Editorial: The strange case of Amritpal Singh

Editorial: The strange case of Amritpal Singh

FPJ EditorialUpdated: Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 11:22 PM IST
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Amritpal Singh | ANI

The case of Waris Punjab De (Heirs of Punjab) leader Amritpal Singh has been becoming curiouser and curiouser. Media have been carrying reports with pictures and videos, provided by the police, that show him sometimes leaving a Mercedes to sit on the pillion of a motorcycle or wearing different attire. Ten days have passed since the Punjab Police started hunting for him. The latest reports suggest that he crossed the Indian borders to enter Nepal, where the Indian Embassy has requested the Nepal government to alert the airports against him leaving the country on an Indian or fake passport. The question that arises is: If the police are sure about his whereabouts, what is it that prevents them from arresting him? There is also the question of how tens of thousands of policemen are unable to catch him. Obviously, there is more than meets the eye in these reports.

It is against this backdrop that one should read the report that someone close to Amritpal Singh has approached a court in Punjab with a habeas corpus petition that he is in police custody and is kept at the Shahkot police station. The police have flatly denied his arrest but continue to make the claim that they are on the verge of arresting him. What all this suggests is that he is not an ordinary fugitive. He has the support of some of those in power, either at the Centre or in the state. And to make matters worse, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has asked for the immediate release of all the youth, allegedly close to the fugitive. Since the Jathedar commands the respect of several Sikh organisations, including the Akali Dal, his ultimatum to the government should not be taken lightly.

It is the failure of the political class in Punjab that allowed a Frankenstein like him to grow, as had happened in the case of Sant Bhindranwale, who was promoted by the Congress leadership to cut the Akali Dal down to size. Amritpal Singh is a product of a ClubHouse group, founded by the late Deep Sidhu. A drop-out from a Polytechnic in Punjab, he has confessed that he has not read a single book. He spent a decade in Dubai, where he allegedly drove trucks or managed a transport business. He returned to India when the farmers’ agitation was at its peak and he used the ClubHouse to articulate his secessionist viewpoints forcing Deep Sidhu to delink him from his group. When Sidhu died in mysterious circumstances, he tried to fill the void by claiming to be his successor. What’s worse, he tried to imitate Bhindranwale and claimed to represent what he represented.

Whether he has strong connections with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) or not is a matter of speculation but the fact remains that he has access to sophisticated weapons and luxury vehicles. He has an envious lifestyle. It is as clear as daylight that he could not have risen to his present status without the covert and overt support of some political leaders in the state. In fact, it was the kid-glove approach that the Punjab Police adopted towards him that emboldened him to strike at the police themselves to liberate some of his supporters who were in their custody. Since the Aam Aadmi Party is in power in Punjab, it cannot shy away from its responsibilities of letting Amritpal Singh to grow into what he has become now. It is apparent that his initial campaign against drug addiction and pure Sikhism were all ways to create a niche for himself to subserve his long-term vested interests.

True, Punjab has been facing a lot of socio-economic problems, dictated by the growing unremunerative nature of farming, the main driving force of the state. The inability of the younger generation to turn entrepreneurial and the growing drug culture have dragged the state down the ladder of progress. These are issues that need to be addressed by the political leadership of the state and not left to a self-proclaimed messiah, allegedly trained in subversive ways by the ISI in Georgia. The earlier Amritpal Singh is arrested, the better it will be for the nation!

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