Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh, whose followers recently stormed a police station in Punjab’s Ajnala carrying weapons, was reported to have been detained by police in Jalandhar. Here’s a timeline of how a young man living in Dubai returned to project himself as the face of the Khalistani movement in India.

Khalistani leader and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh. (Photo: India Today)

By Rishabh Sharma: Waris Punjab De chief and Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh was reported to have been detained by Punjab Police on Saturday. The radical preacher was on the radar of the police after he and his armed followers stormed a police station in Ajnala last month to release one of his aides.

Once living in Dubai and leading a non-orthodox lifestyle, Amritpal Singh, 30, became a Khalistani ideologue after assuming the role of Waris Punjab De and promoting separatist sentiments.

FROM DUBAI TO AJNALA: AMRITPAL SINGH’S JOURNEY

The 30-year-old separatist leader hails from Jallupur village in Punjab’s Amritsar. Until February 2022, Amritpal Singh was living in Dubai helping out with his relative’s transport business.

Interestingly, unlike the Khalistani leaders of the past, Amritpal did not follow the orthodox Sikh lifestyle. He did not wear a turban, considered one of the fundamental symbols of practising Sikhs, and sported a fancy haircut. He also spent a lot of time on social media.

However, everything changed after February 15, 2022 — the day when Punjabi actor and then Waris Punjab De chief Deep Sidhu was killed in a road accident.

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Deep Sidhu, just like Amritpal Singh, was another non-practising Sikh who shot into the national limelight after he filmed himself hailing the unfurling of the Nishan Sahib at the Red Fort on January 26, 2021, during the farmers’ stir. He started Waris Punjab De in September 2021 as a social organisation to “fight for the rights of Punjab and protect its culture”.

Out of nowhere, Amritpal Singh landed in Punjab and was declared the next chief of Waris Punjab De. In a ceremony held on September 29, 2022, in Rode village of Moga district — the village of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale — Amritpal Singh was appointed the next chief of Waris Punjab De by his supporters.

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However, Deep Sidhu’s relatives distanced themselves from Amritpal Singh, and according to some reports, even accused him of misusing the organisation for spreading separatist propaganda.

FASHIONING HIMSELF AFTER BHINDRANWALE

After assuming the role of Waris Punjab De chief, Amritpal Singh took part in Amrit ceremony (initiation into Khalsa tradition) in Anandpur Sahib. Amritpal dressed like Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani ideologue and his inspiration, and got his pictures clicked in the same piercing manner.

Following Bhindranwale’s example, Amritpal expanded the sphere of Waris Punjab De by organising mass baptism of young people into the Khalsa system.

In many of his interviews, Amritpal Singh justified the demand for the creation of Khalistan, saying that if radical Hindus could demand a Hindu nation, there was nothing wrong in demanding a Sikh nation.

THE AJNALA INCIDENT

Amritpal Singh shot to fame on February 24, when he and his followers, carrying weapons, stormed a police station, demanding the release of his aide Lovepreet Singh Toofan.

His supporters broke through barricades and barged into the police station in Ajnala on the outskirts of Amritsar city, extracting an assurance from the police that his aide Lovepreet Singh Toofan, who was detained over a kidnapping case, would be released. Six policemen were injured in the clashes.

Lovepreet Singh Toofan was released the next day.

Amritpal Singh even threatened Home Minister Amit Shah by referring to the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

“Amit Shah had said that he won’t let Khalistan movement rise. I had said that the same was done by Indira Gandhi, and if you do the same, then you’d have to face consequences. If the home minister says the same to those demanding ‘Hindu Rashtra’, then I’ll see if he remains the HM,” Amritpal Singh said while leading protests at the Ajnala police station.

The Ajnala incident put the Punjab Police under pressure from opposition parties, as even after a week of the incident, it had’t filed a single FIR against Amritpal Singh or his aides.

In the first week of March, Punjab Police finally cracked down on Amritpal Singh, recommending the cancelation of arms licenses of nine of his aides, claiming that the licences were given for self-defence and not to provide security cover to the Khalistani leader.

On March 18, six aides of Amritpal Singh were detained in Jalandhar after a long chase by the police. Later in the day, Amritpal Singh was reported to have been detained near Jalandhar’s Nakodar. Punjab Police didn’t confirm reports of Amrtipal’s detention.

Mobile internet services were also restricted in several districts of Punjab.

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