Security scaled up in Talwandi Sabo amid rumours of Amritpal Singh’s likely ‘surrender’

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh was also put up on Takht Damdama Sahib premises on Wednesday. The Jathedar had recently given an ultimatum to the Punjab government to release all the Sikh youths arrested in the crackdown against Amritpal Singh and his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’.

Heavy police force was seen all over Talwandi Sabo.

“I was coming from Bathinda and going towards my village Kanakwal in Talwandi Sabo. Although there was no obstruction in public movement, paramilitary forces deployed there were thoroughly checking all the vehicles. In the morning when I left Bathinda, there wasn’t much security on the main roads,” said Bhakar Singh, a resident of Kanakwal village.

Bhakar added, “In the village’s common place we often sit and talk. The Amritpal episode has been stretched into a long period of time by the Punjab government, as it wants to run away from real issues and problems faced by farmers, industrialists, students, and teachers in the state. But at the same time all those who had seen the dark days of terrorism in Punjab in mid-1980s, they are not keen to stand behind any person who may reopen old wounds.”

Jagseer Singh Jhumba, from Jhumba village of Bathinda rural, said, “Whatever Amritpal did in Ajnala was unpardonable. At the same time, the way Amritpal gave police the slip every time the cops tried to catch him, the Punjab police only made a mockery of their ability as a force to reckon with. At this moment a farmer is bothered more about his crop than anything else, as the weather alert shows that rain will lash several parts of Punjab on the last two days of March. We are worried about the imminent damage to our crops. But the Punjab government has put all these core farm issues on the back burner and kept the Amritpal issue alive.”

He added, “Many tube well connections in Rampura Phul have been disconnected, we had even staged a dharna in this regard. So, our concerns are different. Our worries are that of a common man. Anyone who has seen the days of militancy in the 1980s will never fall into the trap again. The Punjab government should get serious about real governance.”

Kulwant Sharma, BKU Ugrahan’s Sangat block in-charge (Bathinda), said, “The Punjab government is playing into the hands of the central government. They are trying to reduce the strength of people at dharnas on public issues by creating an atmosphere of fear. Earlier in 2015 the Badal government had tried to ignore the farmers’ issues, and now one can see the fate of their party.”

People were saying they were more bothered about issues like bad roads, increased power tariff for industrial consumers, etc.

Badish Jindal, a Ludhiana-based industrialist, said, “Look at the timing of the AAP government. Amid ‘Operation Amritpal’, they have quietly revised the industrial tariff and majority is not even aware of it. So, one can easily make out as to how the government is using ‘Operation Amritpal’ to hide real issues of Punjab.”