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The Council of Khalistan
"RECOGNIZE YE ALL THE HUMAN RACE AS ONE"
Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Tenth Master
December 4, 2008
Letters to the Editor
The Washington Times
3600 New York Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20002
Dear Editor:
Georgie Anne Geyer raises some good points in her article about the Mumbai bombings [South Asian opportunity, December 4], but she misses the point and presents a distorted picture of India.
Geyer is right to condemn the lack of security that was displayed. Terrorism is wrong and must be defeated, whether it comes from Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), or any other source. Lax security only invites attacks.
We noted with interest Geyers comment that America warned India about just such an attack in advance, but India did nothing. It is almost as if India wanted the attack. Indeed, sources in South Asia, as well as Newsweek, have suggested that the RSS and its political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are the ultimate beneficiaries of this terrorism. The RSS is certainly capable of such an attack. But Geyer is wrong to claim that the government of Pakistan supports Lashkar. Pakistan has outlawed the organization. Meanwhile, India continues to openly support and tolerate the RSS.
India is no stranger to militant terrorism. On January 2, 2002, the Times reported that India supports cross-border terror in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Indias leading newsmagazine, India Today, reported that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government, was created by the Indian government and its leaders were put up in Delhis finest hotel by the government. The Indian newspaper Hitavada reported that India paid the late governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, $1.5 billion to foment and support terrorist activity in Punjab, Khalistan, and in Kashmir. Meanwhile, it has violated its promise to the United Nations in 1948 to hold a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir on its status. Instead, India has sent over 700,000 troops to Kashmir and over 500,000 troops to Punjab, Khalistan in an unsuccessful effort to crush the legitimate freedom movements there.
In 2006 at a Hola Mahallah celebration in Punjab, Sikh leaders from Dal Khalsa and other organizations passed a resolution for an independent Khalistan. This follows Khalistans declaration of independence of October 7, 1987. The Sikhs of Khalistan are among 17 freedom movements within Indias borders, including those in Kashmir, Nagaland, and others.
While we condemn terrorism, these attacks are a response to the oppression that India has inflicted on its minorities. India has murdered over a quarter of a million Sikhs since 1984, as well as tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. It has killed more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, as well as tens of thousands of Christians in other parts of the country. Over 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, and tens of thousands of Muslims throughout India have been killed as well. India holds 52,268 Sikhs as political prisoners under the repressive TADA law, which expired in 1995. It is also holding tens of thousands of other minorities without charge or trial. India attacked the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion.
India is unreliable as an ally, is democratic only for the upper caste Hindus, and is unworthy of the increasing U.S. support it is receiving. Geyer notes that if Pakistan has to divert any of its 100,000 troops that are trying to control the Taliban in the Northwest Territory to fighting India, it will severely damage the War on Terror. Indeed, such a scenario happened a few years ago carrying out a joint anti-terror operation.
We call for the most severe punishment for whoever carried out the Mumbai bombings, and we also call for a more balanced approach to news coverage of South Asia. We thank Geyer for discussing Pakistans efforts against terrorism. Now it is time to expose Indias support for terrorism. The international community should pressure India to act like a democracy and allow self-determination in Khalistan, Nagaland, Kashmir, and wherever the people seek their freedom.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh
President
Council of Khalistan
We Stand united with our Sikh Brothers
"RECOGNIZE YE ALL THE HUMAN RACE AS ONE"
Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Tenth Master
December 4, 2008
Letters to the Editor
The Washington Times
3600 New York Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20002
Dear Editor:
Georgie Anne Geyer raises some good points in her article about the Mumbai bombings [South Asian opportunity, December 4], but she misses the point and presents a distorted picture of India.
Geyer is right to condemn the lack of security that was displayed. Terrorism is wrong and must be defeated, whether it comes from Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), or any other source. Lax security only invites attacks.
We noted with interest Geyers comment that America warned India about just such an attack in advance, but India did nothing. It is almost as if India wanted the attack. Indeed, sources in South Asia, as well as Newsweek, have suggested that the RSS and its political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are the ultimate beneficiaries of this terrorism. The RSS is certainly capable of such an attack. But Geyer is wrong to claim that the government of Pakistan supports Lashkar. Pakistan has outlawed the organization. Meanwhile, India continues to openly support and tolerate the RSS.
India is no stranger to militant terrorism. On January 2, 2002, the Times reported that India supports cross-border terror in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Indias leading newsmagazine, India Today, reported that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government, was created by the Indian government and its leaders were put up in Delhis finest hotel by the government. The Indian newspaper Hitavada reported that India paid the late governor of Punjab, Surendra Nath, $1.5 billion to foment and support terrorist activity in Punjab, Khalistan, and in Kashmir. Meanwhile, it has violated its promise to the United Nations in 1948 to hold a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir on its status. Instead, India has sent over 700,000 troops to Kashmir and over 500,000 troops to Punjab, Khalistan in an unsuccessful effort to crush the legitimate freedom movements there.
In 2006 at a Hola Mahallah celebration in Punjab, Sikh leaders from Dal Khalsa and other organizations passed a resolution for an independent Khalistan. This follows Khalistans declaration of independence of October 7, 1987. The Sikhs of Khalistan are among 17 freedom movements within Indias borders, including those in Kashmir, Nagaland, and others.
While we condemn terrorism, these attacks are a response to the oppression that India has inflicted on its minorities. India has murdered over a quarter of a million Sikhs since 1984, as well as tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. It has killed more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, as well as tens of thousands of Christians in other parts of the country. Over 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, and tens of thousands of Muslims throughout India have been killed as well. India holds 52,268 Sikhs as political prisoners under the repressive TADA law, which expired in 1995. It is also holding tens of thousands of other minorities without charge or trial. India attacked the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion.
India is unreliable as an ally, is democratic only for the upper caste Hindus, and is unworthy of the increasing U.S. support it is receiving. Geyer notes that if Pakistan has to divert any of its 100,000 troops that are trying to control the Taliban in the Northwest Territory to fighting India, it will severely damage the War on Terror. Indeed, such a scenario happened a few years ago carrying out a joint anti-terror operation.
We call for the most severe punishment for whoever carried out the Mumbai bombings, and we also call for a more balanced approach to news coverage of South Asia. We thank Geyer for discussing Pakistans efforts against terrorism. Now it is time to expose Indias support for terrorism. The international community should pressure India to act like a democracy and allow self-determination in Khalistan, Nagaland, Kashmir, and wherever the people seek their freedom.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh
President
Council of Khalistan
We Stand united with our Sikh Brothers
