Thank you for your support to the cause of freedom for everyone in the world. Freedom is essential and it is the birthright of all the people.
As you prepare to visit India next month, I hope you will press your support of freedom for all while you are there.
http://www.pakistanlink.com/Opinion/2006/Feb06/17/04.HTM
Recently, in the state of Uttaranchal Pradesh, Sikh farmers were forced out of their farms, which were bulldozed, and they were thrown out of the state. They received no compensation and have no way to make themselves whole. Although outsiders are allowed to buy land in Punjab, Sikhs cannot buy land in neighboring Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. This discriminatory policy prevents Sikh farmers from making a living.
In June, at the observance of the Indian government’s 1984 military attack on the Golden Temple, a group of Sikhs marched, then made speeches in support of independence for Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared its independence on October 7, 1987, and hoisted the Sikh flag. For this they were arrested. This follows the arrest of 35 Sikhs in January of last year, when they made speeches and raised the Khalistani flag at a Republic Day event. Is speaking out and raising a flag a crime in a democratic state?
We are pleased that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh apologized for the November 1984 massacre of Sikhs in Delhi and other parts of India. More than 20,000 Sikhs were killed in that state-sponsored massacre and it was good that Prime Minister Singh acknowledged India’s responsibility for it. However, the apology is all that has happened. No compensation has been offered to the families of the victims of this massacre or of any of India’s other atrocities against the Sikhs.
Unfortunately, this is a part of a larger pattern of repression of minorities, including Christians and Muslims, among others, as well as the Sikhs. The Punjab State Magistracy figures show that since 1984, over 250,000 Sikhs have been murdered by the Indian government. Another 52,268 are being held as political prisoners by the Indian government’s own admission, according to the Movement Against State Repression. In addition, Amnesty International reports that tens of thousands of other minorities are being held as political prisoners. The Indian government has killed over 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims, over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, tens of thousands of Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the country, and tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities.
I know that fighting terrorism is very important to you, Mr. President. India has sponsored cross-border terror in the Pakistani province of Sindh, according to the January 2, 2002 issue of the Washington Times. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been designated by the US government as a terrorist organization, was created by the Indian government, according to Indian journalist Tavleen Singh in India Today, India’s premier newsmagazine, and its leaders were put up in the finest hotel in Delhi. The newspaper Hitavada reported that India paid the late governor of Punjab $1.5 billion to foment and support covert state terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir. And Canadian journalists Zuhair Kashmeri and Brian Mc Andrew in their book ‘Soft Target’ show that the Indian government was responsible for blowing up its own airliner in 1985, killing 329 innocent people.
The essence of freedom is the right to self-determination. In 1948, India promised to settle the status of Kashmir in a plebiscite. To this day, no such vote has been held. At the time of India’s independence, the Sikhs were promised their own state, as we had from 1765 to 1849. Today, we seek the right to self-determination.
India has undertaken a campaign of repression and terror to suppress the legitimate aspirations of the Sikhs and other minority nations within its borders. As Steve Forbes noted in Forbes magazine, India is likely to go the way of Austria-Hungary, the Soviet Union, and other multinational states that have collapsed because they were not one nation. India is a polyglot of many nations thrown together by the British for administrative convenience. It has 18 official languages. Prior to the British arrival, there was no entity called India.
Mr. President, America is the leading, dominant country in the world. While we seek to have good relations with all nations, including India, America can also be a force for the freedom of all people. By pressing Prime Minister Singh on these issues, you can improve life for the people of the subcontinent and help to bring peace, freedom, stability, dignity, and prosperity to all. I respectfully urge you to bring these issues to the fore when you visit India next month.
