A young Sikh who spent most of his life in a foreign land all of a sudden returns to India and hits the headlines for the wrong reason. Since the government changed in Punjab, many such separatist elements have become active in the state. Amritpal Singh Sandhu, a radical, self-styled Indian Khalistani separatist activist from Punjab, heads an organization called “Waris Panjab De”. This is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khalistan (the Land of the Khalsa’), in the Punjab region. He has been recently appointed as the head of ‘Waris Punjab De’, an organization founded by Deep Sidhu, an actor and activist who died in a road accident in February last year.
Amritpal Singh is also a Sikh preacher. Singh has since invoked the teachings of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, with renewed calls for the freedom of Punjab and the creation of Khalistan. He gained a cult-like following in Punjab due to his radical views. It is important to note that Amritpal Singh Sandhu has been arrested and detained by the police on multiple occasions for his alleged involvement in promoting Khalistani ideology and activities. But he is not deterred. He has also been accused of making provocative statements and promoting separatism. Some reports suggest that he and his organization have been involved in violent clashes with other groups in Punjab.
His arrest has sparked controversy and discussion about the Khalistan movement and the use of violence in advocating for political goals. Additionally, his arrest has implications for national security and has raised concerns about the spread of extremist ideologies.The news of his detention and the subsequent developments in the case have been widely covered by the media and have generated a lot of interest among the public.The exact reason for his arrest may vary depending on the specific instance. In one recent case, he was detained by the Punjab Police on March 18, 2023, after a major search operation. It is not entirely clear what specific charges were brought against him in this instance, but they are believed to be related to his alleged involvement in promoting and supporting Khalistani causes.
Additionally, Daljeet Singh Kalsi, an alleged advisor and financier of Amritpal Singh, was arrested by authorities in another recent case, suggesting that the authorities are cracking down on individuals associated with this movement. Disquiet against Amritpal Singh and his activities has been growing, and recently, hundreds of his supporters stormed a police station in the northern Indian state. Ultimately, whether to support or accuse Amrit Pal Singh Sandhu is a matter of personal judgment based on a deep understanding of the specific situation and the various factors at play.
Khalistan is a foreign-funded agenda, and Amritpal is probably on their payroll just like the Kashmiri separatists were funded by ISI. After Article 370 was lifted, the Kashmiri Separatist Movement also died, which clearly reveals their link with the ISI, as funding the separatists after the lifting of 370 became a useless activity and was stopped. Now the question is: why is the ISI funding Khalistan when they can fund Islamic terrorists who are closer to the ISI agenda?
Let us note that Amritpal has been in the news for the last month or so, and before that, nobody even bothered to gather any news about him. Pakistan’s economy has been spiraling downward since the last few months, which is no secret, and the big Pakistani crash has been well publicized by not only the media of India but also by the Pakistani media themselves. As long as Pakistan is in the business of supplying terrorist action in exchange for money, there have always been countries willing to fund Pakistan for carrying out cross-border terror as per their motive. In such a financial mess of a condition, if Pakistan sends out Islamic terrorists as they normally do, they will attract blatant international attention and get criticized globally, which clearly Pakistan cannot afford. They can’t risk the international community commenting: Oh, these people have a begging bowl in hand and still want to send out terrorists.
There are still countries that are willing to fund Pakistan’s terrorism. Pakistan is specialized in fighting proxy wars with terrorism but cannot send Islamic terrorists in the current situation without risking international criticism. So now ISI, using the received funding, has activated the Khalistanis to fight proxy wars instead, and no one can point fingers at Pakistan for doing so. That is why Khalistanis don’t demand Lahore or any Pak-occupied Punjab territory, though that is what they should be demanding.
Sikhs have lived well in India overall, but Islamists have treated them badly over the ages, and they have faced persecution from Islamic invaders just as Hindus have too. Is the torture and martyrdom of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj any different from the torture meted out to Sikh martyrs Guru Tegh Bahadur and Baba Banda Bahadur, who were all inhumanely tortured and killed by the Mughal invaders?
It is unpalatable that the Khalistan movement be funded by the ISI, which espouses the very cause that the said Hindu and Sikh martyrs have opposed. In India, whether it is Om or whether it is Ek Omkar, all are ours, and the liberation of Sikhs from Pak-occupied Punjab and Taliban-infested Afghanistan is more important.
When Amritpal Singh arrived in India, he was a baptized Sikh and started dressing like Bhindranwale. Like Bhindranwale, he started moving with a band of armed followers to soon gain the moniker “Bhindranwale 2” during his Dubai stay.
Amritpal Singh also has links with SFJ and has even campaigned for the latter’s activities on social media,” he added, identifying Khalistani activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as a close contact for Amritpal. Pannun has been designated a terrorist by the Indian government under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Agencies have also found that Amritpal Singh was running a drug smuggling network in India, aided by “known linkages” in the ISI—Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence—and was creating a “private militia” in drug de-addiction centers in Punjab, where weapons procured from Pakistan were being stockpiled. As part of the conspiracy to revive militancy, Singh and his AKF were not only defying government orders on open display of weapons but were actively misleading the youth towards a gun culture.
