CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— Extensions of Remarks E1596 HON
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E1596 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks August 7, 1998 occupation and denial of human rights. As a lege. As a Marine during WWII, he saw action every day, other innocent people will join the nation, we must insist that turkey withdraw its in the South Pacific. He is survived by his wife ranks of the disappeared.'' With nuclear weap- occupying forces and allow the return of refu- Beverly, a daughter Kate; two sons: Vaughn ons involved in South Asia, these terrible vio- gees to their communities. and Arch; and five grandchildren. lations of basic human rights are even more We must send a clear message stating that f dangerous to the entire world. violations of human rights and international KHALISTANI DELEGATION law will not be tolerated, especially when per- I am inserting Dr. Aulakh's testimony and TESTIFIES AT UNITED NATIONS petrated by a nation to which we grant signifi- the Council of Khalistan's press release into cant amounts of foreign aid. A truly democratic the RECORD for the information of my col- foreign policy will seek the restoration of a HON. DAN BURTON leagues. I urge them to read it carefully. It is united Greek-Cypriot state and serve as a tes- OF INDIANA frightening, but quite informative. Thank you, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES tament to our commitment to democratic self- Mr. Speaker. Thursday, August 6, 1998 government and fundamental freedoms. TESTIMONY OF DR. GURMIT SINGH AULAKH, f Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, re- PRESIDENT, COUNCIL OF KHALISTAN BEFORE cently a delegation of Khalistani Americans led A TRIBUTE TO IAN B. ZELLICK THE 54TH SESSION OF THE WORKING GROUP by Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulkah, President of the ON ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEAR- HON. BARBARA LEE Council of Khalistan, testified before the ANCES United Nations Working Group on Enforced Ladies and Gentlemen: Let me begin by OF CALIFORNIA and Involuntary Disappearances, which was IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES thanking you for the opportunity to speak to meeting in New York City. While there, they the Working Group again this year. I would Thursday, August 6, 1998 exposed the massive human rights violations like to update you on disappearances in the Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I am here to share by the Indian Government in Punjab, Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. When I with you the life of a legendary Oaklander, Mr. Khalistan. Joining Dr. Aulakh were Dr. reported to you last year, the Sikh homeland Ian B. Zellick, television pioneer and civic Paramjit Singh Ajrawat of Maryland, Professor was in a deplorable situation. It has not im- leader, who died on July 27 after a brief ill- Gurcharan Singh of Marymount University in proved. If anything, it has been made worse ness at age 73. New York, Judge Mewa Singh of New Jersey, by the presence of Indian missiles deployed Mr. Zellick was the first staff member at a and Malkiat Singh Heir, also of New Jersey. in Punjab after its recent nuclear tests. local television station in the City of Oakland The Working Group revealed that it has re- This deployment puts Sikh lives at risk to KTVU±TV Channel 2 where he was hired in quested permission to visit India and has been preserve those of the ruling class. The BJP 1958 as employee number 001. He worked at denied. The same thing has happened to Am- has shown an openly hegemonic agenda to- Channel 2 for more than 32 years; first as a nesty International, Human Rights Watch, and wards its South Asian neighbors. There is no set designer and artist, but it is for his more others who have tried to conduct an independ- doubt that if war breaks out between India than 20 years as Director of the Community ent human rights investigation. India obviously and Pakistan, Punjab will be the battle- ground, as it was for the last three wars Affairs Department that Mr. Zellick is best re- has plenty to hide. Even though the government in Punjab is fought between the two nations and once membered. again, Sikhs will bear the most casualties in Under his direction, the Community Affairs not led by the Sikh Akali Dal political party, this nuclear holocaust. Department's share of air time at KTVU grew there have still been over 150 atrocities docu- I would like to thank the many committed from 30 minutes a week to more than six mented since they formed a coalition with the people whose efforts have helped us develop hours a week. Show topics ranged from poli- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1997. It is this information to present to you. My state- tics to the concerns of various ethnic and mi- ironic that while the Khalistani delegation was ment is more a result of their efforts than nority communities. He opened the doors of testifying, the news broke that Rajiv Singh my own. Randhawa, a witness who identified the police the station to all corners of the community. If The human-rights situation in Punjab, more than two people wanted to debate or officers who kidnapped human rights activist Khalistan remains as bad as it ever was. The discuss something, Mr. Zellick gave them air Jaswant Singh Khalra, was himself abducted renowned journalist and writer Kushwant time. by the police. A few days later, Japal Singh Singh has said last May that he personally His enthusiasm for the community also took Dhillon, who worked with Mr. Khalra on his re- approved of the police method of simply him outside the station to serve on dozens of port exposing the mass cremations of Sikhs grabbing Sikh youth and shooting them in boards and commissions. One year (1984) Mr. by the Indian Government, was also arrested the head without bothering with the courts, Zellick was on 26 community boards and com- on a false charge. Shortly after that, his law- he stated, and I quote, ``I supported the po- missions, including The Oakland Ballet, yer, Daljit Singh Rajput, was picked up on the lice in its extra-judicial killings.'' Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra of the West, same false charge. Former Speaker of the Indian Parliament Booth Memorial Home, the displaced Home- The July 9±15, 1998 issue of Awaze Qaum Balram Jakhar said, ``If we have to kill a makers, the Oakland Symphony, and the Oak- reported that the police picked up Kashmira million Sikhs to preserve India's territorial land Opera. People who knew him described Singh of the village of Khudial Kalan on the integrity, so be it.'' In an interview broad- him as a self-styled one-man community net- pretext that they were investigating a theft. cast by NPR on August 11, 1997, Narinder work, involved in education, music, dance, They then tortured Kashmira Singh for 15 Singh, identified as a spokesman for the days. They rolled logs over his legs until he Golden Temple, said that ``The Indian gov- mental health, and pregnant teens. He was ernment all the time they boast that they're able to form links between dissimilar agencies. couldn't walk. They submerged him in a tub of democratic, they're secular, but they have For instance, when an important resident serv- water. They slashed his thighs with razor nothing to do with a democracy, they have ice for pregnant teens was threatened, he fa- blades and stuffed hot peppers into his nothing to do with a secularism. They try to cilitated an arrangement between Oakland's wounds. Then the police claimed that crush Sikhs just to please the majority.'' YWCA and the Salvation Army's Booth Cen- Kashmira Singh had escaped, a bad sign that On May 12, the chairman of India's Na- ter, thus insuring the service would continue. he has most likely been murdered by the po- tional Human Rights Commission reported After he retired from KTVU in 1990, Mr. lice. In addition, they arrested his father and that the NHRC had received 38,000 cases in Zellick concentrated on the Philharmonia Ba- brother, who I understand are also being sub- the last few months. This tells us the mag- roque, the San Francisco Early Music Society jected to torture. How can a country that sys- nitude of human-rights violations in India and the East Bay Agency for Children. EBAC tematically violates basic human rights like this because only a small fraction of cases are re- runs residential and day care facilities for dis- call itself democratic? ported due to intimidation by the police, turbed kids and he was honored by them for It is clear from these events that there is no poverty, and illiteracy. ``A Lifetime of Service to the East Bay Com- place for Sikhs or other minorities within In- What terrifies the Sikh community about munity.'' He received accolades and numerous dia's borders. As Dr. Aulakh has said, ``police this dangerous scenario is the ease by which awards, as a founding member of the abuses including illegal detentions, forced ab- past Indian Governments have been able to Philharmonia and the Preceptor Award from ductions, use of torture, rape, and murder make Sikhs disappear and kill them with have continued much like they have continued impunity. Since 1984, an estimated quarter the annual national Broadcasting Industry million Sikhs have lost their lives, but those Conference in recognition of his work encour- since 1984. What is worse is that there has responsible, men like K.P.S. Gill, are ap- aging and supporting young people in the field been active collusion by the Akali Government plauded in India as superheroes. It has been of broadcasting.