Amritpal Singh addresses his supporters (file)
New Delhi:
With the help of foreign Sikh separatists, Pakistan’s outside spy agency ISI was the mastermind behind pushing Amritpal Singh back to India with the goal of reviving terrorism in Punjab, officials said.
Singh, around 30, was a truck driver in Dubai before the ISI, with the help of Khalistan supporters based outside India, radicalized him so he could plunge Punjab back into the dark days of terrorism, they said.
The radical Sikh preacher who threatened Union Home Secretary Amit Shah and Punjab Chief Minister Bagwant Singh Mann had openly made statements about declaring India’s secession and establishing Khalistan. He spoke about former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Prime Minister Beant Singh being assassinated by terrorists.
While Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her own guards, Beant Singh was killed by Dilawar Singh acting as a human bomb. The radical preacher claimed that many Dilawars are ready in the current Punjab scenario.
Be it his rally in Tarn Taran this year for Republic Day or his media interviews, he had openly supported separatism and the formation of Khalistan.
He incited Sikh youth to resort to armed rebellion against the democratically elected governments to oppose alleged discriminatory treatment being used to achieve the “ultimate goal” of forming “Khalistan,” officials said.
During an event in Rode, Moga district, Singh had said that governments run by non-Sikhs have no right to rule over the Punjab people and that the Punjab people should only be ruled by Sikhs.
He has styled himself after terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed during Operation Blue Star in 1984, by copying his clothing and mannerisms, carrying an arrow, maintaining a battery of armed bodyguards and taking the religion’s shield.
Singh, who is currently on the run, is also said to have ties to Lakhbir Singh Rode, the head of the International Sikh Youth Federation, who is on trial in India and wanted in cases of arms smuggling (including RDX explosives) for conspiring with government leaders in New -Attacking Delhi and spreading hate in Punjab.
Officials tracked his movements and said Singh was in close contact with Rode’s brother Jaswant while in Dubai.
After returning to Punjab at the behest of the ISI, Singh enlisted the help of Amrit Sanchar to build his organization. He later launched a campaign called “Khalsa Waheer” and strengthened his organization by going into the villages, they said.
He fueled Punjab’s troubles and began inciting Sikhs against the government by invoking religion.
“The lower classes of society and the aimless youth became easy targets for Singh and he began to exploit sentiment in the name of religion,” a source said.
On behalf of organizing Amritpan ceremonies to baptize Sikh youth and bind them to the religion, his attempt was to create an army of disillusioned youth ready to take on the state, officials claimed.
Disregarding the sanctity of pious places like Gurdwara, his so-called army destroyed two Gurdwaras because they kept some furniture for the elderly and disabled to sit on, they said.
According to officials, his main goal was to lead Punjab through dark decades of militancy, which were overcome with great difficulty and many casualties.
Officials claimed that the organization run by Singh receives funds from Pakistan.
The radical Sikh preacher, with the help of his uncle Harjit Singh, had taken control of Waris Punjab De’s accounts, making it a family-run organization.
They said the so-called preacher used Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji for his personal interests during his agitation in February and was considered a form of blasphemy.
This act of Singh was condemned by the whole Sikh community and after the incident Shri Akal Takht Sahib formed a committee and ordered an investigation into the matter.
The officers claimed that Singh went to Jathedar Akal Takht and threatened him to remain silent.
Singh had said in a statement that the Ajnala incident was “no violence” and also threatened to spark “real violence” in the future.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published by a syndicated feed.)