WASHINGTON: Congressman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) made a statement on the floor of the House of Representatives on Jan. 21 about Khalistan and the alleged atrocities against the Sikhs in India. “Last month in Punjab, a seminar was held on the topic of Khalistan. Given the oppression that Sikhs have faced at the hands of the Indian government for attempting to secure their independence, this was a very courageous act,” the Congressman said.The seminar was organized by a former member of Parliament Atinder Pal Singh, the statement by Towns posted on the Web site of Congressional Record said.

On Jan. 30, Ambassador Lalit Mansingh wrote a letter to the congressman, saying: “I am prompted to write to you, once again, to register this Embassy’s strong protest against the statements you have made on the floor of the House of Representatives on Jan 21, 2004.” The letter was mailed out to the press on Feb. 6, an embassy official told News India-Times.

“We also protest the patently propagandistic documents of the so-called ‘Council of Khalistan’ that you have caused to be entered into the record of the House,” the letter said.

“As much as I regret these statements for their patent falsehood, I am equally pained at the fact that the record of a body as august as the House of Representatives continues to be sullied by the inclusion of the trash that is put out by the so-called ‘Council of Khalistan’.”

Mansingh mentioned how he had been writing to the Congressmen over the past few years to convey “our views on your statements and will, therefore, not repeat them.

“I do wish to convey my disappointment, however, that you have not shown interest in my offer of a factual, serious and candid discussion on issues that appear to be of concern to you. Your lack of response to my previous letters and your continuing to provide a secessionist organization a platform for propaganda is a matter of the deepest regret.”