Chandigarh: It was a few days short of completion of his maiden year as Punjab chief minister that Bhagwant Mann faced probably his worst embarrassment on February 23 when pro-Khalistan radical preacher Amritpal Singh stormed Ajnala police station with hundreds of his supporters in Amritsar.
At least half a dozen cops were injured as Amritpal forced his way into the police station demanding release of Lovepreet Toofan, one of his aides, booked in a case of assault and abduction.
Accused of being a mute spectator, Punjab police was again seen in bad light when Toofan was let off by the local court a day later. It, but, had to again cut a sorry figure on March 18 when it failed to nab Amritpal despite having launched a massive crackdown to nail him and his aides.
Amritpal held under National Security Act
However, after hogging negative public perception for five weeks, the state police announced on April 23 that Amritpal Singh had been held under National Security Act (NSA) from outside a gurdwara in district Moga and subsequently sent to Dibrugarh jail in Assam where his nine close aides had already been sent.
Even though the 36-day high voltage Amritpal-episode seems to be over, it was Mann - also the second AAP CM after Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal in the country - who remained under tremendous pressure from all quarters. He, but, kept his nerve without vacillating from his commitment to hunt the hooky with the full cooperation of Central agencies as well as handling the pressure from Opposition and the Sikh clergy.
Shah praises Punjab govt
On April 22 only, Union Home minister Amit Shah praised the Mann government for doing a good job in the matter.
Even as the Opposition pressure continued to build, the Sikh clergy also appeared to side with Amritpal, who also heads the ``Waris Punjab De’’ (WPD meaning the heirs of Punjab) as the acting chief of the Akal Takht – the highest temporal seat in Sikhism – Giani Harpreet Singh gave a 24-hour ultimatum on March 27 to release all the Sikh men arrested during the March 18 crackdown.
'Diplomatic' campaign
He said, else a "diplomatic" campaign would be launched to let the world know how the Sikhs were being treated in Punjab. Even though he condemned the state AAP government for invoking NSA against Amritpal and his aides associated with WPD, he also asked the fugitive to surrender.
Mann in response to it, asked the DGP to release those youths who were innocent. He also took on Akal Takht chief for ``provoking’’ people by giving the ultimatum and went on say that everyone knew that he (Akal Takht chief) and Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) had been favouring the Badals…… Mann further held that it would have been better had he (Akal Takht chief) given the ultimatum in sacrilege and missing ``sarups’’ of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji instead of provoking people living happily.
The Jathedar also hit back and said as he (Mann) represented Punjab, he was also a small representative of his community and hence, had the right to talk about the rights of innocent youngsters of the community.
However, even as the police kept on zeroing in on the 30-year old six-feet tall baptised Sikh Amritpal, the options continued to shrink - like the time and space – for the fugitive outside Punjab and Sikh-dominated areas.
Till April 23 happened.
