US Congressmen received illegal contribution from Khalistani groups: report

Republican Congressman Dan Burton and others who champion the cause of Khalistan in the US Congress have received campaign contributions from the Council of Khalistan -- a Washington-based organisation established 10 years ago by some militant Sikhs.

The council has funneled at least $ 65,000 to the Republican Party and several congressional candidates, including Burton, in an apparent violation of federal tax laws because the money was collected by a charitable non-profit group, says the weekly newspaper, Hill.

An investigation by the Hill has also revealed that Burton, who is heading the house investigation into campaign finance abuses, has received illegal campaign contributions directly from at least two Sikh temples.

The newspaper quotes Burton's personal attorney Joseph Digenova as saying that Burton ''does not personally review each and every cheque and if there is any problem with a cheque, it will be returned.''

Other members of Congress who have benefitted from the Sikh contributions include Gary Condit (Democrat-California) Gerald Solomon (Republican-New York), Dana Rohrabacher (Republican-California), Vic Fazio (Democrat-California), Amo Houghton (Republican-New York), Edolphus Towns (Democrat-New York), Senator Bob Torricelli (Democrat-New Jersey) and former senator Bob Dole, who unsuccessfully ran against Bill Clinton in the last presidential election.

However, the largest recipient of funds was the Republican Party, whose various campaign committees received more than $ 22,000 in contributions bundled by the council of Khalistan.

Most of the recipients of this money have been allies of Burton in pro-Khalistan causes, says the newspaper.

Over the past decade, Burton has been the chief congressional proponent of the Council of Khalistan, the group whose campaign donations has helped generate growing support in Congress for a separate Sikh homeland in India.

The Hill also reveals that Burton, at the behest of the council, urged the state department to revise the extradition treaty with India, which would have the effect of making it more difficult to extradite to India terrorists arrested in the US.

It recalls that Burton's crusade grew from his personal ties to Dr Gurmit Singh Aulakh, a gregarious and persistent Sikh lobbyist whom he met in 1986.

Dr Aulakh was appointed by militant separatists the following year to be president of the Khalistan government in exile. He draws a salary of $ 59,000 as president of the council, a $ 250,000-a-year-operation, according to the newspaper.

It says at least five of Dr Aulakh's 10 co-founders, many of whom have since been killed in clashes with the Indian police, represented some of India's most notorious terrorist groups. They have been blamed for killing of hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians, and helped foment widespread violence by police and Sikh militants that led to the more than 100,000 deaths.

Dr Aulakh received contributions from Sikhs and, on behalf of the council, handed them to congressional campaigns.

This point is significant because the council is operationally indistinguishable from the International Sikh Organisation, a registered religious charity, which is prohibited by federal law from engaging in partisan activities. And taking money from such organisations is an offence.