Although the outside world has remained silent, several of our friends who truly believe in human equality, human decency, individual liberty and freedom, and pursuit for happiness have strongly condemned the inhuman acts of the Indian Government against the Sikhs and other religious minorities and they are taking appropriate actions to hold the Indian Government accountable for its oppression against its religious minorities. One of these individuals and a great humanitarian is honor- able Congressman Vic Fazio. He is a very caring, concerned and committed person.

Immediately after the June 1984 army attack on the Sikh shrines Congressman Vic Fazio and former Congressman Norm Shumway were the first members of the U.S. Congress to publicly condemn the Indian Army attack on Punjab and Sikh shrines. On their advice and directions WSO lobbied and achieved the support of other members of the U.S. Congress.

In 1992 Congressman Dan Bur- ton introduced a bill in the House against human rights violations in the Punjab. The bill had very limited support in the House and its passage was very questionable. Congressman Vic Fazio considered this a setback to the Sikh cause which he had been supporting wholeheartedly. When the bill came for vote on the House floor, Congressmen Vic Fazio and Walley Herger stood in the House chamber door and appealed to their colleagues to vote for the bill. Without their support this bill would have never cleared the House, do In June 1993, Congressman Vic Fazio introduced an amendment to the foreign aid bill to out military aid to India. While the House defeated Congressman Dan Burton’s bill, Congressman Vic Fazio’s amendment was adopted by voice vote.

Most recently Congressman Vic Fazio wrote a personal letter to President Bill Clinton regarding human rights violations in the Punjab. Similar concerns were expressed in a separate letter writ- ten by Honorable Congressman Gary Condit which was also signed by 23 other Congressmen. President Clinton responded very favorably to these letters. Congressman Vic Fazio’s relationship with the Sikh community dates back to his initial bid for the California State Assembly. During the past quarter century he has served the Sikh community with care, compassion, dedication, and. integrity. It is a great pride and honor for the Sikh community of California that they are being rep- resented by a caring, honest, and dedicated representative. Unfortunately Gurmeet Singh Aulakh of ISO has made some false accusations against Congressman Vic Fazio. Those accusations are based on Mr.Aulakh’s party affiliation with the Republican party for which he heavily campaigned during the last election. It is also Aulakh’s desire to use Congressman Vic Fazio’s name for personal gain, which Congressman Vic Fazio does not allow. These politically motivated false accusations may be serving Aulakh’s personal interest but they are very damaging to the Sikh cause and are causing our honest and honorable legislators to re- think their position about the Sikh cause

Brothers and sisters it is time to stand with truth and reject our exploitation for personal, political, and financial gains by Mr. Aulakh. It is the Sikh tradition to humbly and gracefully acknowledge honest support. We urge you to write thank you letter to Congressman Vic Fazio to show him our appreciation for his support to our cause.

Contributed by:

Gurcharan Singh Dhillon President WSO.

Article extracted from this publication >> March 4, 1994