The news, on April 23, of the arrest of Amritpal Singh, a self-appointed campaigner for a separate nation for the Sikhs, was received by the public of Punjab with a sense of relief. He had been on the run for weeks, and now faces charges under the National Security Act (NSA) as well as several first information reports. He has turned out to be a cipher — neither he nor his cause of Khalistan appears to have any significant support among Sikhs. The secessionist has been shifted to Dibrugarh jail in Assam, over 2,000 kilometres away from Punjab to avoid any potential turmoil. Taking over as the head, last year, of ‘Waris Punjab De’, a social organisation established by the late actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, Mr. Amritpal’s rise to controversy and infamy was as intriguing as it was quick. He styled himself after Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the militant leader who was killed in 1984 after many years of bloodshed in the State. In February, Mr. Amritpal led a mob that had stormed a police station with swords and guns to free compatriots from custody, showing the State police and the government in a bad light. But then it was not entirely surprising. For months, he along with his supporters, flaunting swords, guns and sharp weapons, had moved across Punjab. The question still lingers as to how that was being allowed in Punjab, which has lived through an era of bloody secessionism through the 1980s and 1990s.
Though he comes across as self-styled, the Khalistan propagandist appears to have supporters and handlers within and outside India. The State of Punjab is on the border with Pakistan, that has sought to instigate a section of the population into violence for decades. The campaign for Khalistan is active among the Sikh diaspora too. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the State is now patting itself on the back for the arrest, but the situation should not have reached this point. Even the police operation to nab him turned out to be an embarrassment, as he managed to flee and remain on the loose. Though the instigator is now behind bars, his call for violence and brazen communalism, which went on with impunity for several months, triggered memories of the polarisation between Hindus and Sikhs caused by separatist terrorism that had pulverised Punjab for long. The ripple effects were felt even in other countries. The Centre and the State, under the Bharatiya Janata Party and AAP, respectively, should work closely to get their administrative actions and political messaging correct and effective to keep Punjab peaceful and insulated from the meaningless lure of secessionism.
