The rise of a wannabe Bhindranwale 

What happened in this police station?

The arrest: On February 17, Lovepreet Singh aka Toofan Singh was arrested for kidnapping and beating Varinder Singh. His crime: Varinder had criticised Amritpal Singh—the head of an organisation called Waris Punjab De—on Facebook. Amritpal was also named in the FIR along with five others, but only Lovepreet was arrested in Ajnala.

The fallout: The moment Lovepreet was arrested, Amritpal warned the police of dire consequences if they failed to release him—insisting the evidence for the FIR is fabricated. Over 400 policemen were posted near the Ajnala station to shore up its defences—but to no avail. On Thursday, February 23, Amritpal arrived at the station—with hundreds of supporters armed with lathis, guns and swords. He also had the Guru Granth Sahib—to give the event the trappings of a jatha (religious procession).

The storming of Ajnala PS: The mob surrounded the police station—and began mowing down the barricades:

Once inside, they staged a dharna demanding the release of Lovepreet.

Total surrender: The police made no attempt to fight back—even though a number of personnel were injured—and police vehicles were burned. Asked about this bizarre response, a senior police officer said: “The police did not react because the supporters had come in the presence of the sacred Guru Granth Sahib and it would not have been advisable to indulge in any action.” Sacrilege is an explosive issue in Punjab (explained here)—and the police may indeed have decided to err on the side of caution.

But, but, but: The presence of the holy book doesn’t explain why the police tamely set Lovepreet free—and promised to set up a special investigation to look into the FIR against Amritpal and his aides. A senior police officer even conceded that there may be evidence of Lovepreet’s innocence. 

Point to note: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has not spoken out against Amritpal except for this mildly worded tweet: "Those who take the Guru Granth Sahib to police stations as a shield cannot be called 'waris' of Punjab and Punjabiyat in any way." Also this:

Manjit Singh, a former sociology professor at Panjab University, Chandigarh, told The Wire that Amritpal Singh and his followers could not have “captured” the Ajnala police station without the backing of “big power players”. It is not clear who these players are, he said.

I’ve never heard of this Amritpal before…

That’s because he wasn’t even living in India until five months ago—and his rise to popularity in such a short period has been astonishing. 

What we know: Amritpal was born in Jallupur Khaira in Amritsar district—and completed his schooling in the village. He moved to Dubai in 2012 to work as a dispatcher for the family transportation business. He is just 30 years old. 

A splashy and mysterious entrance: Amritpal moved back to Punjab and burst into the public eye in a spectacular fashion. He took over as the chief of Waris Punjab De—an activist organisation founded by Deep Sidhu. 

A Sidhu ‘detour’: You may remember Sidhu as the actor who was arrested after protesting farmers stormed the Red Fort in January 2021. He was accused of replacing the Indian flag with a religious Sikh flag. He later founded Waris Punjab De—which had the hazy aim of fighting “for the rights of Punjab against the Centre and rais[ing] voice whenever there will be any attack on the culture, language, social fabric and rights of Punjab.” The organisation was active during the 2022 state elections—and backed Simranjit Singh Mann, the leader of a fringe Akali Dal faction.

Back to Amritpal: Sidhu died in a car accident in February, 2022—just weeks before the election. In September, Amritpal was anointed his successor. The dastar bandi (turban tying) ceremony was held in Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s village—who was the leader of the Punjab insurgency in the 1980s (more on him below). Amritpal was dressed like Bhindranwale—donning an elaborate turban. Thousands attended the event, raising pro-Khalistan slogans. See a celebratory clip marking the ceremony below:

The big shocker: Sidhu’s family was astonished by Amritpal’s ascension—and said they had no clue how this newcomer from Dubai took over Waris Punjab De: 

We never met him before. Deep too never met him. He was in touch with Deep over the phone for some time but later Deep blocked him. We do not know how he declared himself as head of my brother’s organisation. He is misusing our name to propagate anti-social activities. He somehow got access to my brother’s social media accounts and started posting on them.

Amritpal, however, claims to have been close to Sidhu—and to have played a key role in founding the organisation. 

The rise to prominence: Amritpal immediately launched a high-visibility campaign ‘Khalsa Vaheer’ to return young Sikh men to their religious roots—from the Akal Takht Sahib in Golden Temple. That religious puritanism has been accompanied by blatantly separatist views—which is now routine in all his speeches. Example: 

The idea of Khalistan is not for a separate state. It makes it sound like we were connected to something. The point is that we were forcefully taken into the Indian nation by the British. There was no India before 1947.

He is also unabashed in his reverence for Bhindranwale: “I will walk the path shown by him. I want to be like him because that’s what every Sikh wants, but I am not copying him. I am not even equal to the dust of his feet.”

Point to note: Amritpal recites a long list of woes that plague the state—drug addiction, losing water rights to Haryana etc—but the cause of each is the same: India’s “colonial rule” over Punjab.

Quote to note: Amritpal also seemed to make a veiled threat against Amit Shah—though he later denied it:

Amit Shah had said that he won’t let the Khalistan movement rise. I had said that the same was done by Indira Gandhi and if you do the same then you’d have to face consequences. If the Home Minister says the same to those demanding ‘Hindu Rashtra’, then I’ll see if he remains Home Minister.

So is he really another Bhindranwale?

Hmm, while it would be a mistake to dismiss Amritpal, he doesn’t quite have the same clout as the high priest of terror.

An overnight reincarnation: The transmutation of the Dubai returnee into a religious ideologue is remarkably sudden. After all, Amritpal was clean-shaven until November, 2021. And as Indian Express notes: 

Before he returned from Dubai last September, most people in the state had only seen or heard Amritpal on social media — that too after the farmers’ agitation… Interestingly, during his Dubai days, Amritpal used social media to target regional and national political parties, feminists, activists, Khalsa Aid and even some pro-Khalistan groups such as Dal Khalsa.

As one expert wonders: 

How can a person who lived in Dubai for many years suddenly surface in Punjab and project himself as a leader of the entire Sikh masses, besides interpreting the Sikh history, culture and ethics in his own way?

Not exactly ‘Bhindranwale 2.0’: That’s what many call Amritpal. But Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale studied at Sikhism’s most prominent and orthodox seminaries—and rose to become its head:  “[A]s head of the [Damdami] Taksaal, Bhindranwale already had a certain standing among orthodox Sikhs… he was anything but small-time.” 

So Bhindranwale had an independent base when he first took on the Akali Dal government—and later Indira Gandhi. As for Amritpal, for all his talk about Khalistan, even the union government admits it has no idea who is orchestrating his meteoric rise—because he certainly doesn’t have an organic base within the state. 

Another key difference: Bhindranwale never ever mentioned the K-word—or explicitly demanded a separate state, as Shekhar Gupta points out:

We asked him often—on the record—if he wanted Khalistan, or what he thought of the demand. He would say with a mischievous smile, “I never asked for Khalistan”. But if the “bibi” (the lady, as he referred to Indira Gandhi) gave it to me, I will not say no.

Same place, a different time: The demand for a separate state was hardly Bhindranwale’s idea. In 1973, the Akali Dal party passed the Anandpur Sahib resolution that demanded Punjab be given even greater sovereignty than Kashmir. The sant built on a rising Sikh nationalism that had already gone mainstream. In 1982, the Akali Dal and Bhindranwale together launched the Dharam Yudh Morcha agitation to push for the resolution’s demands.

But there isn’t the same swell of separatist feeling in Punjab today. Amritpal is tapping into the anti-establishment alienation that drove AAP into power (explained here). And, yes, the Akali Dal has once again been making mealy-mouthed references to Anandpur to recover its credibility as the “only Punjabi party.” But Punjab in 2023 is battle-scarred and wary, argue some experts:

People can’t be easily swayed with this sentiment since they have seen the past repercussions. Those days are still fresh in the minds of Punjabis, particularly Sikhs and the state’s political class.

Point to note: While Bhindranwale and his supporters were linked early to acts of violence, Amritpal seems content to stick to rhetoric—which he argues is legally protected by the right to free speech.

One worrying parallel: Many are perplexed by the union government’s attitude toward Amritpal. Despite the red flags raised by the storming of the police station—in a sensitive border state—the government insists it will take a “wait and watch” stance. The Indira Gandhi government took a similarly lax attitude toward Bhindranwale—and even helped prop him up against the Akali Dal government. There is no evidence that BJP is doing the same. But crass political calculation—among all parties—remains a worry with the national elections round the corner. 

The bottomline: Nature abhors a vacuum—and so does politics. Punjab is dangerously short of strong leaders with a clear vision. It isn’t surprising that opportunists have moved in to fill the gap. What is surprising is the strangely passive attitude of all parties in the state.

Reading list

The Wire and The Print have the best overview of the storming of the Ajnala police station. Also in The Wire: a closer look at the rise of Amritpal—and his extremist views. Indian Express has the most details on his background. The Telegraph rounds up criticism of the union government’s inaction—while Indian Express talks to unnamed official sources for their views. Shekhar Gupta has strong views on the situation in Punjab—based on his experiences during the 80s insurgency. This excerpt from Ramachandra Guha’s book ‘India After Gandhi’ offers the cautionary history of the rise of Bhindranwale—who became immensely powerful thanks to the petty politicking of parties.