Indian Policemen in Golden Temple With a Revolver

Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, Indian policeman in temple with revolver is not the solution to a game of Clue, it's the latest outrage out of India. As we approach the 23rd anniversary of India's brutal military attack on the Golden Temple, the center of the Sikh culture and religion, an undercover Indian policeman was found carrying a revolver into the Golden Temple, where these kinds of weapons are prohibited. It was discovered when the gun fell out of his pocket. I shudder to think what he may have been intending to do with it. The chief minister of Punjab, Paraksh Singh Badal, did nothing about this outrage because he is in bed with the Indian Government and in opposition to his Sikh constituents. This desecration of the Golden Temple is outrageous and a reminder that India remains an occupying power in the Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan, which declared its independence on October 7, 1987. The Council of Khalistan has published an open letter deploring this desecration of the Sikh nation's most sacred site. It notes that this is part of the Indian Government's ongoing effort to destroy the Sikh religion and demands that the jathedar of the Akal Takht, Joginder Singh Vedanti, censure chief Minister Badal for his part in allowing this to occur. We cannot continue to support such actions. They violate the fundamental religious freedom that all free people enjoy. We must take strong action. Cutting off aid and trade until these kinds of atrocities end would be a good first step. And we should demand a free and fair vote in Khalistan, in Kashmir, in Nagaland, and wherever the people seek freedom on the subject of independence. Self-determination is the essence of democracy.