4 min readAmritsarApr 23, 2023 07:59 AM IST
First published on: Mar 22, 2023 at 09:26 AM IST
Contrary to popular belief, Amritpal Singh was not appointed head of Waris Punjab De (WPD) in September 2022 at Rode village in Moga. He anointed himself head of the organization on March 04, 2022. The announcement was made on a letter pad embedded with a QR code, which was a Google form to become a member of the organization.
Membership was open for most countries where Sikhs lived in good numbers. The form also asked members about their skills and included a WhatsApp number. The letter pad did not contain the name of any office-bearer of WPD, only a stamp of WPD. It had pictures of Deep Sidhu and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale but no signatures of any office-bearers.
The letter pad also stated that WPD units would be started soon after discussions. Soon after the letter went viral on social media, the family of Deep Sidhu, the founder of WPD, objected to the letter and called it fake. However, this did not affect Amritpal Singh, who already had a following on social media.
Deep Sidhu had launched WPD as a pressure group, but Amritpal Singh made the demand for Khalistan the top priority of WPD.
The biggest support for Amritpal came from actor Daljit Singh Kalsi, who was among the close friends of Deep Sidhu. Kalsi’s support compensated for the loss of support from Deep Sidhu’s family. As far as foot soldiers were concerned, it was Basant Singh Moga who worked for WPD on the ground even when Amritpal had not come to Punjab. Basant Singh installed canopies of WPD at the bhog ceremony of Deep Sidhu and Hola Mohalla of 2022 to collect the phone numbers of youth who were attracted to WPD due to Deep Sidhu.
Meanwhile, Daljit Singh Kalsi went on a world tour to gather support for WPD and Amritpal in different countries. Gurmeet Singh Bukanwala was also among the founder members of WPD.
He, however, came into the limelight only after Amritpal Singh landed in Punjab and started Khalsa Vaheer ( a religious procession to promote baptism). Jaggi Baba, who had become famous after his pictures of blood pouring from his head went viral during the tractor parade on Republic Day during the farmer agitation, was the most famous face of WPD after Deep Sidhu. He was the main attraction at WPD gatherings before Amritpal Singh gained the attention of the common public on the ground in Punjab.
Kulwant Singh Rauke, who was booked under NSA yesterday, was also among the founder members. Despite the response from Punjab youth, the organization structure of WPD was not expanded.
Lovepreet Singh, for whose release Amritpal Singh and his supporters stormed Ajnala police station last month, was among the few appointments made after Amritpal came to Punjab. Lovepreet was appointed president of Gurudaspur.
However, WPD did not have a pan-Punjab organization structure. Amritpal planned to launch his new organization Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) during the Hola Mohalla. “A new organization called AKF was supposed to be launched during Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib. However, it did not happen because Amritpal Singh avoided going to Hola Mohalla after the Ajnala clash,” said a former WPD member. He was either asked to stay away by the police or he apprehended action.
The AKF could be seen written on the front door of Amritpal Singh’s house and also on the weapons of his bodyguards.
“AKF was mostly the security team of Amritpal Singh, these men were not directly linked to Deep Sidhu or WPD. They were attracted to Amritpal Singh and wanted to form a new organization. It was not a secret, as AKF could be seen written on the front door of Amritpal Singh’s house and also on their weapons,” said a former aide.
“Many of these youths already had licensed weapons and joined Amritpal Singh to become his security team. Their qualifications to become part of Amritpal’s inner circle were totally different from those who were the founder members of WPD,” said a former member.
Amritpal Singh also announced plans to open a school under WPD for the foreign-born children of NRIs so that they could directly connect to Punjab. Such decisions were made by Amritpal Singh on his own, and the rank and file of WPD merely followed his orders.
Amritpal Singh, a radical Sikh leader, leaves the holy Sikh shrine of the Golden Temple along with his supporters, in Amritsar, India, March 3, 2023. (REUTERS Photo) 
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