Christians Attacked in India

Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, James Madison, the primary author of the U.S. Constitution, warned about "the tyranny of the majority." The modern state of India is an example of what Madison warned us about. Between Christmas and New Year, several Christian churches, prayer halls, and missionary schools were attacked by extremist Hindu mobs affiliated with the parent organization of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Washington Post reported on January 1 that ten such attacks occurred the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Six people were injured in one of these attacks. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, appears to be responsible for the attacks. The BJP is the political wing of the VHP. The Hindu militants are apparently upset that Christians are converting low-caste Hindus. Their frustration does not justify acts of violence. Christian activists report that there were more than 60 recorded cases of church and Bible-burning, rape, and other attacks in 1998 alone, including the recent rape of four nuns. The VHP called the rapists "patriotic youth." In 1997 and 1998, four priests were murdered. In the fall of 1997, a Christian festival was stopped when the police opened fire. Clearly, there is a pattern here. However, Christians are not the only victims of India's tyrannical "democracy." Muslims have seen their most revered mosques destroyed; Sikhs have seen their most sacred shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, attacked and remain under occupation by plainclothes police. Their spiritual leader, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Gurdev Singh Kaunke, was tortured and killed in police custody. Although there is a witness to this murder, no action has been taken against those responsible. Is this the secular democracy that India is so proud of? The United States is the beacon of freedom to the world. As such, we cannot sit idly by and watch India trample on the religious freedom of its minorities. We should put this Congress on record in support of peaceful, democratic freedom movements in South Asia and throughout the world. The United States recently allowed Puerto Rico to vote on its status; our Canadian neighbors held a similar referendum in Quebec. When do the Sikhs of Khalistan, the Muslims of Kashmir, and the other peoples living under Indian rule get their chance to exercise this basic democratic right? Will we support democratic freedom for the people of South Asia, or will we look away while the tyranny of the majority continues to suppress fundamental rights like freedom of religion?