Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh is currently on the run after a Punjab police crackdown against him. The Punjab police launched a crackdown against him and a radical outfit Waris Punjab De on March 18
Amritpal Singh was born in 1993 in Amritsar’s Jallupur Khera village. He attended the Holy Heart Public School and went on to get a degree in mechanical engineering from Lord Krishna Polytechic College in Kapurthala. Amritpal Singh joined a transport business in Dubai and worked there as an operations manager
Amritpal Singh was appointed the head of Waris Punjab De in August 2022, six months after its founder Deep Sidhu died in a car crash in February 2022. Soon after Amritpal was appointed as Waris Punjab De head, he refashioned it as pro-Khalistan and partook in amrit and did turban-tying ceremony in September last year at slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s village
In his November 2022 address, Amritpal invoked the slain militant leader and encouraged his followers to pick up arms for the ‘Sikh cause’ and be ready for ‘sacrifice’. He also claimed drugs were smuggled into Punjab to erode Punjabi culture and ‘eliminate’ Sikhs
Bhindranwale became the 14th jathedar of the religious school Damdami Taksal in 1977. He denounced practices such as dowry, preached social reform, and urged youth to stay away from intoxicants and return to path of Khalsa
The slain militant pushed for the implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution made by the Shiromani Akali Dal in 1973 which sought greater autonomy for Punjab. It took 6 years and confrontations with the Centre and state governments to gain the status of an icon among Sikh militants
Former Akali Dal President Sant Harchand Singh Longowal had invited Bhindranwale to take shelter in the Golden Temple to evade any government action including arrest in 1982
Indian Army units led by Lt Gen (Retd) Kuldip Singh Brar launched Operation Blue Star to eliminate Bhindranwale and his followers hiding inside the Golden Temple. The operation took place between June 1, 1984 to June 10, 1984. Bhindranwale was killed in this military action
Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state called Khalistan or Land of the Khalsa. The proposed state would have Lahore as its capital and comprise the land that forms Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab at present