Here's a Condit connection on legislation Rep. Dan Burton introduced:
HON. DAN BURTON
In the U.S. House of Representatives
June 05, 1997
[ Congressional Record Page E1145 ]
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, this weekend will mark a tragic turn of events in the history of the Sikh Nation. Thirteen years ago this Saturday, June 7, more than 20,000 Sikhs were massacred in Punjab at the Golden Temple and 38 other Sikh temples by India's military .
India's genocide against the Sikh Nation has taken the lives of a staggering 250,000 Sikhs . I rise today to introduce legislation that will send a clear message to a government that has spent years practicing the torture of its own people. However, when you go home and turn on the evening news, good luck trying to find any story that reveals the plight of the Sikhs--the plight of the Kashmiris--the plight of Christians--and the plight of the untouchables, the lowest group in India's caste system.
In Congress, we speak of the many tragedies that occur all over the world, especially around this time of year when this legislative body deals with the foreign aid legislation. We talk about the ongoing violent struggles between the people in Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. We reprimand China for its draconian abortion policies. We admonish Cuba for its human rights abuses. We threaten to withhold international military and educational training [IMET] money from Indonesia for its brutal treatment of the citizens of East Timor.
Mr. Speaker, the Indian Government is one of the worst human rights abusers in the world . You might say, if that is happening, why does the world not know about it ? Because since the 1970's, India has barred monitoring organizations like Amnesty International from entering the country. In fact, they are the only democracy in the world that refuses to allow Amnesty International to operate independently within the country. Mr. Speaker, what does the Indian Government have to hide ? There are a half-million Indian soldiers occupying the province of Punjab and another half-million occupying Kashmir. This is a recipe for disaster my friends.
For the last 15 years, I have been coming to this well to call attention to Punjab, where Indian forces have received cash bounties for the murder of innocent civilians. To justify their actions, the police label these individuals, sometimes young children, as `terrorists'. Also in Punjab, Sikhs are picked up in the middle of the night, only to be found floating dead in canals with their hands and feet bound together. Some Sikhs are not so fortunate, because many of them are never found after their abduction. Recently, India's Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] told the Supreme Court that it had confirmed nearly 1,000 cases of unidentified bodies that were cremated by the military .
And it does not get any better in Kashmir. Women, because of their Muslim beliefs, are taken out of their homes in the middle of the night and are gang-raped, while their husbands are forced to wait inside at gunpoint.
These military forces operate beyond the law with complete impunity. America should not be supporting a government that condones these widespread abuses with United States tax dollars. Now is the time for India to be held accountable for its continued violation of basic human rights. Mr. Speaker, the Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, `Untouchables', and women of India are desperately looking to this Congress for help. The time has come for action, it is time for America to take a stand.
The Human Rights in India Act, introduced by me along with my good friend and colleague Gary Condit of California, will bar development aid to India unless the government releases prisoners of conscience, ends the practice of torture by police and military forces, permits impartial investigations of reported torture and disappearances of those in custody, brings to justice police forces responsible for human rights abuses, and permits critics of the government to travel abroad.
My colleagues, from this well of the House of Representatives you will hear many stories of human abuses from all around the world. Today, I ask that you think of the hundreds of thousands suffering in India . Please do not turn your back on the innocent. Give them a flicker of hope and send a strong message to the Government of India . I urge my colleagues to give the Human Rights in India Act their full consideration, and their strong support.