89,000 is the number cited in a 2004 US Congressional report on the matter. The number is closer to 90,000 according to Kashmiri publications.
Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 122 (Friday, October 1, 2004)
I check the link:
[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 122 (Friday, October 1, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [
www.gpo.gov]
THE TIME HAS COME FOR INDIA TO LIVE UP TO DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES
______
HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, recently, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh spoke to the General Assembly of the United Nations. He was metwith protests from Sikhs, Muslims, and other protestors. Although Dr. Singh is a fine economist, his speech masked the realityof life in India. He spoke out against terrorism but he failed to note
that India has inflicted a reign of terror on its people whilesponsoring terrorism in the Pakistani province of Sindh, according to the January 2, 2002 issue of the Washington Times. He spoke of cooperation against poverty, ignoring the fact that 40 percent of the people in his country live on less than $2 per day and farmers in Punjab are forced to accept prices for their crops that provide them with a less than subsistence wage, forcing them to go deeply in debt to
stay alive. He spoke of eliminating weapons of mass destruction but India started the nuclear competition in South Asia. He spoke of democracy while basic human rights are being violated. Over 52,000 Sikhs and tens of thousands of other minorities languish in Indian prisons as political prisoners. India has killed over 250,000 Sikhs, over 89,000 Kashmiris, over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, and tens of thousands of other minorities. Yet India continues to proclaim its
democratic principles.
The irony is that India seeks a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. How can it be on the Security Council when it cannot live up to the most basic principles of freedom? Mr. Speaker, it is time for the United States to take action. We must cut off our aid to India until it lets all people within its artificial borders be free. We must go on record in support of self-determination for the people of Kashmir, as India promised in 1948, and for all the other peoples seeking freedom, such as the Sikhs of Khalistan and the Christians of Nagaland, among others.
Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan issued an excellent and informative press release on the protests against Dr. Singh. I am inserting it into the Record now for the information of my colleagues.
[From the Council of Khalistan, September 29, 2004
India Must Live by Principles of Democracy--Seeks UN Security Council Seat But Violates Principles It Proclaims
As Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to the United Nations General Assembly, Sikhs, Kashmiri Muslims, and other oppressed minorities of South Asia gathered at the United Nations Building in New York to protest his appearance.
They demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners, the firing of Cabinet ministers who were involved in genocide against Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and other minorities, and sovereignty for the peoples and nations of South Asia.
``If India seeks to be a permanent member of the Security Council, it must learn to practice the principles of democracy,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, which leads the Sikh struggle for freedom. ``In 1948, India demanded a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir. That plebiscite has never been held,'' he said.
``Similarly, India must grant self-determination to Khalistan, Nagaland, and the other countries seeking their independence,'' he said.
While Prime Minister Singh spoke of ``a world in which a free people could together pursue a destiny of shared prosperity,'' the farmers of Punjab are forced to accept less than subsistence prices for their crops. Half the population
of India lives below the international poverty line. Dr. Singh spoke of a global coalition against terrorism, but his
government gives only lip service to the War on Terror. India sponsors cross-border terrorism in Sindh, according to the
Washington Times of January 2, 2002. Although he spoke against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, it
was India that began the nuclear competition in South Asia.
Dr. Singh spoke of ``democracy as an instrument for achieving both peace and prosperity,'' yet India denies the most basic of democratic freedoms to the Sikhs and other minorities living within its borders. India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according to figures compiled by the Punjab State Magistracy and human-rights groups and reported in the book The Politics of Genocide by Inderjeet Singh Jaijee. It has also killed more than 89,000 Kashmiri Muslims since 1988, over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, and thousands of Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the country, as well as tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits (``Untouchables,'' the dark-skinned aboriginal people of
South Asia), Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders
of Sikhs ``worse than a genocide.''
According to a report by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs are being held as political
prisoners in India without charge or trial. Some have been in illegal custody since 1984! Amnesty International reported
that tens of thousands of other minorities are also being held as political prisoners. We demand the immediate release
of all these political prisoners.
Recently, another church was burned in India. This is part of a pattern of violence against Christians that has been
going on since Christmas 1998 with the approval of the Indian government. Nuns have been raped, priests have been murdered, prayer halls and schools have been vandalized. A Christian religious festival was broken up by police gunfire.
Indian police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of
Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared
unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police custody. His body was not given to his family.
``Although Sikhs gave 80 percent of the sacrifices for India's independence, India has massacred Sikhs since
achieving independence,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. On October 7, 1987,
the Sikh Nation declared its independence from India, naming its new country Khalistan. ``Only a sovereign, independent Khalistan will end the repression and lift the standard of living for the people of Punjab,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Democracies don't commit genocide.'' History shows that multinational states such as India are doomed to failure. Countries like Austria-Hungary, India's longtime friend the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and others prove this point. India is not one country, it is a polyglot like those countries, thrown together for the convenience of the British colonialists. It is doomed to break up as they did. Recently, the Punjab Legislative Assembly passed a bill annulling all water agreements with the Indian government, preventing the government's daylight robbery of Punjab river water. Punjab needs its river water for its crops. In the bill, the Assembly explicitly stated the sovereignty of Punjab.``As Professor Darshan Singh, a former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, said, `if a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh','' Dr. Aulakh noted. ``We must continue to press for our God-given birthright of freedom,'' he said. ``Without political power, religions cannot flourish and nations perish. India claims to be a democracy. It is time it recognized the right of self-determination for all people in
South Asia.''
