Amritpal Singh: Polytechnic dropout to pro-Khalistan preacher: rise, rise — and eventual fall

The 30-year-old’s meteoric rise in Punjab began after he took over as the chief of Waris Punjab De (WPD), months after Deep Sidhu’s death in an accident. Sidhu on September 29, 2021 had launched the WPD in Chandigarh for “social reformation.” The actor had a huge following in Punjab owing to the role he played during the farmers’ agitation against the now repealed central agri laws. Sidhu had set up an audio room on ClubHouse, which was joined by Amritpal as listener. Egged on by some, Amritpal started speaking too in the audio room and was blocked by Sidhu as he spoke mostly on the issue of Khalistan. Amritpal remained blocked in the room till the time Sidhu died in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Amritpal returned to India from Dubai in September 2022. At that time, Amritpal, who had been working as a truck driver in Dubai, had reached his village Jullupur Khera in Amritsar, with shorn hair. On September 25, he reached Anandpur Sahib along with several other Sikh youths and got baptised. From here, he started asking the Sikh youths to get baptised and several of them followed him and took the holy oath. Four days later, at a grand function, his dastarbandi (turban tying ceremony) was held at Bhindranwale’s native Rode village in Moga — the place from where he was arrested Sunday.

During the dastarbandi, tall and lanky Amritpal wore a long white kurta and blue turban, an attire sported by Bhindranwale. The social media went abuzz terming him Bhindranwale 2.0. Intelligence officials, who by then had started following his activities, said that he styled his mannerisms on Bhindranwale and even spoke like him. They said it appeared that he had watched videos of the slain Khalistan militant and tried to emulate him. They also said that before returning to India, he took some training at Georgia for a month.

While security agencies continued keeping a watch. The government functionaries refused to act saying any reaction on his presence would only turn him into a hero for the youth. Not acknowledging his presence was the best policy.

In November 2022, Amritpal started the Khalsa Vaheer (a march) from Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, and concluded it in Muktsar. He said he wanted to spread awareness about the norms of Sikhism. He had planned the second phase of the march to conclude it at Damdama Sahib on Baisakhi and coincided the march with Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s death anniversary. However, it was then that the Punjab Police launched a crackdown on him and WPD on March 18 — about three weeks after he and his supporters, many of them brandishing weapons, stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested colleague.

Amritpal’s early videos in Punjab saw him encouraging the Sikhs, converted into Christianity, for ‘Ghar Vapsi’ and in the process, he spoke against Jesus Christ. This led to a massive protest by Christians against him in Jalandhar. A few days after his Dastarbandi, he started courting controversies. His supporters damaged furniture at two gurdwaras in Jalandhar stating that they were against the maryada of the Sikh shrines where people should sit on the floor.

Eventually, his speeches, which were earlier aimed at asking the youth to follow the tenets of Sikhism, get baptised, shun drugs, started touching the issue of a separate state for Sikhs. On February 21, he referred to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and said that the BJP leader may meet the same fate as former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi who was assassinated.

Later, he started demanding the release of Sikh prisoners, who were lodged in jails for crimes during the days of militancy in the state. The Bandi Singh Morcha at Mohali had installed life size posters of Amritpal.

All this while, Punjab as well as Centre preferred to keep quiet on Amritpal even as the opposition parties in started seeking action against him fearing that he may revise militancy in the border state.

When his supporters stormed Ajnala police station on February 23, Amritpal took a palanquin with Guru Granth Sahib to the police station. The police did not react that day. But his carrying Guru Granth Sahib “as a shield” evoked strong reactions from the Akal Takht, Sikh preachers and the people in general.

Finally, a day before he was to start his second phase of Khalsa Vaheer on March 19, the police launched a crackdown. He, however, managed to give police the slip by changing vehicles and his looks. He was arrested from Rode on Sunday after 36 days. His arrest came two days after his wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped at Amritsar airport when she was trying to fly to Birmingham.

Amritpal Singh married Kirandeep Kaur in February.

While he was absconding, several of his pictures surfaced on social media with his changed looks. In a video that he had released, he asked the Jathedar of Akal Takht to organise a Sarbat Khalsa on Baisakhi. Amritpal, who has studied till 12th, and was pursuing a diploma in Kapurthala before dropping out, belongs to a well-to-do Sandhu Jat Sikh family from Jullupur Khera village in Amritsar. His father Tarsem Singh and uncle Harjit Singh run a transport business, Sandhu Cargo Transport, and keep travelling abroad. He recently married Kirandeep Kaur, a British national on February 10, but did not share her pictures in public domain saying he had every right to protect his family. These became public only after a crackdown on him.