A disillusioned and unknown boy from Dubai who used to place random girls’ photo as display picture on his twitter handle and drive taxi, became self-styled Sikh Guru overnight. 30 year old Amritpal Singh who recently got married to UK based girl is now being spoken of as the new poster boy of Sikh radical politics in Punjab. Amritpal was appointed as the new head of Waris Punjab De, a pressure group that actor-activist Deep Sidhu founded months before his sudden death in a car accident last February 2022.
Amritpal, who returned to India from Dubai just a few months ago, has amassed a surprising followers comprising youngsters obsessed with his hardline rhetoric about Khalistan, the demand for a separate Sikh state. Surprisingly, neither Amritpal nor his followers demand this same Khalistan- a separate Sikh state from Pakistan.
Claiming in one of his initial interviews that he was closely associated with Deep Sidhu in starting the organisation, Amritpal speaks of working for a larger religious and social transformation in Punjab in his capacity as the new head of the pressure group. Whereas in his videos, he used to speak hatred for Hindu community and supports separate state from Punjab.
On October 30, he brought over 1,000 people into the Sikh faith and said it would result in the de-addiction of youngsters. On November 24, he began a month-long journey across the state to encourage this. However, he often heard claiming that there is a continuous ‘genocide’ of Sikhs in India and that is creating rage and hate amongst Sikh youth against the other religions.
Explaining what he meant by ‘genocide’ in a TV interview, he stated, “There were hundreds of thousands of people killed in fake encounters (during the 1980s). There were mass rapes.” Going further, he said that the ‘genocide’ was not over. “Punjab is facing mass migration (to foreign countries).
In one of his first interviews after being appointed as Waris Punjab De in March last year, he also declared that the main issue facing Punjab was “slavery” and India’s “colonial rule” in the state. His idea of freedom is articulated in a number of his statements. For instance, he recently said during his visit to Mohali on January 29, “If we had got independence in 1984 (peak of the separatist movement in the state), the condition of Punjab would not have been like India.” In another statement, he is quoted as saying, “We lost our (Sikh) empire to the British in 1849 and we are asking for that empire back.”
Responding to a media question if he is vouching for a separate state, he replied, “The idea of Khalistan is not for a separate state. It sounded like we were connected to something. The point is that we were forcefully taken into the Indian nation by the British. There was no India before 1947.”
After the March interview, Amritpal announced his presence in Punjab on September 25, 2022, when he participated in a large gathering at the important Sikh holy city of Anandpur Sahib and was baptised according to Sikh tradition.
Four days later on September 29, a dastar bandi (turban tying) ceremony was held for him at district Moga’s Rode village, the native place of slain militant leader and Khalistan ideologue Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, marking his official installation as the head of Waris Punjab De. After this ceremony, observers say Amritpal’s demeanour, attire and oration have imitated Bhindranwale’s.
During his dastar bandi ceremony, he openly declared Bhindranwale as his inspiration. “I will walk the path shown by him. I want to be like him because that’s what every Sikh wants, but I am not copying him. I am not even equal to the dust of his feet,” he added.
Ever since, there has been no looking back for him. He remains an enigmatic figure and very little is known about the forces backing him – if any. He is followed and feared in the same breath by different sections of the state.
There are reports that in October last year, the Union home ministry had asked the AAP government in Punjab to keep an eye on him. His social media profiles – first Twitter and then Instagram – were suspended. Though the AAP government has not said much about Amritpal, the latter has begun programmes to connect with different sections of society.
His first pan-Punjab tour, called ‘Khalsa Vaheer’, began from Akal Takht Sahib in Amritsar on November 23. He is set to launch the second phase, demanding the release of Bandi Sikhs (political prisoners) arrested during the militancy in the state. Two weeks ago, on January 29, he visited Mohali to show solidarity with those demanding the release of Bandi Sikhs (Sikhs in prison convicted of militancy charges).
Interacting with the media, he lashed out at the Haryana government for granting parole to the Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who is an accused in the sacrilege cases in Punjab. Amritpal urged the Sikhs to “wake up” and protest against the “discrimination” shown to the Bandi Sikhs.
He said, “If the government does not listen to our demands and release Sikhs from prison, we will change our course of action. [Any threats to] the law and order situation are not because of us but because of the government that is not releasing Sikhs. In case Punjab burns, we will not be responsible.”
How Amritpal’s rise is a cause of Concern
There are different views on Amritpal’s rise, but one common perception is that it is linked to the current political vacuum in Punjab.
Experts say that there is a degree of restlessness in Punjabi society due to long-standing socio-economic crises like unemployment, drug addiction, and religio-political crises like the delay in trying sacrilege cases or releasing Sikh political prisoners.
The rise of Amritpal also challenges the political future of Akali Dal, the reason being, specifically, with the hard core panthic vote bank in the absence of Old Horse Senior Badal. The rise of this young religio-political-seperatist mindset leader is not only a cause of concern for the main stream political parties of Punjab but also agencies and institutions responsible for National Security, explains Political Expert Ramnik Mann.
Meanwhile, sociologist Meena Sharma, Professor of Sociology in city based govt college in Chandigarh, says that she is unable to grab the idea of Amritpal’s sudden rise. “How can a person who lived in Dubai for many years suddenly surface in Punjab and project himself as a leader of the entire Sikh masses, when he continuously misinterpreting the Sikh history, culture and ethics in his own way?” she asks.
“People can’t be easily swayed with this sentiment of Khalistan since they have seen the past repercussions. Those days are still fresh in the minds of Punjabis, particularly Sikhs and the state’s political class,” she added.
