image source, Getty Images
Thousands of supporters of self-styled preacher Amritpal Singh staged a highly aggressive siege of the Ajnala police station in Punjab state last week. Their demand was for the release of Lovepreet Singh, an associate of Amritpal Singh.
Everyone in the crowd looked very angry. They had guns and swords in their hands. They dispersed only after being assured that Amritpal Singh’s accomplice would be released.
The police department said that they could not control the crowd because all the besiegers were holding ‘Guru Granth Sahib’, which is considered to be the holy book of Sikhs.
They used ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ as a bulwark to protect them.
Amritpal Singh, 30, is a supporter of the Khalistan Movement. The aim of this movement was to create a separate nation for the Sikhs.
image source, Getty Images
Jarnail Singh Bindranwale
Amritpal Singh was inspired by Jarnail Singh Bindranwale, a Sikh priest. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who called for a separate nation for the Sikhs, was arrested by the Indian government in 1980. Then in 1984, he was killed in the Indian Army’s controversial Operation Blue Star.
This rebellion, which arose for the Sikhs to have a separate nation, lasted for ten years. During this period, many prominent leaders and common people were affected. Many young Sikhs were shot dead by the police. Punjab still bears the scars of this violence.
“The scenes you are witnessing in Punjab today may make you wonder if we are going back to the dark shadows of terrorism,” says Sasi Kant, former Director General of Police, Punjab.
Similarly, “The demand for a separate nation for the Sikhs still persists, but the demand lost its importance in the 1990s. Not all people in Punjab support people like Amritpal Singh and such violence. Now the number of people who want a separate nation is very small,” says Parminder Singh, a professor at Guru Nanak Dev University.
Talking about this issue, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said, “All the people here are living in harmony. But some people are trying to destroy this good relationship between people,” he said.
“Thousands of people who are fighting now are not representatives of Punjab, they are supporters of Amritpal Singh,” he said.
Who is this Amritpal Singh?
Not much information is available about Amirthpal’s past life. He hails from Jalluppur Khera in Amritsar district of Punjab. He moved to Dubai in 2012 to continue his family business in transport.
His LinkedIn profile says Amritpal Singh is a mechanical engineer. A graduate from a university in Punjab, he is working as an operational manager in a cargo company, the sources said.
He hasn’t been hugely popular on social media for years.
When he returned to India from Dubai in August last year, he looked very different. His current appearance was vastly different from his old appearance.
Now he looks like a preacher who follows Sikhism. He has a blue turban on his head. A tin bangle and a kirpan are seen in his hands.
Within a month of his return to India, he was appointed as the president of an organization called “Waris Punjab D” (Heirs of Punjab). The organization was founded by actor and social activist Deep Sidhu. He was also said to have a role in the riots that were held by the farmers at that time. He died in a car accident last year.
image source, HINDUSTAN TIMES
How did you suddenly become famous?
His supporters have been comparing Amirthpal Singh with Bhindranwale.
Amritpal Singh has been talking about the solution to the problems of water scarcity and drug addiction in the state of Punjab. All these are comments that Bhindranwale had made earlier.
”But I can never match Bhindranwale. Amritpal Singh had mentioned in an interview given to The Indian Express last year that I am traveling only in the ways shown by him.
Professor Ashutosh of Panjab University says, “Amritpal Singh’s sudden popularity at his age is a mystery.”
“Some members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party are saying that India should become a Hindu nation, which has caused fear among some Sikhs. They want a powerful leader to speak for them,” he says.
Khalid Mohammad, another professor at Panjab University, says social media is a major reason for Amritpal Singh’s sudden popularity.
India’s “food basket” state, Punjab, is a relatively well-to-do state, but unemployment and agrarian problems have eroded its social and economic status, experts say.
image source, Getty Images
Last November, Amritpal Singh undertook a long religious procession. In it he insisted that many Sikhs should attain Niyanasthan. The march was carried out to reduce drug abuse, a major problem in the state of Punjab, and against caste-based oppression.
A month after the procession, Singh’s supporters hit the headlines by breaking chairs in the gurdwara and causing trouble.
Professor Parminder Singh says that this popularity of Amrit Singh may be due to the frustration of the youth in Punjab.
He also mentions that many youths in Punjab are drifting towards religious fundamentalism due to lack of proper job opportunities and education.
A former police officer of Punjab, who joined the service in the 1980s, told the BBC, “Punjab has seen many riots in police stations before. “But this is the first time in history that the police department has stood unarmed and unable to take any action,” he said with concern.
Amrit Pal Singh has been seen traveling with swords and guns in his hands for the past few months. Professor Parminder Singh says that no case has been filed against him yet.
What does Amritpal Singh say?
Amritpal Singh has been speaking to several national media after the police station siege and riots. In which he mentions “I am not an Indian”.
Speaking to News18 Punjab, he said, “I am from Punjab. A convert to Sikhism. I don’t need any other sign apart from this. Also I see my Indian passport only as a travel document. So I don’t want to identify myself as an Indian. Even Mahatma Gandhi had a British passport. Can he be called a British citizen for that?
On February 24 last, he invited the national media to come directly to discuss his stand on a separate nation for the Sikhs.
Speaking to news agency ANI, he said, “No one should see their demand for a separate nation for the Sikhs as a sin or something that should not be discussed. Think intellectually and think about the geopolitical implications of this. It’s a conceptual thing. There is no destruction to this ideology. We have not heard this from people in Delhi,” he said.
Amirtsingh Paul points out that the Sikhs were first slaves to the British and are now slaves to the Hindus.
Speaking to BBC Punjabi Service, Amritpal Singh said, “I am not against Hindus or Christians. But he is against everyone who wants to enslave us in collaboration with the government,” he said.
Likewise, “genocide does not require the destruction of their country or villages. To separate those people from their cultural traditions and then from their religions is genocide,” says Amritpal Singh.
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