E2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks September 27, 2007 COMMENDING EUGENE SLEDGE, subjected to in India. While India talks and Madam Speaker, I would like to add Dr. OF MOBILE, ALABAMA, FOR HIS talks about being ‘‘the world’s largest democ- Sekhon’s excellent letter to the RECORD at this SERVICE DURING WORLD WAR II racy,’’ it continues to commit atrocities against time. the Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and other mi- THE SIKH EDUCATIONAL TRUST, norities. Madam Speaker, the essence of de- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, July 30, 2007. HON. JO BONNER Re: violation of religious and political rights OF ALABAMA mocracy is self-determination. of Sikhs in India. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES As if the murders of 250,000 Sikhs by the Indian government (the number comes from Hon. GEORGE W. BUSH, Thursday, September 27, 2007 the Punjab State Magistracy and human-rights President, of America, The White House, Washington, DC. Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, it is my groups) wasn’t enough, Sikhs from outside HONOURABLE PRESIDENT, I am writing this pleasure to rise today to recognize the late Dr. India must get the formal permission of the In- letter to seek your intervention in the reli- Eugene Sledge of Mobile, Alabama, for his dian government to visit the Golden Temple in gious affairs of the Sikhs, especially the Di- courageous service during World War II. Amritsar, the seat of Sikhism, equivalent to the aspora Sikhs in North America, Europe and After graduating from Mobile’s Murphy High Vatican of the Sikhs. Suppose that Catholics other continents. School, he entered Marion Military Institute to were barred from Vatican City without permis- The Sikhs live in peace and harmony in study to become an officer. However, as just sion of the Italian government. Do you think every democracy in the world; India is the a freshman, he signed on as a private in the the world would be up in arms about that? only exception. In fact, the Sikhs are treated Marines in order not to miss an opportunity at as slaves even in the Punjab, which is the Yet, the equivalent condition is imposed upon holy and historic homeland of the Sikhs. combat. the Sikhs and nobody says a word. That is This is because the ruling class consists of Private First Class Sledge was assigned to how deeply India’s propaganda about being Brahmins—who are only 4 percent of the the . He trained as a ‘‘the world’s largest democracy’’ has per- population along with 10–11 percent of Hin- mortarman and fought on Peleliu in Sep- meated the world’s perceptions, thanks to dus of other castes. Although a majority in tember of 1944 and on Okinawa in the spring massive amounts of money spent to propa- the Punjab, the Sikhs are 2.5 percent of the of 1945. Throughout these months, he kept a gate this viewpoint through lobbying and huge population of India that is approxi- journal of his impressions of the fighting, keep- media manipulation. It is time to wake up. mately 1.1 billion. It is because of the denial ing the notes between the pages of his Bible. Madam Speaker. It is time to call India on the of the right of self-determination in our land that India is able to marginalized the Sikhs These notes later became his memoir, With carpet for its persecution of minorities. as a small minority. The Hindu-Brahmin rul- the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, which If the tyranny against the Sikhs were all that ers have pursued their anti-human agenda: he published in 1981. , who recently India was doing, that would be bad enough. (i) practice of unsociability against the na- produced the PBS documentary series ‘‘The But it is compounded by the persecution of tive majority who are 65 percent of the popu- War,’’ relied heavily on this memoir. His mem- Christians and Muslims, as well as other mi- lation, and (ii) persecution of mono-theistic oir will also form the basis for the HBO series norities such as Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, faiths—the Sikhs, the Christians and the ‘‘,’’ the successor to ‘‘Band of Manipuris, Tamils, and others. Muslims, by maintaining an environment of Brothers.’’ In Gujarat, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims were fear and of crushing poverty. At the end of , Corporal Sledge re- killed in riots that a policeman told the news- In June 1984, even the facade of Secular Tolerance was discarded when the Indian turned to Alabama where he earned both a papers were planned and organized by the In- dian government. It has killed over 90,000 Army assaulted the holiest shrine of the bachelor of science and a master of science Sikhs—the Darbar Sahib (also known as the from Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Au- Muslims in Kashmir while refusing to give the Golden Temple) including the Supreme Seat burn University. He earned his doctorate at Kashmiris self-determination via a free and fair of Sikh Polity, the Akal Takht Sahib, kill- the and became assistant plebiscite on their status, as India promised ing tens of thousands of devotees inside the professor of biology at Alabama College, now the United Nations in 1948. temple. The Indian administration has ever the . In 1970, Dr. Christians have been prime targets of Indian since maintained heavy presence of its intel- Sledge was named a professor in the Depart- persecution. Churches have been burned. ligence and armed personnel in the state. No Nuns have been raped and forced to drink Sikh from outside India can visit his/her ment of Biology at the University of holy place and the seat of Sikhs’ polity with- Montevallo, a position he held until his retire- their own urine, to the cheers of militant Hindu organizations such as the pro-Fascist out having a formal ‘visa’ endorsement in ment in 1990. their passport from the Indian Embassy or Dr. Sledge passed away in 2001 before his Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which Consulate. Mr President, this constitutes a second memoir, : An Infantry- produced a booklet on how to implicate Chris- violation of the Sikhs’ religious rights. Pil- man’s Life after World War II, was published. tians and other minorities in false criminal grimage to pay respect to Gurus is a right Madam Speaker, the recognition of Dr. Eu- cases. Priests have been murdered, schools that should not depend on the caprice of a gene Sledge in ‘‘The War’’ documentary is an and prayer halls have been vandalized, and government. It certainly should not depend appropriate time for us to pause and thank more than 300,000 Christians have been killed on the goodwill of a state that has not just in Nagaland at the hands of the Indian govern- failed to protect but has actually been an in- him—and all of the soldiers who fought in strument of our persecution and destruction World War II. His life and actions personified ment. Missionary Graham Staines was killed by a mob of Hindu militants along with his of our holy sites by wanton bombardment. the very best America has to offer. I urge my Mr. President, India is interfering in my colleagues to take a moment to pay tribute to eight-year-old son. The killers poured gasoline religious affairs. As a free citizen of a free the life of Dr. Sledge and his selfless devotion over their jeep, set it on fire, and chanted country. I cannot approve of the way the to our country and the freedom we enjoy. I ‘‘Victory to Hannuman.’’ Missionary Joseph Sikhs are treated in India; I cannot condone also extend my thanks to his family for sharing Cooper, an American, was expelled from the the assault of the Indian Army on Darbar the story of his courageous life with all of us. country after he was beaten up so badly that Sahib in June 1984; I cannot support that the he had to spend a week in an Indian hospital. Sikhs relinquish their right to self-deter- f A Christian religious festival on the theme mination. I am required to do all this in OTHER MINORITIES SUFFER ‘‘Jesus is the Answer’’ was broken up by po- order to get a visa. And if I did any of these MAJOR PERSECUTION AS WELL lice gunfire after people there distributed reli- things, I would not be a Sikh. That means, in order to get an Indian visa, I am required to gious literature. renounce my faith. That cannot be accept- HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS In several Indian states, there are laws pro- able. OF NEW YORK hibiting anyone from converting to any religion Mr. President, no Roman Catholic needs a IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES but Hinduism. visa to visit the Vatican, no Jew is prevented Madam Speaker, this is unacceptable. We from visiting Jerusalem, a visa cannot be de- Thursday, September 27, 2007 must support the rights of these minorities by nied to a Muslim to go to Mecca, why do the Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, recently, Dr. stopping American aid to India and stopping Sikhs need to have India’s Hindu/Brahmins Awatar Singh Sekhon, Chairman of the Sikh our trade with India as well. It’s clearly not (neither a religion nor a culture), permission Educational Trust and Managing Editor of the benefitting the Indian people. Two thirds of the to visit their holiest shrine? Indian adminis- international Journal of Sikh Affairs, wrote to population lives on less than half a dollar a tration’s control of the Sikhs’ shrines con- stitutes an intervention into their religious President Bush. He noted that ‘‘Sikhs live in day. We must also demand a free and fair affairs. That’s why, Honourable President, peace and harmony in every democracy in the vote on independence for the Sikhs of none of the elected representatives of the world; India is the only exception.’’ Khalistan, the Christians of Nagalim, the Mus- Sikhs accepted/initiated/endorsed the Indian In his excellent letter, Dr. Sekhon outlines lims of Kashmir, and all the various peoples Constitution of 1950. Under Article 25 of that the tyranny and abuse the Sikhs have been seeking their freedom from India. Constitution, the Sikh faith and national

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