WASHINGTON: Members of the U.S. Congress spoke last week to honor the eighth anniversary of the Sikh Nation’s declaration of an independent Khalistan and the establishment of the Council of Khalistan, the government in exile of Khalistan.

“The Sikh Nation ruled Punjab in the 18th and 19th centuries and was supposed to receive its own country when the British fired India in 1947,” said Rep. Peter King (R-NY). “Though promised by India that their freedom would be protected, those promises collapsed like a horse of cards. As a result, no Sikh has ever signed the Indian constitution and the Sikh Nation has struggled ever since then to regain its sovereignty.” Congressman King said. In this light, American support for Khalistan’s independence is crucial.”

“Frankly, it is in America’s best interest to support the independence of Khalistan,” said Rep. William O. Lipinski (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Railroads. “Ast India deploys the Prithvi nuclear missile and continues development of the Trishul, in violation of international standards, it would help promote America’s interests in the region if we had a reliable, democratically which could serve as a buffer between India and Pakistan, “Congressman Lipinski said. “But while strategic concerns are important, they are not the best reason to support freedom for Khalistan. We should support freedom for Khalistan because it is the right thing to do,”

“Despite years of evidence that their repression has only strengthened the Sikh Nation’s determination to liberate Khalistan, the Indian regime continues to increase the brutality and tyranny in a futile effort to scare the Sikh Nation into submitting to India’s brutal rule,” Congressman Lipinski said. “There is only one way to secure freedom for the Sikh Nation: a sovereign and independent Khalistan,”

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the House Committee of International Relations, said that “the Indian government’s current reign of terror dates back to the attack on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984” He said that “the human rights situation has not improved over the last eight years; if anything, it has gotten worse.” Chairman Burton cited the recent abduction of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra by the Punjab police as an example. Mr. Khalra had recently published a re- port showing that the Indian regime had arrested over 25,000 young Sikh men, tortured and murdered, then- listed them as “unidentified” and cremated their bodies. Mr. Khalra has not been seen since he was abducted on September 6. “The brutal atrocities committed against the Sikh people led to a strong independence movement throughout Punjab,” said Chair- man Burton. “On October 7, 1987, the five-member Panthic Committee, appointed by all of the major Sikh resistance groups, declared their intention to create an independent Sikh homeland by the name of Khalistan, and created a governing body known as the Council of Khalistan. This October marks the eighth anniversary of that declaration.”

(Provided by: Council of Khalistan)

Article extracted from this publication >> October 6, 1995