Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, the Council of Khalistan recently sent a letter to Joginder Singh Vedanti, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, who has been promoting a piece of flim-flam known as the Dasam Granth, in which several writers took a snippet of the writing of the last Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, and added other items, some pornographlc, trying to pass it off as the genuine work of Guru Gobind Singh in order to damage the Sikh religion. Jathedar Vedanti's endorsement of the Dasam Granth makes him a particpant in this effort to undermine the Sikh culture and religion.

The Council of Khalistan urged the Jathedar to stop diverting the attention of the Sikhs to this severely altered book and instead to focus on the issue of freedom for Khalistan. He noted that on the two occasions last year when Slkh leaders were arrested for making speeches in support of Khalistan and raising a Khalistani flag, there was no protest from Jathedar Vedanti.

It is time for us to support the legitimate aspirations of the Sikhs and all the minorities of India who are seeking their freedom by stopping our aid to India) suspending our trade with that country and by supporting the right to self-determination for all the minority nations of the subcontinent. Self-determination is the essence of democracy. Why can't ``the world's largest democracy'' hold a simple vote on this fundamental question?

Madam Speaker, I would like to insert the Council of Khalistan's letter to Jathedar Vedanti into the Record at this time for the information of the American people.

January 9, 2007.

Dear Jathedar Vedanti: I am writing to you about the Dasam

Granth, which you have been promoting as the genuine writing

of Guru Gobind Singh. The issue of its authorship was settled

long ago. As you know, the authors of the Dasam Granth

identify themselves within the text and only a small part is

written by Guru Gobind Singh. The rest was appended by Hindu

writers looking to harm the Sikh religion. Much of it is

pornographic. For a jathedar of the Akal Takht to promote it

as genuine Sikh scripture, especially since Guru Gobind Singh

left the Guruship in the Guru Granth Sahib, is harmful to the

Sikh religion and the Sikh Nation. Sikhs shou]d bow only to

the Guru Granth Sahib, nothing else.

The Dasam Granth is not the real issue. Do not get

sidetracked, and do not sidetrack the Sikh Nation from the

real issue, freedom and sovereignty for Khalistan. Do not let

this controversy divert and waste the resources of the Sikh

Nation from the preservation of our religion and culture.

It is vitally important that the Akal Takht Jathedar, the

spiritual leader of the Sikh religion, be committed to the

well-being of the Sikh Nation. Preserving its history,

religion, culture, and scripture is essential to that well-

being, especially when it is under assault from Hindus who

are trying to subsume the Sikh religion and culture into

those of the Hindus as part of Hindutva. Remember that a

former Cabinet minister said that everyone who lives in India

must either be a Hindu or be suhservient to Hindus. But also

remember the words of your predecessor, Professor Darshan

Singh, who said, ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a

Sikh.''

Jathedar Vedanti, the duty of the Jathedar of the Akal

Takht is toprotect, promote, and disseminate the Sikh

religion. How can we do that within the framework of India

when India is working to destroy the Sikh religion? The

experience or the Jewish people shows that when a nation has

sovereignty, it flourishes, but when it does not it perishes.

The only way to preserve, promote, and disseminate the Sikh

religion and culture is in a free and sovereign Khalistan.

Yet when Sikh leaders in Punjab were arrested last year

simply for making speeches and raising the Khalistani flag,

we did not hear a word of protest from the Akal Takht. Nor

did we hear a protest of the actions of the Badal government

in Punjab, the most corrupt in Punjab's history. The Badal

government even sold jobs--they called it ``fee for service''

and Mrs. Badal was able to tell how moch money was in a bag

just by picking it up.

Please do not let your energy be diverted to issues like

the Dasam Granth, which has long been known to be altered. We

need every Sikh to help bring freedom, dignity, prosperity,

and security is in a free, sovereign, independent Khalistan.

Discussion of issues like the Dasam Granth merely diverts the

Khalsa Panth from freedom and sets back the cause of

protecting the Khalsa Panth.

Panth Da Sewadar,

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

President, Council of Khalistan.

Madam Speaker, the Council of Khalistan recently sent a letter to Joginder Singh Vedanti, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, who has been promoting a piece of flim-flam known as the Dasam Granth, in which several writers took a snippet of the writing of the last Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, and added other items, some pornographic, trying to pass it off as the genuine work of Guru Gobind Singh in order to damage the Sikh religion. Jathedar Vedanti's endorsement of the Dasam Granth makes him a participant in this effort to undermine the Sikh culture and religion.

The Council of Khalistan urged the Jathedar to stop diverting the attention of the Sikhs to this severely altered book and instead to focus on the issue of freedom for Khalistan. He noted that on the two occasions last year when Sikh leaders were arrested for making speeches in support of Khalistan and raising a Khalistani flag, there was no protest from Jathedar Vedanti.

It is time for as to support the legitimate aspirations of the Sikhs and all the minorities of India who are seeking their freedom by stopping our aid to India, suspending our trade with that country and by supporting the right to self-determination for all the minority nations of the subcontinent. Self-determination is the

essence of democracy. Why can't ``the world's largest democracy'' hold a simple vote on this fundamental question?

Madam Speaker, I would like to insert the Council of Khalistan's letter to Jathedar Vedanti into the Record at this time for the information of the American people.

Council of Khalistan,

Washington, DC, January 9, 2007.

S. Joginder Singh Vedanti,

Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Golden Temple, Arnritsar, Punjab,

India

Dear Jathedar Vedanti: I am writing to you about the Dasam

Granth, which you have been promoting as the genuine writing

of Guru Gobind Singh. The issue of its authorship was settled

long ago. As you know, the authors of the Dasam Granth

identify themselves within the text and only a small part is

written by Guru Gobind Singh. The rest was appended by Hindu

writers looking to harm the Sikh religion. Much of it is

pornographic. For a jathedar of the Akal Takht to promote it

as genuine Sikh scripture, especially since Guru Gobind Singh

left the Guruship in the Guru Granth Sahib, is harmful to the

Sikh religion and the Sikh Nation. Sikhs should bow only to

the Guru Granth Sahih, nothing else.

The Dasam Granth is not the real issue. Do not get

sidetracked, and do not sidetrack the Sikh Nation from the

real issue, freedom and sovereignty for Khalistan. Do not let

this controversy divert and waste the resources of the Sikh

Nation from the preservation of our religion and culture.

It is vitally important that the Akal Takht Jathedar, the

spiritual leader of the Sikh religion, be committed to the

well-being of the Sikh Nation. Preserving its history,

religion, culture, and scripture is essential to that well-

being, especially when it is under assault from Hindus who

are trying to subsume the Sikh religion and culture into

those of the Hindus as part of Hindutva. Remember that a

former Cabinet minister said that everyone who lives in India

must either be a Hindu or be subservient to Hindus. But also

remember the words of your predecessor, Professor Darshan

Singh, who said, ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a

Sikh.''

Jathedar Vedanti, the duty of the Jathedar of the Akal

Takht is to protect, promote, and disseminate the Sikh

religion. How can we do that within the framework of India

when India is working to destroy the Sikh religion? The

experience of tbe Jewish people shows that when a nation has

sovereignty, it flourishes, but when it does not it perishes.

The only way to preserve, promote, and disseminate the Sikh

religion and culture is in a free and sovereign Khalistan.

Yet when Sikh leaders in Punjab were arrested last year

simply for making speeches and raising the Khalistani flag,

we did not hear a word of protest from the Akal Takht. Nor

did we hear a protest of the actions of the Badal government

in Punjab, the most corrupt in Punjab's history. The Badal

government even sold jobs--they called it ``fee for service''

and Mrs. Badal was able to tell how much money was in a bag

just by picking it up.

Please do not let your energy be diverted to issues like

the Dasam Granth, which has long become known to be altered.

We need every Sikh to help bring freedom, dignity,

prosperity, and security is in a free, sovereign, independent

Khalistan. Discussion of issues like the Dasam Granth merely

diverts the Khalsa Panth from freedom and sets back the cause

of protecting the Khalsa Panth.

Panth Da Sewadar,

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

President, Council of Khalistan.

Madam Speaker, the Council of Khalistan, which leads the peaceful, democratic, nonviolent effort to free Khalistan, the Sikh homeland, from India, has sent New Year's greetings to the Sikhs from the council and its president, Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh.

In the letter, Dr. Aulakh calls On Sikh political leaders to stand up for the interests of their people, which is what all of us in public office anywhere should be doing. He notes that without sovereignty, nations perish, and he cites the situation of the Jewish people before World War II as compared to their situation now. That is a good example of what sovereignty can do for a people. He calls on the Punjab Legislative Assembly that is about to be elected next month to pass a resolution again declaring Khalistan's independence.

Dr. Aulakh calls for the return of the state capital, Chandigarh, to Punjab, along with the Punjabi areas of neighboring states Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. He urges an end to the diversion of Punjab's water without compensation. He notes that the fanners are being oppressed by being forced to buy fertilizer at exorbitantly high rates but being forced to sell their crops at ridiculously low prices. He notes the insults and repression that India has inflicted on the Sikhs, including the Golden Temple attack, the murder of over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, the fact that more than 52,000 Sikhs are being held as political prisoners, and so many other violations. The letter notes that in an independent Khalistan, India would not be able to inflict such insults and repression on the Sikh Nation.

In addition to the quarter of a million Sikhs it has murdered, the Indian regime has killed over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, more than 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir and 2,000 to 5,000 in Gujarat, as well as Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the country and Tamils, Manipuris, Dalits, Bodos, Assamesc, and other minorities. Tens of thousands of people are held as political prisoners, according to Amnesty Intemational. Congress should demand the release of all political prisoners and the prosecution of those who have violated the rights of Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and other minorities.

Madam Speaker, the time has come for the glow of freedom to be enjoyed by everyone. It is time to cut off American aid and trade with India until all people enjoy full human rights there. In addition, we should put the U.S. Congress on record in support of freedom everywhere in South Asia. Now that a new Congress has taken office, it is an ideal time to pass a resolution calling for a free and fair plebiscite on the subject of independence. That is the democratic way to do things and it's time that India started behaving like a democracy.

Madam Speaker, I would like to put the Council of Khalistan's New Year message into the Record at this time.

Council of Khalistan,

Washington, DC, January 9, 2007.

Dear Khalsa, Jr:

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

The New Year has already arrived. Happy New Year to you and

your family and the Khalsa Panth. May 2007 be your best year

ever. I wish you health, joy, and prosperity in the new year.

The flame of freedom continues to burn brightly in the

heart of the Sikh Nation. No force can suppress it. Guru

Gobind Singh blessed the Khalsa Panth, saying ``in grieb

Sikhin ko deom Patshahi.'' (``I bless the humble Sikhs with

sovereignty.'') The Sikh Nation must dedicate this year to

working hard to achieve that goal. Self-determination is the

right of all peoples and nations and the essence of

democracy. Without sovereignty, religions perish. With

sovereignty, they flourish. Compare the situation of the

Jewish people in Europe before World War II to their

situation now. There is no reason Sikhs cannot achieve a

similar change of fortune.

It has been said that ``without vision, the people

perish,'' but with vision, the people flourish. It is time

for the Sikh Nation to flourish. Sikhs have suffered too much

already under the yoke of Indian persecution since

independence, especially over the past 25 years. We have seen

the attack on the Golden Temple, over 250,000 Sikhs murdered

and over 52,000 held as political prisoners, the murder of

the Akal Takht Jathedar, more than 50,000 Sikh youth

tortured, murdered, then declared unidentified and secretly

cremated, their bodies never returned to their families.

Their families continue to suffer. We must help their widows

and orphans. Let us find the vision to throw off this

repression. With that vision, the Sikh Nation will flourish;

without it, we will perish and India's effort to eliminate

Sikhism will succeed. This is the reason that Guru Gobind

Singh sent Sikhs to learn Sanskrit and to gain knowledge of

other religions, so that the Khalsa Panth might be more

enlightened and be aware of the qualities of its own religion

and culture.

The Indian government is reacting to the rising tide of

freedom for the Sikh Nation. It has stepped up its efforts to

destroy the Sikh religion and deny Sikhs an environment to

flourish. They have kept Punjabi-speaking areas out of Punjab

while supporting an influx of Hindus into Punjab. Sikhs are

prohibited from buying land in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,

and Uttaranchal Pradesh, yet there are no restrictions on

land ownership in Punjab by non-Sikhs. People from anywhere

can buy land in Punjab, including people from Rajasthan and

Himachal Pradesh. India is trying to subvert Khalistan's

independence by overrunning Punjab with non-Sikhs while

keeping Sikhs from escaping the brutal repression in Punjab.

I ask Captain Amarinder Singh and Badal to get the Punjabi-

speaking areas back from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. These

areas rightfully belong to Punjab. When will the political

leaders of Punjab stand up for the Sikhs?

In Punjab, the Sikh population is 75 percent rural. Sikhs

are dependent on agriculture. The lifeline of farmers is

water. We must stop the diversion of Punjab's water to

Rajasthan and Haryana without compensation. That is a natural

resource of Punjab. A couple of years ago, Captain Amarinder

Singh's government cancelled the water agreements. I call on

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to use his power to receive

payments for this water. As we pay the price for the coal we

get from the Indian government, then why can't we get paid

for the water we give? Sikh leaders in Punjab must take a

strong stand on this issue.

The Indian government squeezes Sikh farmers by all

available means. They sell fertilizer and seeds at very high

cost but when

it comes time to sell produce, the government sets the price

very low. This leads to thousands of farmers committing

suicide because of their colossal financial indebtedness to

the Indian government.

It is time to take control of the Bhakra Dam and the Nangal

hydroelectric project. These belong to Punjab but are

controlled by the Delhi regime. Punjab must take complete

control of these projects and sell electricity at market

rates. The Gobindgarah Fort, which was built by the Sikh

missal Bhangian, was recently returned to Punjab by the

Indian government. That is a good first step. Now all that is

the Khalsa Panth's, including the sovereignty that is our

birthright, must also be returned so that Sikhs can

flourish in the glow of freedom promised by the Indian

National Congress during the independence strugg1e.

The capital of Chandigarh was built by Punjab. Punjab must

get it back from the Indian government. It is the height of

highhandedness to make Chandigarh a Union Territory. I ask

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to take this good opportunity

to regain, control of Chandigarh. This will help him

politically as well. Haryana is a wealthy state; let Haryana

build its own capital.

In November we met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat

Aziz. He said he would build a road from Kartapur Sahib to

the Indian border, provided that the Punjab government builds

its portion as well. I have visited Kartapur. There is only a

mile or so of the road and the Ravi River is completely dried

up. The bridge, which is on the Indian side, needs minor

repairs. This road would be good for the people on both sides

of the border. It would help build good relations between

India and Pakistan, particularly between Pakistan and the

Sikhs of Punjab. I urge Captain Amarinder Singh to build the

road immediately so that Sikhs from Punjab can visit Kartapur

Sahib where Guru Nanak departed this Earth for his heavenly

abode. It is a serene place.

The RSS and its political arm, the BJP, want to divide the

Sikh Nation. The Dasam Granth is RSS mischief. The issue of

its authorship has been settled long ago, despite what any

Indian-controlled Sikh leader may say now. I urge Akal Takht

Jathedar Jogincder Singh Vedanti to stop the discussion of

the Dasam Granth completely and concentrate his efforts on

achieving freedom for Khalistan and stopping the vices that

have percolated in the Sikh religion, including abortion of

female fetuses, drinking liquor, and the caste system. Guru

Gobind Singh created the Khalsa as equals. Mazhabi Sikhs are

as good Sikhs as anyone else. They are our brothers and

sisters and we must treat them as equals. Remember what Guru

Gobind Singh said: ``Ragrete Guru ke Bete.'' (``The Mazhabi

Sikhs are the sons of the guru.'') Guru Gobind Singh lifted

them up and Sikhs established Sikh rule from 1710 to 1716 and

from 1765 to 1849. When America declared its independence in

1776, Punjab was already ruled independently by the Sikh

missals.

Twice last year, Sikhs were arrested for making speeches in

support of Khalistan and raising the Khalistani flag. The

Indian regime is clearly worried about the rising tide in

support of Sikh sovereignty. Let us dedicate our energy this

year to achieving the establishment of Khalistan. Any

organization that sincerely supports Khalistan deserves the

support of the Sikh Nation. When Khalistan is free, the Sikhs

can resolve these issues in a way that benefits the Khalsa

Panth, not the forces of Hindutva.

However, the Sikh Nation needs leadership that is honest,

sincere, consistent, and dedicated to the cause of Sikh

freedom if we are to continue to move the cause of freedom

for Khalistan forward in 2007 as we did in 2006. Remember the

words former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Professor Darshan

Singh: ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.''

Khalistan is the only way that Sikhs will be able to live in

freedom, peace, prosperity, and dignity. It is time to start

a Shantmai Morcha to liberate Khalistan from Indian

occupation. We must achieve our freedom by peaceful,

democratic, nonviolent means. Let that be the mission of

2007.

Elections for the Punjab Legislative Assembly will be held

on February 13. Vote only for candidates who are committed to

establishing Khalistan and will work to make it a reality.

Every morning and evening the Khalsa Panth recites ``Raj Kare

Ga Khalsa.'' We must dedicate ourselves to realizing this.

The time is now. We can do it by the ballot. I ask Sikhs of

every political shade not to miss this opportunity. We must

realize it now. When the Punjab Legislative Assembly

reconvenes it must pass a resolution for the independence of

Khalistan. As soon as that resolution passes, India will no

longer be able to repress the Sikhs. Three million Sikhs

living outside India will make sure that Khalistan is free

without any further loss of human life. In a democracy, you

can't rule the people against their wishes.

Sikhs will never get any justice from Delhi. Ever since

independence, India has mistreated the Sikh Nation, starting

with Patel's shameful memo labeling Sikhs ``a criminal

tribe'' even though the Sikh Nation gave over 80 percent of

the sacrifices to free India. How can Sikhs continue to live

in such a country? There is no place for Sikhs in supposedly

secular, supposedly democratic India.

Let us make certain that 2007 is the Sikh Nation's most

blessed year by making it the year that we shake ourselves

loose from Indian oppression and liberate our homeland,

Kha1istan, so that all Sikhs may live lives of prosperity,

freedom, and dignity. Now it is up to us. Do not waste this

opportunity.

May Guru bless the Khalsa Panth in 2007 and always.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

President, Council of Khalistan.

Madam Speaker, I have recently encountered a book entitled Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity, which sheds new light on the founder of India. The author, Colonel G. B. Singh, USA, portrays Mohandas Gandhi as a person who was more interested in advancing his own group than in the advancement of all people. Using Gandhi's own words, Colonel Singh portrays a very different Gandhi than you and I have been told about.

Colonel Singh argues that the Gandhi we have been told about isn't the real Gandhi. He writes that he hopes that his book will stimulate discussion and provoke people to think about who Mohandas Gandhi really was. Since Gandhi is considered the father of the Indian nation, understanding his character is essential to understanding India.

Colonel Singh's book is definitely controversial, but it is an important contribution to a full understanding of this important historical character.

Madam Speaker, there is an excerpt from the book's introduction on the back cover, which has been reproduced, and I would like to introduce that two-paragraph excerpt into the Record at this time to give a flavor of the book and encourage people to broaden their perspective on Gandhi.

From the Introduction To Gandhi: Behind The Mask of Divinity

(By G.B. Singh)

Over the years I have discussed Gandhi with many Americans,

both formally and informally. . . . What continues to irk me

is the amount of Gandhi ``propaganda material'' that has

flooded our libraries and bookstores. For an unsuspecting

Westerner, the reading of Gandhi as he is portrayed on these

shelves can bring about the intended result. That is

understandable. This book is an attempt to close the gap

between the popularized Gandhi and the historical Gandhi.

This book will incite readers to be more open-minded and to

seek to validate the ``truths'' presented. My hope is that it

will provoke honest, healthy, and open dialogue and foster

more scrutiny about him. . .

Years of dedicated research on Gandhi convinced me that our

hero was fundamentally a racist. In this book, I present the

facts. The evidence presented here is not a matter of

speculation or distorted interpretation. Much of the

irrefutable evidence lay buried beneath a mountain of

Gandhi's own writings--in his own words, which I have

uncovered--comments that will be difficult to dispute once

they are read. In this book you will read the evidence in its

entirety. My primary intention is to untangle the web that

Gandhi weaved--and his followers are still weaving--for many

years. Only through a methodical probing can we expose

Gandhi's campaign of deception: the lies, the propaganda, the

misinformation, the half-truths, and the effort to hide

behind religion. Where Gandhi left off, his followers have

picked up, and they continue their own sophisticated

campaigns, both in India and abroad. The book should not be

looked upon as another Gandhi biography. Rather, it should

provide a standard by which to weigh the Gandhi literature

for accuracy and objectivity. Also, this book, though

narrowly focused, should

stand as a guide alerting us to how thoroughly the Gandhi

propagandists and others have succeeded in deceiving us.

Mr. Speaker, last month, Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, spoke at the Press Club in Lahore, Pakistan. In that speech, he predicted disintegration of India, according to the newspaper Dawn from Lahore. ``There is nothing common in the culture of the Hindu living in Bengal and the one in Tamil area,'' the paper quotes Dr. Aulakh as saying. ``A country having 18 official languages cannot hold its people together for a long time, especially when there is state sponsored suppression against minorities,'' he went on to say.

Dr. Aulakh cited the BJP's statement that if you want to live in Hindustan, you must be a Hindu. He discussed India's long record of violence against the minorities within its borders, including the murders of over a quarter of a million Sikhs, more than 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims, over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, tens of thousands of Christians and Muslims around the rest of the country, and tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalit ``untouchables'', Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. He cited numerous other incidents, including the murder of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke, the kidnapping and murder by the police of human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, the recent attack on the Convent of Loreto, the attack on the Babri mosque, and many other such events.

Dr. Aulakh said that the only solution to this situation is a free, sovereign, independent Khalistan, which was declared on October 7, 1987. It is time for the United States to help protect the dignity of all people in South Asia by helping them to live in freedom. There should be a free and fair plebiscite in Punjab on the independence of Khalistan, as well as a plebiscite in Kashmir, as promised to the United Nations in 1948, in Nagaland, and wherever people are seeking freedom from India. The essence of democracy is the right to self- determination. The United States Congress should be on record in support of that. In addition, we should stop our aid and trade with India until such time as the tyranny stops and all people there enjoy full human rights.

We seek good relations with India, but not at the expense of our principles. India must spread the blessings of freedom and democracy to all its people, not just the ruling elite and its friends.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert the Dawn article and an article from The News concerning Dr. Aulakh's statement into the Record.

[From Dawn Lahore, Nov. 7, 2006]

Khalistan Council Sees India's Disintegration

(By Our Staff Reporter)

Lahore, Nov. 6: India will break up in many states like the

former USSR, says Council of Khalistan president Dr. Gurmit

Singh Aulakh.

``There is nothing common in the culture of the Hindu

living in Bengal and the one in Tamil area. A country having

18 official languages cannot hold its people together for a

long time, especially when there is state-sponsored

suppression against minorities,'' Dr. Aulakh said at a press

conference at the Lahore Press Club on Monday.

The BJP had conveyed to all the minorities in the strongest

terms that if they wanted to live in `Hindustan', they have

to become Hindus. Over a million people have been killed

since independence merely because they were not Hindus. The

Indian government has committed terrorism against its own

minorities. More than 250,000 Sikh infants, children, youth,

men, women and elderly had been murdered since 1984, in

addition to more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, over

90,000 Muslims in Kashmir, tens of thousands of Christians

and Muslims throughout the country besides tens of thousands

of Assameese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils and other

minorities.

Indian police arrested human rights activist Jaswant Singh

Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of

Sikhs. Over 50,000 Sikhs were arrested, tortured, murdered

and then their bodies were declared unidentified and secretly

cremated, said Dr. Aulakh.

Mr. Khalra was murdered in police custody and his body was

not handed over to his family. No one was brought to justice

for his kidnap and murder. The only witness to the Khalra

kidnapping, Rajiv Singh Randbawa, had been repeatedly

harassed by the police, including having been arrested for

trying to hand a note to the then British home secretary Jack

Straw.

The Khalistan Council chief said 35 Sikhs were arrested in

Punjab last year for delivering speeches in support of

Khalistan and raising its flag. How can delivering speeches

and raising a flag be considered crimes in a democratic

society?

The police never released the body of Gurdeve Singh Kaunke,

the former Jathedar of the Akal Takht, after SSP Swaran Singh

Ghotna murdered him. The police officer had never been tried

for the murder.

Mr. Graham Stains, missionary, was murdered along with his

two sons, ages 8 and 10, by a mob of militant, fundamentalist

Hindu nationalists who set fire to the jeep, surrounded it,

and chanted Hannuman ki jay (Victory to Hannuman). Another

missionary, Joseph cope, was beaten so badly that he had to

remain in an Indian hospital for a week. Later, the Indian

government threw him out of the country and none of the

people involved had been tried.

``Police broke up a Christian religious festival with

gunfire but the people who murdered priests, raped nuns and

burnt churches had yet to be charged or tried. Recently,

militants from the Bharatiya Januata Yuva, the youth movement

affiliated with the BJP and the fascist RSS, attacked the

Convent of Loreto.

``The murderers of 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat have

never been brought to trial. An

Indian newspaper reported that the police were ordered not to

get involved in that massacre, a frightening parallel to the

Delhi massacre of Sikhs in 1984. Militant Hindu

fundamentalists destroyed the most important mosque in india,

the Babri Masjid, but no one had ever been held

responsible,'' said Dr. Aulakh.

``What good it did to the Sikh nation if the Indian

government apologized for the Delhi massacres, in which over

20,000 sikhs were killed? Where are the apologies for the

golden Temple attack, the destruction of the Akal Takht, the

desecration of Darbar Sahib and the other atrocities? Where

is the compensation for the victims' families?'' asked a

charged Khalistan Council chief.

Sikh farmers were expelled from Uttaranchal last year and

their land was seized, police thrashed them, their homes that

were built out of their life savings and by their own hands,

were bulldozed by paratroopers. ``We condemn this act of

state terrorism by the government of Uttaranchal,'' he said.

Sikhs could not buy land in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh

and now Uttaranchal had been added to the list while there

were no restrictions on land ownership in Punjab by non-

Sikhs.

India was trying to subvert Khalistan's independence by

overrunning Punjab with non-Sikhs while keeping Sikhs from

escaping the brutal repression in Punjab. ``It is now

incumbent on the Sikh diaspora to free Khalistan. We must

redouble our efforts. That is the only way to keep these

atrocities from continuing and to protect the Sikh nation and

the religion.''

The Akali Dal, Dr. Aulakh alleged, conspired with the

Indian government in 1984 to invade the Golden Temple to

murder Sant Bhindranwale and 20,000 other Sikhs in June 1984

in Punjab.

In response to a question, he said the Indian prime

minister was a puppet. ``Mr. Manmohan Singh lied before the

Geneva Commission in 1992 that there were no atrocities

against Sikhs in India in spite of the fact that there were

52,000 Sikhs in Indian jails under the notorious TADA. He

lacks the true Sikh spirit, if a Sikh is not Khalistani, he

is not a Sikh,'' declared Dr. Aulakh.

Sikhs would never get any justice from Delhi. Ever since

independence, India had mistreated the Sikh nation, starting

with Patel's memo calling Sikhs `a criminal tribe.'

``What a shame for Home Minister Patel and the Indian

government to issue this memorandom when the Sikh nation gave

over 80 percent of the sacrifices to free India. There is no

place for Sikhs in supposedly secular, democratic India. Our

moment of freedom is closer than ever. Sikhs will continue to

work to make certain that we shake ourselves loose from the

yoke of Indian oppression and liberate our homeland,

Khalistan, so that all Sikhs may live lives of prosperity,

freedom and dignity.

``The flame of freedom continues to burn brightly in the

heart of every Sikh and no force can suppress it. Recently,

Dal Khalsa and the Shironment Khalsa Dal announced that they

are uniting for sovereignty for Khalistan. The Punjab

legislative assembly proclaimed the sovereignty of Punjab

when it cancelled the water agreements. Only by liberating

Khalistan can we put an end to the repression and terrorism

against the Sikh nation by the Indian regime. Now is the time

to rededicate ourselves to the liberation of Khalistan.

``The Sikhs are a free nation and they would neither

compromise on their freedom nor they could be subjugated.

Freedom is the right of every nation. We have been struggling

for the independence of our homeland from the day when the

Golden Temple was attacked. We have been exposing the indian

atrocities worldwide since then,'' the Khalistan Council

chief said.

[From The News International, Nov. 7, 2006]

Sikhs Urged to Work for Homeland

Sardar Gurmeet Singh Aulak, president of Council of

Khalistan, has said that it is the moral duty of Sikhs to

establish free homeland and get freedom from India.

While addressing a press conference here Monday at Lahore

Press Club, he said Sikhs had to come forward to get free

homeland for the Sikhs living around the world. He said the

foundation of Khalistan was laid after the attack on Golden

Temple in 1984 adding that now the Sikhs were fighting for

their birth right though the war was long but it has to meet

logical end.

He said the biggest mistake which the Sikh nation had

committed was that they did not accept the offer of Quaid-e-

Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and for that they have to pay for

few more decades.

He said their struggle was peaceful and political but India

turned into violent by killing innocent Sikhs in East Punjab

and tagged them as terrorists.

He said in India, 18 different languages were being spoken

and when there was no commonality in cultures, the country

was bound to be divided into parts like the USSR. He said on

October 17, 1987, the resolution was passed by Council of

Khalistan for free homeland and from that date the Sikhs were

struggling to get their homeland.

He said Sikhs has no claim on that piece of land where they

did not have any population but they want homeland on areas

of East Punjab, Himachal and Haryana, where the Sikhs were in

majority. About Kashmir issue, he said he was surprised to

note that with so many Muslim countries around the world, the

state was not freed yet as if the Sikhs have the same number

of countries, they had freed their land from the cruel

clutches of India.

About Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said he was a

puppet PM and dance to the tunes of Sonia Gandhi and lacks

confidence of Sikh nation.

Mr. Speaker, My esteemed colleagues, thank you very much for the opportunity to talk to you about an important issue involving credit reports that will disproportionately harm low-income home buyers and put most small independent credit reporting agencies out of business within a month. The issue involves the ``joint use'' of credit reports for mortgages.

``Joint use'', ``secondary use'' or ``reissue'' refers to the long- standing practice recognized in the FCRA, by the Federal Trade Commission, and by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which allows a credit report to be jointly used by multiple entities legitimately engaged with the origination of a mortgage at no additional cost. Joint use of credit report information is essential for the proper functioning of the mortgage banking, brokerage and financing industries and is an important process by which consumers shop for and obtain mortgage credit.

Recently, two of the credit repositories, Equifax and Experian, E&E have announced new mandatory fees and burdensome requirements for joint use of credit reports starting January 1, 2007. Consumers will now be burdened with paying multiple charges for the one-time access of their credit report in order to originate a single mortgage transaction. Unlike other credit industries, the mortgage credit reporting industry is required to depend on three-file merged credit reports provided by E&E and TransUnion. The proposed new policy will significantly increase mortgage origination costs. Costs for joint use of credit reports potentially increase by 100-300 percent. E&E will significantly increase their revenues while end users, resellers, and ultimately, consumers will pay the costs. In addition, consumers facing the highest cost increases will be those with credit challenges such as low income and first time homebuyers.

Further, about ninety percent of the independent credit reporting agencies will be unable to meet the additional contractual requirements being dictated by E&E. These credit-reporting agencies will be unable to access the credit data from E&E and therefore unable to provide the mandatory three-file merged credit reports. They will quickly be forced out of businesses due to these changes.

There is no new legislation, court case, regulatory decision or other external event to justify such action except to increase the revenues of these large companies at the expense of the consumer and to the detriment of small credit reporting companies.

The other repositories, TransUnion and Innovis, have not chosen to drastically alter the joint use procedure. TransUnion is evaluating its position and CBC Companies, the parent of Innovis, is challenging E&E's proposed new guidelines in federal court as a violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

The end user disclosure, joint use, requirements have been working well since they were enacted as part of the FCRA in 1997. The recent actions by E&E do little to combat the incidence of identity theft and increase data security. The main reason for these policies is to raise revenue and decrease competition. The effort to implement these new reissue/joint use procedures and fees needs to be stopped in order to maintain a level playing field, continue effective competition in the marketplace and provide fair and equitable access to capital for all Americans.

Any efforts by the major credit repositories to change the reissue process should not restrict competition. In order to protect both consumers and small, independent credit reporting agencies, E&E should make the following changes to their proposed reissue policies.

Continue to classify the GSEs, HUD and any other ancillary technology system that is part of the mortgage origination process as joint use, not the new created ``reissue'' or ``secondary use'' classification;

Allow credit-reporting agencies, at the direction of the end user of record, to reissue to any firm on one of the approved mortgage seller or servicer lists of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or HUD without end user documentation and site inspections; and

Designate a reasonable flat fee for reissue. Note: The changes to the 2003 FACT Act which included a free credit report to every American on an annual basis only required an $.11 per file price increase while E&E's proposed policy changes attempt to justify the charge of $1.05 to $3.50 per file.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to address this important topic. I strongly suggest that E&E reconsider the policies they plan to implement on January 1. Such policies will ultimately hurt the consumer and will have a disproportionate effect on low-income individuals. All Americans deserve the right to pursue the American dream of homeownership and should not be restricted to access to loans because of a policy intended solely to raise revenue for two large credit repositories.

Mr. Speaker, my esteemed colleagues, thank you very much for the opportunity to talk to you about an important issue involving credit reports that will disproportionately harm low-income homebuyers and put most small independent credit reporting agencies out of business within a month. The issue involves the ``joint use'' of credit reports for mortgages.

``Joint use'', ``secondary use'' or ``reissue'' refers to the long- standing practice (recognized in the FCRA, by the Federal Trade Commission, and by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), which allows a credit report to be jointly used by multiple entities legitimately engaged with the origination of a mortgage at no additional cost. Joint use of credit report information is essential for the proper functioning of the mortgage banking, brokerage and financing industries and is an important process by which consumers shop for and obtain mortgage credit.

Recently, two of the credit repositories, Equifax and Experian (E&E) have announced new mandatory fees and burdensome requirements for joint use of credit reports starting January 1, 2007. Consumers will now be burdened with paying multiple charges for the one-time access of their credit report in order to originate a single mortgage transaction. Unlike other credit industries, the mortgage credit reporting industry is required to depend on three-file merged credit reports provided by E&E and TransUnion. The proposed new policy will significantly increase mortgage origination costs. Costs for joint use of credit reports potentially increase by 100-300%. E&E will significantly increase their revenues while end users, resellers, and ultimately, consumers will pay the costs. In addition, consumers facing the highest cost increases will be those with credit challenges such as low-income and first-time homebuyers.

Further, about 90 percent of the independent credit reporting agencies will be unable to meet the additional contractual requirements being dictated by E&E. These credit reporting agencies will be unable to access the credit data from E&E and therefore unable to provide the mandatory three-file merged credit reports. They will quickly be forced out of businesses due to these changes.

There is no new legislation, court case, regulatory decision or other external event to justify such action except to increase the revenues of these large companies at the expense of the consumer and to the detriment of small credit reporting companies.

The other repositories, TransUnion and Innovis, have not chosen to drastically alter the joint use procedure. TransUnion is evaluating its position and CBC Companies, the parent of Innovis, is challenging E&E's proposed new guidelines in federal court as a violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

The end-user disclosure (joint use) requirements have been working well since they were enacted as part of the FCRA in 1997. The recent actions by E&E do little to combat the incidence of identity theft and increase data security. The main reason for these policies is to raise revenue and decrease competition. The effort to implement these new reissue/joint use procedures and fees needs to be stopped in order to maintain a level playing field, continue effective competition in the marketplace and provide fair and equitable access to capital for all Americans.

Any efforts by the major credit repositories to change the reissue process should not restrict competition. In order to protect both consumers and small, independent credit reporting agencies, E&E should make the following changes to their proposed reissue policies.

Continue to classify the GSEs, HUD and any other ancillary technology system that is part of the mortgage origination process as joint use, not the new created ``reissue'' or ``secondary use'' classification.

Allow credit-reporting agencies, at the direction of the end-user of record, to reissue to any firm on one of the approved mortgage seller or servicer lists of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or HUD without end-user documentation and site inspections.

Designate a reasonable flat fee for reissue. Note: The changes to the 2003 FACT Act which included a free credit report to every American on an annual basis only required an $.11 per file price increase while E&E's proposed policy changes attempt to justify the charge of $1.05 to $3.50 per file.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to address this important topic. I strongly suggest that E&E reconsider the policies they plan to implement on January 1. Such policies will ultimately hurt the consumer and will have a disproportionate effect on low-income individuals. All Americans deserve the right to pursue the American dream of homeownership and should not be restricted to access to loans because of a policy intended solely to raise revenue for two large credit repositories.

Mr. Speaker, on December 3, supporters of the former member of India's Parliament, Simranjit Singh Mann, were beaten up in the town of Tarn Taran in Punjab, which Mr. Mann used to represent in parliament.

Mr. Mann was burned in effigy. He has blamed former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for the incident. Badal's party is aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, the former ruling party, which is under the umbrella of the fascist, Hindu militant Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, RSS.

The Hindu extremists attacked Mr. Mann's supporters and Mann's supporters were the ones who got arrested.

Tarn Taran is a central place in Sikhism, built by the fifth of the Sikh gurus, Guru Arjun Dev, and there is a historic Gurdwara--Sikh place of worship--in the town. The fact that supporters of the RSS are able to beat Sikhs in Tarn Taran is distressing. It shows the need for Sikh independence in a sovereign Khalistan.

According to SS News online, at least six people were injured in the clash, which broke out after one of Mann's supporters wrote an article critical of Shiv Sena, one of the militant branches of the RSS.

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, president of the Council of Khalistan, has issued an excellent press release on tbe incident. He notes that a free, sovereign Khalistan, the Sikh homeland that declared its independence from India on October 7, 1987, would help put an end to incidents like this. As long as Sikhs are under Indian subjugation, the RSS and its allies are going to be able to run roughshod over Sikhs and other minorities. Remember that last year, 35 Sikhs were arrested simply for making pro-Khalistan speeches and raising the Khalistani flag. Since when are making speeches and raising a flag crimes in a democracy?

India has kllled more than a quarter of a million Sikhs, over 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland and tens of thousands of other minorities such as Assamese, Bodos, Dalits, Manipuris, Tamils, and others. If India is the democracy that it claims to be, how can it do such things?

America is the beacon of freedom, Mr. Speaker. That is why we need to act. Incidents like this must not be allowed to continue. We should stop our aid to India and end our trade with that country until human rights are respected for all people there. And we should put the Congress on record in support of a free and fair plebiscite on independence in Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagalim, and wherever else it is sought. That is the best way to help bring freedom, security, safety, dignity, and prosperity to all the people of South Asia.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to put the Council of Khalistan's press release on the beating of Mann supporters in the Record at this time.

Washington, DC, Dec. 7, 2006.--Supporters of former Member

of Parliament Simranjit Singh Mann were beaten up in Tarn

Taran by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Mr,

Mann's effigy was burned. Mann has publicly blamed former

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is allied with the

BJP, a branch of the fascist Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh

(RSS), for the beating. Mann was elected to represent Tarn

Taran in the Indian Parliament with 95 percent of the vote

while he was in jail in 1989.

Tarn Taran is the center of the Sikh religion. Guru Arjun

Dev Ji, the fifth Sikh Guru, established Tarn Taran and there

is a historic Gurdwara there. Captain Amarinder Singh, the

chief minister of Punjab, is establishing a Guru Arjun Dev Ji

University there.

``It is outrageous that supporters of Mann could be beaten

up and his effigy burned in a place so central for the Sikh

Nation as Tarn Taran,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

President of the Council of Khalistan. ``We hope that Badal

is not behind the incident,'' said Dr, Aulakh. ``If he is,

shame on him. Ultimately, the Indian government is behind

this act and both Badal and Mann are under the control of the

Indian government, as their letters published in Chakravyuh:

Web of Indian Secularism demonstrate,'' said Dr. Aulakh. In

one letter, Mann pledges, ``I reiterate my allegiance to the

Constitution and I stand by the integrity of the country.''

On his trip to the United States in 2000, Mann attended a

Sikh event and said, ``Close the offices of the Council of

Khalistan, headed by Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh in Washington

Mr. Speaker, Professor Gurtej Singh JAS is a Professor of Sikhism and a very widely respected intellectual leader in the Sikh community. Recently, he wrote an article exposing the Dasam Granth, which is alleged by some Hindus to be a Sikh scripture. What apparently was done was to take a few of the writings of Guru Gobind Singh, the last of the Sikh gurus, and combine it with some sexually explicit material from a Hindu sect known as Shakat. The aim is to discredit Guru Gobind Singh and bring the Sikhs into the Hindu fold, according to Professor Gurtej Singh.

The authors of the Dasam Granth identify themselves within the text, yet many insist that the work was written by Guru Gobind Singh and should be equal to the Sikh holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib.

Professor Gurtej Singh commented that a leader of the militant Hindu fascist operation known as the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), which was formed in support of the Fascists, had commented that all the Sikh ``high priests'' including Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti are on the RSS payroll. Thus, they are cooperating in this effort by the Brahmins to destroy the Sikh religion. Nice trick in a supposedly secular country!

Also cooperating in this effort is former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who led the most corrupt government in the history of Punjab. These are the kinds of people with whom the Brahins choose to ally themselves.

This kind of control over the leadership of the Sikhs is one reason that they need their independence, to protect their identity and their safety before the Indians wipe them out, as they seek to do. Over a quarter of a million Sikhs killed since 1984 proves that. In addition, the Indian regime has killed over 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, more than 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir and 2,000 to 5,000 in Gujarat, as well as Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the country and Tamils, Manipuris, Dalits, Bodos, Assamese, and other minorities. Tens of thousands of people are held as political prisoners, according to Amnesty International. The Movement Against State Repression reported that lndia acknowledged holding 52,268 Sikhs as political prisoners. Many of these have been in illegal detention since 1984.

These political prisoners must be released at once and those who violate human rights must be brought to justice or we should stop all of our aid and trade with India. And we should put the U.S. Congress on record in support of freedom everywhere in South Asia in the form of a plebiscite on the subject of independence, under international supervision to ensure its fairness. Isn't that the democratic way to do things?

While Professor Gurtej Singh's article is too long to put in the Record, the Council of Khalistan did an excellent press release on it. Mr. Speaker, I would like to add that press release on the Dasam Granth fraud to the Record at this time for the information of my colleagues.

Professor Gurtej Singh Exposes Dasam Granth Fraud

Washington, DC, December 7, 2006--Professor Gurtej Singh, a

leading Sikh scholar, Professor of Sikhism, and an advisor to

the International Journal of Sikh Affairs, has published an

extensive article exposing how Hindu fundamentalists have

promoted the Dasam Granth, which contains very little of the

work of Guru Gobind Singh, as his writing and as genuine Sikh

scripture, parallel to the Guru Granth Sahib. He exposes the

fact that ``the Hindu plan to drag the Sikhs back to the

Hindu fold'' requires promoting the Dasam Granth and that

this plan has received the support of such allegedly Sikh

leaders as former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal

and the high Sikh ``high priests'' led by Jathedar Joginder

Singh Vedanti. Badal led the most corrupt government in

Punjab's history, selling jobs for money, and regularly

visits Hindu and other anti-Sikh places of worship, according

to Professor Gurtej Singh.

Professor Gurtej Singh writes that Jathedar Vedanti ``was

given the task of actually dragging the Sikh panth into the

fold of Hinduism.'' He notes that Jathedar Vedanti, like Mr.

Badal, succumbed to the temptations of money. In order to

carry out this nefarious plan, Professor Gurtej Singh writes,

Vedanti embraced the Dasam Granth as genuine Sikh scripture,

claiming that it was written by Guru Gobind Singh and was to

be treated as scripture and canon. The Dasam Granth includes

vivid, lewd descriptions of sex acts and other pornographic

and obscene references that were added to Guru Gobind Singh's

writing to make him look bad.

Professor Gurtej Singh notes that the authors of the Dasam

Granth identified themselves in the text. Yet the Hindus

insist that Guru Gobind Singh is the author and that the book

is Sikh scripture. According to Professor Gurtej Singh, it is

a scripture of the Shakat sect, who are worshippers of the

Hindu goddess Shiva, as it reflects their mode of worship and

their practices. ``It has been a long standing Hindu desire

to bring the Sikhs under the umbrella of the Shakat sect,''

he writes. ``This involves getting them to accept some of the

rituals of that sect as modes of worship.'' He goes on to

write, ``To propagate the dasam granth as Sikh scripture at

par with Guru Granth, has been the aim of a section of the

Hindu zealots and a section of the Media mostly controlled by

such Hindus,''

According to Professor Gurtej Singh, Mr. Sudarshan of the

fascist, Hindu militant

Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), parent organization of the

Hindu fundamentalist BJP, stated that all of the Sikh ``high

priests'' including Vedanti are on the payroll of his

organization.

``We appreciate and commend Professor Gurtej Singh for

doing this outstanding work for the Sikh Nation,'' said Dr.

Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan.

``He is doing his job as Professor of Sikhism. The Sikh

Nation commends him,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Only about 60 pages

of the Dasam Granth is the writing of Guru Gobind Singh,'' he

noted. ``The rest is later writings that were added and

changed. Guru Gobind Singh gave guruship to the Guru Granth

Sahib and ordered Sikhs to consider the Guru Granth Sahib as

the living Guru,'' Dr. Aulakh noted. ``The Guru Granth Sahib

is the living Guru which Sikhs accept with reverence and

respect. Recitation of the Dasam Granth should not take place

in any Gurdwara,'' he said. ``Sikhs should practice Rehat

Maryada which was published in the 1940s by the SGPC after a

long review and discussion by the Khalsa Panth.''

Dr. Aulakh said that it is very disturbing that most of the

Sikh leadership is under the control of the Indian

government. ``This campaign to destroy Sikhism by means of

the Dasam Granth could not be taking place if we had our own

homeland. We could more effectively stand up to India's

ongoing effort to destroy the Sikh religion,'' he said.

``Without political power, nations perish and religions are

destroyed,'' he said.

India is on the verge of disintegration. Kashmir is about

to separate from India. As L.K. Advani said, ``if Kashmir

goes, India goes.'' 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. There is

nothing in common in the culture of a Hindu living in Bengal

and one in Tamil Nadu, let alone between them and the

minority nations of South Asia,'' Dr. Aulakh said.

``Freedom is the God-given right of every nation and every

human being,'' said Dr. Aulakh. Sikhs must be allowed to have

a free and fair plebiscite on the issue of Khalistan. In a

democracy, you cannot continue to rule against the wishes of

the people. As former Senator George Mitchell said about the

Palestinians, `the essence of democracy is the right to self-

determination,' We must reclaim the sovereignty of the Sikh

Nation,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Currently, there are 17 freedom

movements within India's borders. It has 18 official

languages, A country having 18 official languages cannot hold

its people together for very long,'' he said. ``We hope that

India's breakup will be peaceful like Czechoslovakia's, not

violent like Yugoslavia's,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Earlier this

year, Montenegro, which has less than a million people,

became a sovereign country and a member of the United

Nations,'' he said. ``Now it is the time for the Sikh Nation

of Punjab, Khalistan to become independent.''

Dr Aulakh stressed his commitment to the peaceful,

democratic, nonviolent struggle to liberate Khalistan. ``The

only way that the repression will stop and Sikhs will live in

freedom, dignity, and prosperity is to liberate Khalistan,''

said Dr. Aulakh, ``As Professor Darshan Singh, former

Jathedar of the Akal Takht, said, `If a Sikh is not a

Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.','' Dr. Aulakh said. ``We must

free Khalistan now.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because earlier this month, about 15,000 Sikhs from all over the world celebrated the birth of the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak, in his birthplace, Nankana Sahib, which is now in Pakistan. The Sikhs in attendance chanted slogans of ``Khalsitan Zindabad'' calling for the liberation of the Sikh homeland, Khalistan. Over 3,000 Sikhs from Punjab were in attendance and many of them commented on how much better they were treated in Pakistan than in their own country.

A delegation of Sikhs met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. He pledged to build a road from Kartarpur, where Guru Nanak died and where there is a shrine to him, to the Indian border if India would build a road to the border also and repair a bridge at the border. This would enable Sikhs to go to Kartarpur and honor Guru Nanak whenever they choose to do so. I call on the governments of Punjab and India to build this road and fix the bridge.

The Pakistani government also issued an open invitation to Sikhs to come and visit Nankana Sahib whenever they wish with no restrictions, although they did express concern that agents of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) would use this to come in and try to undermine Pakistan. That is a very real and legitimate concern.

It is tragic and offensive that the Sikhs who went to Nankana Sahib felt that they were better treated in Pakistan than in their own country. That just shows why the Sikhs in Punjab need to be free of Indian rule. The sovereignty of the Sikhs, recognized in the Indian constitution, was used in cancelling Punjab's water deals with India. It should be used by the Legislative Assembly to declare Punjab's independence, as the Sikhs did on October 7, 1987. Such a declaration from the legislature would carry a lot of weight.

Mr. Speaker, the time has come for the beacon of freedom, America, to take a stand. We can help to stop the tyranny and the repression by stopping our aid and trade to India until full human rights are restored to all people there. And it is time for a free and fair plebiscite in Punjab, Khalistan on the question of independence, as well as Kashmir, Nagalim, and wherever people seek their freedom. India promised Kashmir a plebiscite in 1948 and it has not yet delivered on the promise. When will ``the world's largest democracy'' decide that it is time for the people to enjoy the most basic of democratic rights, the right to self-determination? If India is the democratic country it says it is, what could be wrong with a simple vote?

I request the permission of the House to insert the Council of Khalistan's press release on the events in Nankana Sahib into the Record at this time.

Sikhs Celebrate Guru Nanak's Birthday With Reverence--Air Filled With

Khalistan Zindabad Slogans

Washington, DC, November 16, 2006.--More than 15,000 Sikhs

came from the United States, Punjab, Thailand, France, the

United Kingdom, Germany, and around the world to Nankana

Sahib celebrate the 537th anniversary of the birth of their

first Guru, Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion. Guru

Nanak was born in 1469. This is he highest number of Sikhs

who have attended the event since the partition of India.

Over 3,000 Sikhs came from Punjab. At the celebration, the

air was filled with slogans of ``Khalistan Zindabad.''

The delegation met with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in

Islamad on November 4. He welcomed the Sikhs with open arms

and offered a road link between Kartarpur and the Indian

border if India agrees to build a road on its side and repair

the bridge. He said Sikhs were free to visit Kartarpur

whenever they want without a visa. The Pakistani government

has issued an open invitation to Sikhs from around the world

to come and visit Nankana Sahib with no restrictions. Any

genuine Sikh who wants to come and visit may do so. There was

some concern about agents of India's Research and Analysis

Wing (RAW) coming to destabilize Pakistan, however.

The government and people of Pakistan welcomed the Sikhs

and treated them so well that Sikhs from Punjab asked why

they were treated so well in Pakistan, which is not our

country, but in the Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan, the

Indian government does not treat them fairly. India attacked

the Golden Temple, the center and seat of Sikhism, in June

1984. Since then, the Indian government has murdered over

250,000 Sikhs and another 52,268 are being held as political

prisoners, according to a report by the Movement Against

State Repression (MASR.) India has killed over 90,000 Muslims

in Kashmir as well as 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, over

300,000 Christians in Nagaland, and tens of thousands of

Assamese, Bodos, Dalits (the dark-skinned, aboriginal

``Untouchables''), Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities.

In 1994, the U.S. State Department reported that the Indian

government had paid over 41,000 cash bounties for killing

Sikhs. A MASR report quotes the Punjab Civil Magistracy as

writing ``if we add up the figures of the last few years the

number of innocent persons killed would run into lakhs

[hundreds of thousands.]'' The Indian Supreme Court called

the Indian government's murders of Sikhs ``worse than a

genocide.''

Last year. 35 Sikhs were charged and arrested in Punjab for

making speeches in support of Khalistan and raising the

Khalistani flag. ``How can making speeches and raising a flag

be considered crimes in a democratic society?'' asked Dr.

Gurmit Singh Aulakh. President of the Council of Khalistan,

which leads the peaceful, democratic, nonviolent struggle to

liberate the Sikh homeland from

Indian occupation. The Gujarat massacre was pre-planned,

according to a police officer who spoke to Indian newspapers.

Nuns have been raped, priests have been murdered, churches

have been burned, Christian prayer halls and schools have

been attacked, and police broke up a Christian religious

festival with gunfire.

India is also destroying Sikhs economically. The Indian

government fixes the price for fertilizer very high and the

price for produce very low so Sikh farmers can't even get the

cost of production for their crops. This year it fixed the

wheat price at Rs 750 per quintal. Even Badal demanded Rs

1000 per quintal. If Punjab farmers could sell their produce

across the border in Pakistan and the Middle East, they could

easily get close to Rs 1,500 per quintal and would be able to

make a living. India seeks to destroy the Sikh Nation

religiously, economically, and politically.

``Freedom is the God-given right of every nation and every

human being,'' said Dr. Aulakh. Sikhs must be allowed to have

a free and fair plebiscite on the issue of Khalistan. In a

democracy, you cannot continue to rule against the wishes of

the people. As former Senator George Mitchell said about the

Palestinians, ``the essence of democracy is the right to

self-determination.'' ``We must reclaim the sovereignty of

the Sikh Nation,'' Dr. Aulakh said. Dr. Aulakh appealed to

the Akali Dal and other Sikh parties in the Punjab

Legislative Assembly to pass a resolution documenting all the

mistreatment and economic exploitation of the Sikhs by the

Indian government since independence. India diverts Punjab's

river water, its natural resource, to neighboring Haryana and

Rajasthan without any compensation despite Chief Minister

Amarinder Singh cancelling Punjab's water agreements with

India. We salute Captain Amarinder Singh for this

legislation. In the legislation, the Legislative Assembly

explicitly affirmed the sovereignty of Punjab as described in

the Indian constitution. This same sovereignty can be used by

the Assembly to declare independence. India will be helpless

and the Sikh diaspora will help to free Khalistan.

India is on the verge of disintegration. Kashmir is about

to separate from India. As L.K. Advani said, ``if Kashmir

goes, India goes.'' 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.

Currently, there are 17 freedom movements within India's

borders. It has 18 official languages. ``We hope that India's

breakup will be peaceful like Czechoslovakia's, not violent

like Yugoslavia's,'' Dr. Aulakh said. ``Montenegro. which has

less than a million people, has become a sovereign country

and a member of the United Nations,'' he said. ``Now it is

the time for the Sikh Nation of Punjab, Khalistan to become

independent. The sooner the better.''

``The only way that the Sikh nation can flourish and

progress is in a sovereign, independent Khalistan,'' said Dr.

Aulakh. ``As Professor Darshan Singh, former Jathedar of the

Akal Takht, said, `If a Sikh is not a Khalistani. he is not a

Sikh.','' Dr. Aulakh said. ``We must free Khalistan now.''

Mr. Speaker, last month, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh publicly stated that India is the victim of cross-border terror. The Council of Khalistan under the leadership of Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh wrote to Prime Minister Singh and reminded him that India has been sponsoring cross-border terrorism in Sindh, a province of Pakistan, as the Washington Times reported on January 2, 2002 and that according to India Today, which is the leading news magazine in India, the Indian government created the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which the U.S. government has identified as a terrorist organization.

It has also sponsored domestic terrorism against the minorities within its borders, including murdering a quarter of a million Sikhs and holding another 52,000 as political prisoners; killing Muslims by the tens of thousands in Kashmir, where more than 90,000 have been killed, Gujarat, where between 2,000 and 5,000 died in a massacre pre- planned by the government, and elsewhere; killing Christians throughout the country, including over 300,000 just in Nagaland; and mass killing many other minorities. Yet India proclaims itself the victim of terrorism and proclaims itself a democracy. Well, Mr. Speaker, it certainly doesn't act that way.

The repression and terrorism must be stopped. We should end all aid and trade with India until such time as the repression ends and people enjoy the most basic human rights, and we should throw our full support behind self-determination in Punjab, Khalistan, in Kashmir, in Nagalim, and wherever people are trying to be free. The essence of democracy is the right to self-determination. In addition, we should designate India a terrorist state and impose the sanctions that that designation brings.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert the Council of Khalistan's open letter into the Record. It is a frightening record of Indian terrorism.

India Is a Terrorist State, Not a Victim

Dear Prime Minister Singh: On October 4, you said that

India is a victim of cross-border terrorism. India is a

terrorist state itself and should be subject to the penalties

that are imposed on terrorist states.

On January 2, 2002, the Washington Times reported that

India is supporting cross-border terrorism in Sindh, a

province of Pakistan, the very same kind of thing that Prime

Minister Singh was claiming is victimizing India. In

addition, India's leading newsmagazine, India Today, reported

that the Indian government created the Liberation Tigers of

Tamil Eelam (LTTE), identified by the U.S. government as a

terrorist organization, and its leaders were put up by the

Indian government in the finest hotel in Delhi. How can you

blame Pakistan when India started cross-border terrorism with

its own actions?

The Indian government has committed terrorism against its

own minorities. It has murdered over 250,000 Sikh infants,

children, youth, men, women, and elderly since 1984, as well

as more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, over 90,000

Muslims in Kashmir, tens of thousands of Christians and

Muslims throughout the country, and tens of thousands of

Assamese, Bobos, Dalits, Manipuris,

Tamils, and other minorities. A report by the Movement

Against State Repression (MASR) states that 52,268 Sikhs are

being held as political prisoners in India without charge or

trial, mostly under a repressive law known as the ``Terrorist

and Disruptive Activities Act'' (TADA), which expired in

1995. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984! There has

been no list published of those who were acquitted under TADA

and those who are still rotting in Indian jails. Tens of

thousands of other minorities are also being held as

political prisoners, according to Amnesty International. Tell

the families of these innocent Sikhs and others that there is

no terrorism in India.

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. Khalra was murdered in

police custody. His body was not given to his family. No one

has been brought to justice for the kidnapping and murder of

Jaswant Singh Khalra. The only witness to the Khalra

kidnapping, Rajiv Singh Randhawa, has been repeatedly

harassed by the police, including having been arrested for

trying to hand a note to then-British Home Secretary Jack

Straw. Last year, 35 Sikhs were charged and arrested in

Punjab for making speeches in support of Khalistan and

raising the Khalistani flag. How can making speeches and

raising a flag be considered crimes in a democratic society?

The police never released the body of former Jathedar of

the Takht Gurdev Singh Kaunke after SSP Swaran Singh Gholna

murdered him. He has never been tried for the Jathedar Kaunke

murder. In 1994, the U.S. State Department reported that the

Indian government had paid over 41,000 cash bounties for

killing Sikhs. The MASR report quotes the Punjab Civil

Magistracy as writing ``if we add up the figures of the last

few years the number of innocent persons killed would run

into lakhs (hundreds of thousands.)'' The Indian Supreme

Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs ``worse

than a genocide.''

Missionary Graham Staines was murdered along with his two

sons, ages 8 and 10, by a mob of militant, fundamentalist

Hindu nationalists who set fire to the jeep, surrounded it,

and chanted ``Victory to Hannuman,'' a Hindu god. Missionary

Joseph Cooper was beaten so badly that he had to spend a week

in an Indian hospital. Then the Indian government threw him

out of the country. None of the people involved has been

tried. The persons who have murdered priests, raped nuns, and

burned Christian churches have not been charged or tried.

Police broke up a Christian religious festival with gunfire.

Recently, militant Hindus from the Bharatiya Janata Yuva (a

youth movement affiliated with the BJP and the Fascist RSS)

attacked the Convent of Loreto and the school there. A

spokesman for the BJP, Mr. H. Dikshit, demanded an

investigation of the school!

The murders of 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat have

never been brought to trial. An Indian newspaper reported

that the police were ordered not to get involved in that

massacre, a frightening parallel to the Delhi massacre of

Sikhs in 1984. The most important mosque in India, the Babri

Mosque, was destroyed by militant Hindu fundamentalists who

have never been held responsible for their actions.

It is good that you have admitted the guilt of the Indian

government by for the Delhi massacres, in which over 20,000

Sikhs were killed, by apologizing for the massacres, but what

good does it do the Sikh Nation? Where are the apologies for

the Golden Temple attack, the destruction of the Akal Takht,

and the desecration of Darbal Sahib, and the other

atrocities? Where is the compensation for the victims'

families? That operation was yet another act of Indian

domestic terrorism.

The Guru granted sovereignty to the Sikh Nation, saying

``In Grieb Sikhin Ko Deon Patshahi.'' We must remind

ourselves of our heritage by raising slogans of ``Khalistan

Zindabad'' and beginning a Shantmai Morcha to liberate our

homeland, Khalistan Whoever is honest and dedicated in

leading that Shantmai Morcha deserves our support. Every

morning and evening we recite, ``Raj Kare Ga Khalsa,'' Now is

the time to act on it. Do we mean what we say every morning

and evening?

The flame of freedom continues to burn brightly in the

heart of the Sikh Nation. No force can suppress it. Recently,

Dal Khalsa and the Shiromani Khalsa Dal announced that they

are uniting for sovereignty for Khalistan. This was met with

chants of ``Khalistan Zindabad.'' The Punjab Legislative

Assembly proclaimed the sovereignly of Punjab when it

cancelled the water agreements. Only by liberating Khalistan

can we put an end to the repression and terrorism against the

Sikh Nation by the Indian regime. Now is the time to

rededicate ourselves to the liberation of Khalistan,

Last year, Sikh farmers were expelled from Uttaranchal

Pradesh and their land was seized. They were beaten up by the

police. Their homes were bulldozed by paratroopers, Their

homes in many cases were built using their life savings and

by their own hands. We condemn this act of state terrorism by

the government of Uttaranchal Pradesh. As you know, Sikhs are

prohibited from buying land in Rajasthan and Himachal

Pradesh. Now Uttaranchal Pradesh joins that list. Yet there

are no restrictions on land ownership in Punjab by non-Sikhs.

People from anywhere can buy land in Punjab, including people

from Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. India is trying to

subvert Khalistan's independence by overrunning Punjab with

non-Sikhs while keeping Sikhs from escaping the brutal

repression in Punjab. It is incumbent on the Sikh diaspora to

free Khalistan. We must redouble our efforts. That is the

only way to keep these atrocities from continuing and to

protect the Sikh Nation and the Sikh religion.

The Akali Dal conspired with the Indian government in 1984

to invade the Golden Temple to murder Sant Bhindranwale and

20,000 other Sikhs during June 1984 in Punjab. Among those

who conspired with the government, according to Chakravyuh

Web of Indian Secularism, were Dr. Chohan, Ganga Singh

Dhillon, and Didar Singh Bains. It appears the Indian regime

is even willing to arrest its own agents to suppress the

movement for Khalistan! Now Badal and Chief Minister

Amarinder Singh have been accusing each other of being tied

in with ``terrorists.'' These leaders view support for

Khalistan as terrorism, as the Indian government does. They

have shown where their loyalties lie. How will these so-

called Sikh leaders account for themselves? Remember the

words of former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Professor Darshan

Singh: ``If a Sikh is not a Khalistani, he is not a Sikh.

Sikhs will never get any justice from Delhi. Ever since

independence, India has mistreated the Sikh Nation, starting

with Patel's, memo calling Sikhs ``a criminal tribe.'' What a

shame for Home Minister Patel and the Indian government to

issue this memorandum when the Sikh Nation gave over 80

percent of the sacrifices to free India. There is no place

for Sikhs in supposedly secular, supposedly democratic India.

Our moment of freedom is closer than ever. Sikhs will

continue to work to make certain that we shake ourselves

loose from the yoke of Indian oppression and liberate our

homeland, Khalistan, so that all Sikhs may have lives of

prosperity, freedom, and dignity.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

President,

Council of Khalistan.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Queenie Mary Wooten, a distinguished public servant and citizen of Brooklyn, New York. It behooves us to pay tribute to this outstanding woman and I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing her impressive service to community.

In 1974, Queenie Mary Wooten received her Bachelor of Arts degree in education from Medgar Evers College. She took additional courses, which enhanced her long and remarkable career in education. Currently, Ms. Wooten is the Coordinator of External Community Programs for Region #5. In addition to networking with East New York and Brownsville city agencies, she serves on the cabinets of Planning Boards #5 and #16.

Ms. Wooten is developing innovative and creative external programs to improve educational and developmental outcomes for students. She coordinates activities with the external community and assists the director with setting priorities and selecting high quality collaborative programs. Ms. Wooten mobilizes resources for regional and school priorities, collaborates with schools in Region #5 to create inter-agency regional advisory councils, and volunteers on Planning Board #5, working with the committee on education. Additionally, she works diligently with students to help them get credit for community services.

Ms. Wooten is one of the founders of the American College of Counselors, for the New York Branch, and was recently honored by the Department of Education for 41 years of service. She has received numerous honors and awards for her work, including: an award from Medgar Evers College as one of its first graduates; the Brooklyn Club of the Negro Business & Professional Women's Club Sojourner Truth Award; and the Van Siclen Block Association Education Award. Ms. Wooten has been honored by organizations such as the Women's League of Science and Medicine, Inc., National Sickle Cell Research and the Latin Souls Little League Baseball.

A very active member of her community, Ms. Wooten serves on numerous boards and is the Chair of the North East Committee of Elections. Ms. Wooten has been a faithful member of Grace Baptist Church for the past 35 years. One of 10 children of the late James and Estella Hunt Corely, Ms. Wooten has encountered many challenges during her life and has embraced them all with courage and dignity.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is incumbent on this body to recognize the work of Queenie Mary Wooten. Her deep commitment to her community makes her most worthy of our recognition today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Alton A. Burton, PE, a distinguished member of the New York City community. It behooves us to pay tribute to this outstanding leader and I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing his impressive accomplishments.

During the course of history there have been a select few people known as visionaries. Mr. Burton is one these visionaries that view our world not as it necessarily is, but as it can be.

Alton A. Burton was a U.S. Air Force lieutenant, serving as bombardier, navigator, and pilot during World War II. After distinguished service in our Armed Forces as a Tuskegee Airman, Mr. Burton pursued the power of ideas through higher education by obtaining a Bachelor of Science and Masters Degrees in Civil Engineering. He also obtained a license as a Professional Engineer, PE, in the State of New York. Soon after receiving his degrees and license, Alton A. Burton, PE, joined the staff of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in design engineering. Mr. Burton's assignments included contract plans for various facilities, including marine terminals. Little did Mr. Burton know that he was being positioned by the hand of destiny for something more. During the 1950s and 60s, Mr. Burton toiled in the eye of the storm of civil and political unrest, a time of cultural, human and civil rights crisis. Against all odds, Alton A. Burton was able to understand the situation and conditions of a racially charged environment and era that would have been deemed impossible. In 1962, the late Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York, appointed Mr. Burton the Chief Civil Engineer in charge of the planning phase of the multi-billion dollar project known as the World Trade Center.

In the minds of most Americans, the deeply disturbing images of the inferno that engulfed the Twin Towers and then the crumbling to the ground after being hit by two hijacked commercial airliners 5 years ago on 9-11-01, will never be forgotten. Most of us are unaware that over 40 years ago, Chief Civil Engineer Alton A. Burton designed and fortified the infrastructure, which accounted for the reliability of the Twin Tower structures to withstand tremendous force, including that of an earthquake. Chief Civil Engineer Alton A. Burton and his team of civil engineers had no idea that some 40 or so years later, terrorists would fly jets into the towers. Because of the fortification of the infrastructure, due to Mr. Burton's vision and preparation for the unexpected, the towers as damaged as they were, managed to hold--giving our first responders, EMS, NYPD, FDNY and other emergency units a grace period to do what they do best, save lives. If not for Chief Civil Engineer Alton A. Burton's vision of a fortified infrastructure, the World Trade Center's Twin Towers would have immediately toppled to the streets below. With steel beams heating to over 3000 degrees F, the infrastructure still managed to endure. The North Tower held for 1 hour 42 minutes and the South Tower for 56 minutes before the total collapse. We note with regret that approximately 3,000 lives were lost that infamous day and we offer our sincere condolences to their families. However, keeping in mind Mr. Burton's efforts to fortify the infrastructure with the best materials known to architectural and civil engineering at that time, between 10,000 and 20,000 individuals were safely evacuated from the towers and surrounding areas, so many more lives were saved.

Chief Alton A. Burton's prolific civil engineering work carries with it profound moral and

philosophical insight, possessing power without arrogance, bringing redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary, as we honor the lives of those that were lost and their legacy by how we live. Alton A. Burton, PE has risen at the age of 82 years-old to become a Great American Hero, and we claim him as one of our own, both in title and in spirit. As our Nation moves forward with a unified purpose, we realize that purpose is perhaps more significant than outcome. It is what we all become in the process to embrace all of the opportunities this country has to offer is the real purpose. Alton A. Burton continues to live his life with purpose. The people of the City of New York, the United States of America and the world became a better place because Mr. Burton has given us all his best; and he has created a mark in American history and the world that cannot be erased.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that there are no words too magnanimous to fully describe our gratitude; we thank former Chief Civil Engineer Alton A. Burton for inspiring modesty, selfless devotion of the advancement of humanity, through his devoted service to the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is incumbent on this body to recognize that in Alton A. Burton, PE, we have an outstanding citizen worthy of the highest respect and esteem, from his community, the City of New York and our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Mrs. Ernestine Thomas Morrison. Mrs. Morrison was a distinguished member of the Brooklyn, New York community. It behooves us to pay tribute posthumously to this outstanding leader and I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing her impressive accomplishments.

Ernestine Thomas Morrison was born on June 8, 1935 in Birmingham, Alabama to Virginia Kirkland Allen Thomas and Ernest Thomas. During her early childhood years, she lived in Birmingham and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after the death of her father, who passed away when she was just 2 years-old. At age 12, her mother passed on and Ernestine went to live in Brooklyn, NY with her sister and brother-in-law, Cleopatra Allen Riley and Clifford Riley. Although her sister was just 22 years-old, Ernestine recognized her not only as her sister, but as a mother. Ernestine attended P.S. 41 and graduated from the old Girls High School in Brooklyn. She married the late Roscoe Morrison, a Korean War veteran and later they had three children, Ruth, Lavinia and Charles.

Mrs. Morrison more than loved her children; she doted over them, as they were her life. While they were in elementary school, she worked part-time in the schools that they attended to be certain that her children had the best teachers and received the best services that the schools had to offer. All who knew her, knew that her love for children went beyond her own children, as she adopted her friends' children, her children's friends, her clients, her clients' kids etc., and she had the pictures to prove it.

She was elected president of the Parent Teachers Association at P.S. 243 and JHS 210; and in those roles she served as a member of the local school board for Districts 16 and 17. Additionally, she managed a summer recreation program for the youth of Albany Houses, which included several athletic teams that competed against other teams from the housing developments around New York City. Mrs. Morrison coached the Albany Houses Girls' Volleyball Team and as a first-time coach, her beloved team brought home the city championship trophy.

Mrs. Morrison was a strong voice for African-American studies in schools and open enrollment. She compelled the principal of her children's elementary school to not only order more black history books, but to allow the children to borrow those books that were already in the library. She worked with Reverend Milton A. Galamison on open enrollment for New York City public schools, a tumultuous issue of that time. Mrs. Morrison's activism in the NYC school system presented her with the opportunity to meet on several occasions with the late Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. Open enrollment in New Yark City went from a concept to a reality and children all over the city were now able to attend schools outside of their neighborhoods. It was no surprise that Mrs. Morrison's activism led her to politics. She was a very active member of Unity Democratic Club. She worked on the campaigns of the then Assemblywoman Shirley Chisholm, who later became the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Other elected officials she worked with included the late Assemblyman Thomas R. Fortune; District Leader Narcissus Frett; Judges Thomas R. Jones, James Shaw and James Hutchinson; Assemblyman Edward Griffith and Congressman Edolphus ``Ed'' Towns.

She was also a member of Community Planning Board 5, which covers East New York, Spring Creek and Cypress Hills.

As her children grew older, she started a career in social work with the New York City Human Resources Administration. After her retirement in 1992, she went back to live in her birth home of Birmingham, Alabama, the place that she loved so dearly and longed to go back to. After being away for 50 years, Mrs. Morrison was in for a rude awakening. She was a New Yorker, no longer a Southerner and she didn't quite fit into the Southern lifestyle. Consequently, in 1999, she returned home to Brooklyn.

On Friday, August 22, 2003, God called home one of his best soldiers.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is incumbent on this body to recognize the accomplishments of Mrs. Ernestine Thomas Morrison as she spent many years offering her love, talents and services for the betterment of our local and national communities.

Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Ernestine Thomas Morrison's selfless service continuously demonstrated a level of altruistic dedication that makes her most worthy of our recognition today.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the jazz musician, Carmen S. Comas, distinguished musician. It behooves us to pay tribute to this outstanding artist and I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing her impressive accomplishments.

With a smile of grace that can light up a room, Carmen S. Comas was born on November 9, 1939 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico to Arthur Comas and Patricia America Justiniano. At the young age of eighteen, Mrs. Comas was voted ``Misses Smile of Mayaguez.'' This was just a reminder that her smile had an impact on her neighbors and her community.

At the age of twenty-one, Mrs. Comas was married with two daughters, when she decided to move to New York City. Mrs. Comas is a woman of many talents and was unsure which she would use to become the entrepreneur that she was determined to be. While attending secretary school she changed gears to open a clothing factory. She became a mentor to people in the community, showing them that opportunity does exist with guidance and determination.

Mrs. Comas' drive and expectations allowed her to continue to pursue the land of opportunity. After thirty wonderful years of learning and growing, she pursued her second passion--cooking.

After working for Heart Share Human Services of New York for ten years as a resident cook she changed gears to Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation. This experience allowed her to do her best work of nurturing children.

Loved and adored by many, Mrs. Comas acknowledges the support of her growing family. Aside from her four beautiful daughters, she has her life partner Luis who has provided her with support and empowerment throughout their lives together. She has three granddaughters: Christina, Alisson and Javalia and six grandsons: Hector, Nelson, Javier, Thomas, John and Anthony. Mrs. Comas is also a part of the extended family at the Democratic Club of North Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Highland Park Lions club.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is incumbent on this body to recognize the accomplishments of Carmen S. Comas. Her willingness to get involved and the smile she brings makes her most worthy of our recognition today.