WASHINGTON, DC: Sikhs from all over the Northeast gathered in Washington, DC last week to protest the Ambassador’s party celebrating India’s Independence Day. Sikhs from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, D.C., and Virginia showed up to protest the brutal Indian rule in Punjab, Khalistan. Demonstrators enthusiastically chanted slogans like “You can’t run, you can’t hide. You are guilty of genocide,” “Khalistan Zindabad!”, and others. The demonstration was organized by the Council of Khalistan. On October 7, 1987, the Sikh Nation declared its independence and the Council of Khalistan was named to lead the international struggle for freedom. The Council of Khalistan advocates liberating Khalistan through a peaceful, democratic, nonviolent struggle.
The Indian Embassy tried to silence the protestors by blasting ear piercing music throughout the neighborhood, disturbing residents for several blocks around. “We are pleased that so many Sikhs showed up for this important occasion,” said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. “It is clear that there is no place in Indian “democracy” for Sikhs or other minorities,” Dr. Aulakh said. “India’s Independence Day is the ideal time to make that point India’s tyranny in Khalistan is a thousand times more brutal than British colonial rule,” said Dr. Aulakh. “Britain murdered less than 2,800 people throughout India during India’s independence struggle. India has murdered more than 150,000 Sikhs since 1984,” he said.
CBI’s investigation continues. The 1994 State Department report on India stated that the regime paid over 41,000 cash bounties to police officers for killing Sikhs between 1991 and 1993. A police officer recently confirmed that policemen were paid bounties for killing Sikhs. In the video “Disappearances in Punjab,” a policewoman testifies that she saw prisoners in custody, their legs broken from torture, which were later reported to have been killed in “encounters” with the police. She also states that male guards routinely rape female prisoners. There are over 300 of these police stations/torture centers throughout Punjab, Khalistan. The Human Rights Wing (Shiromani Akali Dal) recently published a report showing that charges against Balbir Singh Dhillon, an American citizen from Sacramento who was arrested in May while visiting Sikh religious shrines in Punjab, Khalistan, are completely false. Last month, a Khalistani activist from Britain, Dr. Jagjit Chohan, was severely beaten at the New Delhi airport while seeking emergency medical treatment. On July 22, the Indian Supreme Court said, “We shudder to think of such a thing happening in a democracy.”
Article extracted from this publication >> August 28, 1996
