Indian authorities arrested Waris Punjab De (WPD) leader Amritpal Singh on Sunday amid growing support for the Khalistan movement across the globe, which India is seeking to mitigate by engaging governments and diplomatic missions.
Amritpal’s Arrest
After one of Amritpal’s close aides was arrested in February, a mob of his supporters armed with swords and guns raided a police station. This incident provided impetus to the security operations.
He was arrested as a result of weeks of efforts by Indian authorities. On Sunday, security personnel surrounded a village after receiving intel that Amritpal was hiding at a Gurdwara. He is currently housed in the high-security Dibrugarh jail in Assam.
Amritpal claims that he surrendered and was not arrested. He reportedly delivered a speech at a Gurudwara before coming out and surrendering in front of police authorities. Nevertheless, police officials claim that Amritpal Singh was cornered and had no option but to surrender.
#AmritpalSingh, fugitive pro Khalistan supporter on the run in #Punjab for over a month after the attack on #Ajnala police station & police arrested late last night.
— GAURAV C SAWANT (@gauravcsawant) April 23, 2023
Reports indicate he surrendered when was cornered.
Will Amritpal spill the beans on the global Khalistan network? pic.twitter.com/KvPo4lIW7V
He is being charged under the National Security Act, which allows those accused to be detained without any charges for a year. He has been accused of attempted murder, obstruction of law enforcement, and public disorder.
In the run-up to his arrest, thousands of officers were deployed across Punjab, with several areas being cut off from mobile services. They also arrested more than a hundred of Amritpal’s supporters, who are being held captive in distant jails.
After these security measures, Amritpal released a video in March where he called the police’s actions an “attack on the Sikh community.” In February, he also warned Indian PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of meeting the same fate as former PM Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated after cracking down on the Khalistan movement,
Meanwhile, last week, his wife, Kirandeep Kaur, was stopped at Amritsar airport. Sources say that Amritpal wanted to ensure Kaur’s safe exit from the country, before leaving India himself, to avoid her arrest or detention.
Amritpal is a known supporter of the Khalistan movement, which calls for Punjab’s independence from India. He also led the WPD, an organisation seeking to mobilise farmers against farm bill reforms that PM Narendra Modi’s government introduced and subsequently repealed. He took over as the movement’s leader after his predecessor Deep Sidhu died in February 2022.
It wasn’t an arrest. Amritpal Singh surrendered like a VIP after giving sermon in a Gurudwara.
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) April 23, 2023
If the law & fair justice system prevails, the management of Gurudwara must be made accomplice in giving shelter/platform to an alleged terrorist. https://t.co/CTC79SKy7o
Khalistan Movement Rocking Western Cities
As Indian authorities cracked down against Amritpal and his supporters, Khalistan groups globally launched protests and vandalised Hindu temples with anti-India slogans over the past few months.
In the UK, protestors took down an Indian flag, resulting in a sharp reaction from the Indian government, with British officials apologising for their incompetence. A similar incident of vandalism was reported in San Francisco, where Khalistan supporters pulled down an Indian flag. Meanwhile, in Canada, several temples and a Mahatma Gandhi statute were vandalised.
Experts believe that Amritpal’s arrest will spark further tensions in Punjab in the days to come.