch Kartar Singh who confirmed that these “Comrades” had been terrorising the people of the area and had direct links with DSP Samrala. They fortified Dharmsala building in Bhoepur village and are operating from there as if it was a police post. They remain on watch-duty, check and search the passersby. They nab the Sikh youths particularly Amritdharis (baptised Sikhs), lock them in the Dharmsala and hand them over to the police. They sometimes themselves interrogate and torture the youth. Their local leaders are Ramdin, Jagroop, Mohni and Romesh. Several persons from the neighbouring Bhaman village are also members of this group. Police ‘‘cats’’ killed political activists

The people of the area alleged that on March 26, 1991 the members of this group had killed Sarpanch Najar Singh Mangat of Bhaman village, who was believed to be a sympathizer of the Sikh militants, and took responsibility in the name of Sarabha Brigade, The Bhindrawale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTKF) retaliated and killed the killers of the Sarpanch. They were identified as Ramji Dass, Babu Ram, Buta Ram and Amar (Singh) Dass. They were brought to funeral pyre of the Sarpanch and shot dead. Devinder Singh Paut of the BTKF took responsibility for the killing. After this incident the police has been supporting the violent activities of these “Communists”. They are at liberty to harm anyone. They have created a terror in the neighbouring villages. They suspect that several persons of Kotgangurai village are harbouring and aiding the BTKF activists belonging to Paut group. That was why the Kotgangurai village had been invaded and ran sacked. The people of the area are afraid of the Sarabha Brigade they do not go near the Bhoepur village, the sub divisional headquarters of the Brigade in Ludhiana district. The gravity of the situation may be gauged from the fact that many a people advised the PHRO team against visiting the Bhoepur village.

These gangs of “Communists” independently or in collaboration with the “Cats” have been engaged in killing suspected symphathisers and harborers of the Sikh activists. Earlier they killed a number of political activists also. Important among them are the killing of Sikh Students Federation (SSF) general secretary Satpal Singh Dhillon, Akali Dal (Mann) leader Major Baldev Singh Ghuman and Sant Sipahi Front leader Mohinder Singh Chaheru. They had shot at Master Amrik Singh, the district president of the Akali Dal, Jalandhar, and injured him seriously. In all the incidents they claimed responsibility in the assumed name of “Indian Lions”.