E1234 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks June 25, 1998 said Charlene Bridges, president of the HONORING THE LATE LEONARD On January 2, 1993, the police claimed that Lamar school. The other Colorado schools HARPER Jathedar Kaunke had escaped. This claim was are at Trinidad State Junior College and the false. He had been killed the day before. Ac- Colorado School of Trades in Lakewood. HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL cording to a news article, he was murdered by Bridges’ husband, J. Earl Bridges, is direc- OF NEW YORK being torn in half, similar to the way that the tor and chief instructor. He has been a gun- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES driver for another religious leader, Bbab smith for 15 years and has been teaching the Charan Singh, was murdered by the Indians. craft for the past six. Thursday, June 25, 1998 The human-rights activists created a com- Since it opened, the academy ‘‘has worked Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mission to look into the matter. According to on no less than 3,000 firearms, and maybe honor the late Leonard Harper on his remark- their statement, they seek ``an appointment four have been returned to redo something or able achievements in the field of theater and with the Chief Minister of Punjab to acquaint because we overlooked something,’’ Earl stage shows. Bridges said. him with its findings and to demand registra- Mr. Harper was one of the leading figures tion of a case against the culprits.'' They point- In addition to learning how to build their who transformed Harlem into a cultural center own rifles from stock to trigger assembly to ed out that this demand ``is no more than a re- during the 1920's. His nightclub productions at iteration of the position that Parkash Singh barrel, students are expected to repair or re- Connie Inn, Lafayette Theater and the opening model a minimum of 40 firearms during their Badal himself had taken at the time of the inci- mandatory 2,240 hours at the academy. of the new Apollo Theater drew people from dent. The Akal Takht is the highest institution all over the world. of the Sikhs that embodies their sacral and Roughly one-third of their time must be Mr. Harper's accomplishments on Broadway secular aspirations. Its former Jathedar was spent on ‘‘design, function and repair of fire- include the all-Black ``Kentucky Club Revue'' arms.’’ Only 175 hours are spent on theory. inhumanly tortured to death. We are confident at the New Amsterdam Theater, and his work There is no homework, just many hours of that the Sikh Chief Minister of Punjab would as a director on the big musical hit, ``Hot painstaking precision work, and students are not treat this matter in the same lackadaisical Chocolates' at the Hudson Theater. The pro- encouraged to read, said Charlene Bridges. spirit that generally marks his attitude on our duction was a milestone, the first-ever produc- A major difference between this school and human-rights concerns.'' They also demanded tion with three Black men as the sole creative others is the emphasis on the basics involved police protection for key witnesses in the case force, which changed Broadway forever. in building a gun from raw metal bar stock, because India has a record of intimidating, Mr. Harper brought the cabaret form of en- said instructor and part owner Michael bribing, even killing witnesses. tertainment to a professional level. As a pro- Syler, who owned a gun shop near Dallas be- Signers of this statement include Hindu fore moving to Lamar. ducer and a brilliant choreographer, he intro- human-rights activist Ram Narayan Kumar, duced some of the most extraordinary talents Tuition, excluding room and board, is Justice Kuldip Singh, President of the World to ever perform on stage and cabaret. $11,760 for the course, and students pay an Sikh Council, Justice Ajit Singh Bains, chair- additional $5,300 to acquire the tools of their Mr. Harper was previously honored by the trade. New York State Assembly and the City Coun- man of the Punjab Human Rights Organiza- cil of New York for his remarkable achieve- tion, Inderjit Singh Jaijee, chairman of the ‘‘The quality of the work here is impec- Movement Against State Repression, Dr. cable. Everything approved by (Bridges) ments. must be top notch,’’ said student Jay Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues Sukhjit Kaur, Maj. Gen. Narinder Singh, Amrik Crowder, 27, of Knoxville, Tenn. to join me in saluting Mr. Leonard Harper for Singh Muktsar, D.S. Gill, R. S. Bains, Amar Singh Chahal, Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Mrs. Baljit Although the school doesn’t guarantee job his contributions to the community and his ex- placement, ‘‘it seems like anyone who needs traordinary accomplishments. Kaur, and Navkiran Singh. They should be a job gets one. Eventually, I want a place of f recognized for their courage in standing up to my own,’’ Crowder said. the Indian tyranny. TORTURE AND MURDER OF AKAL Student Mike Fricks, 29, of Texarkana, This incident reveals the truth that for mi- Texas, said he appreciated the opportunity TAKHT JATHEDAR BY INDIAN norities living under Indian rule, there is no de- to ‘‘do finer quality work at a higher stand- POLICE MUST BE INVESTIGATED mocracy. The mere fact that they have the ard rather than just basic gun repair.’’ AND PUNISHED right to choose their oppressors does not Fricks’ current project, and his last before mean that they live in a democracy. In this graduating, is a double gun, which has two HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS light, it is not surprising that there are 17 free- independent triggers and barrels just in case OF NEW YORK dom movements throughout India. If the one malfunctions. He already has lined up a IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES United States is interested in real freedom, job after sending a perspective employer a Thursday, June 25, 1998 peace, and stability in South Asia, we must gun he made. support self-determination for the Sikh Nation Kevin Macluskie, 28, said he finished his Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, the truth about and all the nations of South Asia. I call on my rifle in 270 hours. The school is open 10 hours India's brutality towards the Sikhs continues to colleagues to join in supporting an internation- a day, four days a week, although students come to light. A group of 13 human-rights ac- ally-supervised plebiscite in Punjab, Khalsitan, may elect to go only six or eight hours a day tivists issued a statement on May 19 at a so that the political status of this troubled and take longer to graduate. press conference in Chandigarh about the tor- country can be decided the democratic way. I Several other students, each of whom has ture and murder of Gurdev Singh Kaunke, the also call for my colleagues to vote to stop all his own spacious work bench, spoke posi- Jathedar of the Akal Takht, from December aid to India until the basic human and demo- tively of the close, careful supervision and 25, 1992 to January 1, 1993. After being tor- cratic rights of all people are respected. I the encouragement. Recently, there were 10 tured for a week, Jathedar Kaunke, the reli- would like to introduce the statement from The students in the academy, each working at gious leader of the Sikh Nation, was murdered his own level. Committee for Coordination on Disappear- by the police. ances in Punjab in the RECORD. The academy’s system produces fine re- Jathedar Kaunke was abducted on Decem- sults, says Taylor Carroll of Caroll’s Gun ber 25, 1992 by the police from the Jagraon THE COMMITTEE FOR COORDINATION ON Shop in Wharton, Texas, who hired academy subdivision of the Ludhiana district. Even Akali DISAPPEARANCES IN PUNJAB graduate Dave Wright after visiting the Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal, now the Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke, former school. Jathedar of the Akal Takht, was illegally ar- Chief Minister of Punjab, condemned this ac- rested from his village home in Jagraon sub- ‘‘I’ve been in business 38 years,’’ said Car- tion. He was briefly detained for his statement. roll, who sells guns and has always employed division of Ludhiana district on 25 December a gunsmith for custom work and repairs. Yet he has refused to refer this terrible inci- 1992. The police authorities later claimed When his veteran gunsmith retired after dent for investigation by India's Central Bu- that Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke escaped more than 30 years, ‘‘I began searching for a reau of Investigation (CBI) on the flimsy pre- from the custody of 2 January 1993, a claim gunsmith.’’ text that it would demoralize the murderous, that was widely condemned as false. Holding the then Chief Minister Beant Singh respon- He knew Earl Bridges by reputation, vis- out-of-control Punjab police. It is a well-known fact among the people of Punjab that the per- sible for the murder of Jathedar Kaunke, ited the spacious shop south of Lamar twice Akali Dal (Badal) had not only demanded his and talked with the instructors. ‘‘I was son responsible for the torture and murder of resignation but had also asked for a high happy with what I saw,’’ and he is delighted Jathedar Kaunke is SSP Swaran Singh powered judicial inquiry to determine the with Wright. Ghotna. Ghotna is not a last name, but a very truth. Prakash Singh Badal, the present ‘‘I’m very, very satisfied with everything inhumane torture technique used by the police Chief Minister of Punjab, was himself de- he has done for me,’’ Carroll said. for which he is infamous. tained when he was visiting the bereaved at