ASSOCIATED PRESS OF PAKISTAN
NEWS SUMMARY
(24-03-2000)
Congressmen calls for declaring India a terrorist state
WASHINGTON, 24 Mar (APP)- A US Congressman has held the Indian government responsible for the massacre of 36 Kashmiri Sikhs and called on the US to declare India a terrorist state. Congressman Edolphus Towns of New York told the House of Representatives following reports of the massacre in Kashmir, "It is disturbing that this atrocity occurs just after President Clinton lifted sanctions imposed on India after its nuclear tests. In light of these murders, those sanctions should be reimposed and India should be declared a terrorist state. Here in Congress we should cut off US aid to India and we should declare our support for the freedom movements in Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagaland and throughout India. We must do these things to promote freedom for the people of South Asia and the world." Towns said the Indian intelligence agency RAW was directly responsible for the cold-blooded murder of the Kashmiri Sikhs, what he described as a "brutal and cowardly atrocity" He noted that there were 700,000 Indian troops in Kashmir and wondered how those responsible for the crime could have disappeared without being detected. "What motive would the Kashmiris have to kill Sikhs, who are their allies in the struggle for freedom? . The only beneficiary is the Indian government which again divides the minorities, setting them against each other to continue their divide-and-rule strategy.
India's pattern of terrorism is well known. It recently tried to blame the Sikhs for the murder of Christian missionary Graham Staines . Despite the fact that Stained and his family were murdered by Hindu extremists allied with the ruling party," he said. Another influential Congressman, Dana Rohrabacher of California, also held RAW responsible for the killing of the Sikhs. He said the gunmen were agents of the Indian government who were posing as Kashmiri militants. He pointed to the presence of 700,000 Indian troops in Kashmir and called for an impartial investigation by international monitors in order to solve "this case and other acts of brutality committed in Kashmir". Meanwhile, Dr Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, denounced the Indian government for its genocidal policies and held its agents responsible for the Sikh killings in Kashmir. He declared, "Sikhs and Kashmiris are allies in the struggle for freedom. What motive would Kashmiri freedom fighters have to kill Sikhs? This would be especially stupid when President Clinton is vesting. The freedom movements in Kashmir, Khalistan, Nagaland and throughout India need the support of the United States."
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