India has shown that it would not tolerate any attempt at insurgency or re-growth of the erstwhile Khalistan demand in its Punjab state.
The arrest in Punjab and swift despatch to Dibrugarh in Assam of Amritpal Singh who styled himself as a Khalistani leader like Bhaindranwale (who was shot dead in the Blue Star operation years ago for demanding Khalistan), has demonstrated that the central government would decisively clamp down on any hint of insurgency or anti-national activity.
The fact that Amritpal Singh was taken by Punjab Police invoking National Securities Act means that the Centre is seeing Amritpal Singh and his pro-Khalistan activities as a threat to the nation.
With the involvement of Pakistan in the activities of Amritpal Singh and he is suspected to have been trained by Pakistan’s ISI in Georgia and having links with US-based secessionist groups like Sikhs for Justice, the Centre cannot but take Amritpal Sikh’s case very seriously.
Amritpal who claims himself to be the chief of the Waris Punjab De (WPD) outfit, was arrested by Punjab Police from a Gurudwara in Rode village in Moga, Punjab, interestingly the native village of Bhindranwale.
The central and Punjab police had been chasing Amritpal for more than a month as he evaded his arrested by moving from Punjab to Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, and back to Punjab.
Several of his aides and supporters have been earlier arrested and sent to Dibrugarh.
Though it is not clear whether Amritpal surrendered or was arrested by police, he had virtually nowhere to run away as the Gurdwara in Rode village where he was hiding had been completely surrounded by police.
The police took the right step by not forcing entry into the Gurdwara so as to avoid tarnishing its sanctity. Knowing that he is surrounded, Amritpal had no way but to give himself up to the police who promptly arrested him and sent him far away from Punjab to Dibrugarh jail so that his presence could not foment any trouble. Nine of Amritpal’s aides including Daljit Singh Kalsi, Papalpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Varinder Singh Johal, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala, Harjit Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Basant Singh, and Gurinderpal Singh Aujla have been lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the NSA.
Amritpal was last year declared head of the ‘Waris Punjab De’, a social organization established by actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu.
Amritpal’s potential for arousing passions and anti activities is known from the fact how he stormed alongwith supporters the Ajnala police station in Amritsar on February 23, demanding the release of one of his aides, Lovepreet Toofan.
To target a police station was clearly a challenge to the government authority which cannot be tolerated by any sovereign government.
Like hiding in a Gurudwara this time, Amritpal Singh and his supporters had sought safety behind a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, which they carried as a shield when they attacked the police station in Ajnala.
One must keep in mind that Khalistan militants have been known to use religious symbols to protect themselves and cover up their anti-national activities. Bhindranwale and his supporters had hid in Golden Temple challenging the authority of the Indian government. The Indian Army had then been used to flush out the militants from the temple.
Amritpal has been charged with spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
The Punjab police are clearly wary that Amritpal’s arrest should not lead to any kind of public outcry or disturbance in Punjab and therefore repeatedly warned people of maintaining restrain and eschew any kind of violence or disturb law and order. Police have also thanked the public for maintaining whilst Amritpal was arrested and transported.
Amritpal at the time of his arrest is supposed to have declared, “I might be guilty in the court of the world, but I’m not guilty in the court of God. After one month, I have decided that I will continue the fight here, I will face all the fake cases against me here.”
It is really to the credit of the public of Punjab and Punjab government that despite all his attempts to foment trouble in Punjab raking up the Khalistan issue, they have not been hood-winked nor has Amritpal have made any impact. Disgruntled elements in Punjab and enemies of India had tried to fan the pro-Khalistan elements years ago which had turned out to be a socio-economic disaster for Punjab.
Now that Punjab is back on the rails all Khalistan sympathizers in Pakistan as well as Western nations must beware that India is not going to let anyone play with its national integrity and sovereignty again.
Views expressed are personal
| Posted by Sameer Khan | 
