How Amritpal manhunt fired up Punjab politics: BJP praise for CM Mann, SAD’s revival bid amid Panthic churn

Mann’s crackdown operation also got appreciation from the BJP, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma offering fulsome praises for the CM’s move.

In the meantime the Sukhbir Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) looked to make use of the opportunity to regain its lost political ground in the state.

On March 21, a day after Amritpal’s uncle Harjit Singh and his several aides were arrested and charged under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), Mann declared in a video message in Hindi that action would be taken against forces that were trying to vitiate the environment of the state. Without naming Amritpal, he said, “Some elements were trying to vitiate the environment at the behest of some foreign powers in the last few days. They were trying to vitiate the environment in the state.

They were giving hate speeches, speaking against the law of the land. Un par karwayi ki gai hai. Woh sab log pakde gayein hain.

Unko sakht se sakht saza di jayegi (Action has been taken against them. All of them have been arrested and will be given the harshest punishment). The AAP government would not allow any such forces to raise their head in the state.”

Just three days later, with the police crackdown underway, Mann again sent out a message to say he would not allow the youth of his state to become “raw material for ‘factories’ opened in the name of religion”.

Mann said those who have opened shops in the name of religion and are trying to mislead the youth should not even dream that their attempts would succeed. Countering allegations of inexperience against the AAP government, the CM said, “The AAP knows how to form the government, run the government, to win hearts and keep the trust. Your trust gives me courage. Let us make our state the number one state in the country.”

In an apparent reference to Amritpal, he said, “It is easier to provoke others’ sons to pick up arms, provoke the youths to sacrifice themselves. When it comes to facing action themselves, it becomes difficult.”

Meanwhile, the SAD, which has been beset by electoral setbacks and legal troubles, sensed an opportunity to regain its lost ground in Panthic politics, something that had made the party a formidable political force since the 1990s.

As the police continued its operation against Amritpal’s supporters, detaining several of them, the SAD criticised the move and said it would set up a legal cell to help the young men arrested by the police. Former party MLA Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra told The Indian Express: “The party decided to help young, innocent youth after discussions among the senior leaders that Akali Dal, being the regional party representing the Sikh community, should come forward at this juncture where the youth in their early twenties were detained without any reason. Apart from the Sikh community, the issue also concerns human rights and freedom of speech and expression.” Sukhbir Badal said, “It is shocking that scores of youth are being arrested indiscriminately merely on suspicion.”

The following week, on March 28, saw a fresh confrontation between Mann and the Sikh clergy in the state with the former accusing the latter for “provoking” people and “furthering Badals’ cause” by issuing an ultimatum to release within 24 hours those arrested during the crackdown on Amritpal.

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, however, hit back saying it was his “right and duty” to talk about the rights of the innocent youth of the Sikh community.

A day later, the Punjab Police tightened security at two shrines amid reports that Amritpal was planning to surrender. Then came Amritpal’s video statement in which he termed the police hunt against him as an “attack on the community” and sought to mobilise “Sikhs across the world” by calling for a “Sarbat Khalsa” (Assembly of Sikhs). Wearing a black turban and a shawl, Amritpal made no mention of Khalistan or a separate state, but urged Giani Harpreet Singh to call a “Sarbat Khalsa” at the Takht Sri Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo, on Baisakhi (April 14).

The police chase continued – there were reports of Amritpal in Delhi on March 21, then in Nepal by March 25. The police continued their search operations in the Hoshiarpur district amidst which came the video message from Amritpal to the Akali Takht chief. Amritpal then reportedly moved to Himachal Pradesh. His aide Papalpreet Singh was arrested from Amritsar on April 10.

On April 21, immigration authorities stopped Amritpal’s wife Kirandeep Kaur from boarding a flight to the UK and questioned her. The Sikh clergy in Punjab as well as the SAD questioned the state government’s motive behind this action, alleging that it was creating an atmosphere of terror among the youth.

In a video message, the Akal Takht Jathedar said that stopping Kirandeep Kaur at Amritsar airport was not right from any angle as she was headed to her parental home abroad.

Sangrur MP and SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann wrote to the British High Commissioner as well as the Union Home Minister, raising objections regarding “detaining of Kirandeep Kaur and subsequent denial to board UK-bound flight without charges or a red corner notice against her”.

The Mann government’s operation against Amritpal also saw the BJP praising it. In an interview to TV9 Bharatvarsh on April 17, CM Sarma lauded Mann, saying: “I want to thank the Chief Minister of Punjab for taking the right action (against pro-Khalistanis) at the right time. I don’t have any political issues in this matter.”Speaking at a media conclave in Bengaluru on April 21, news agency ANI quoted Shah as saying: “There is (no wave) of Khalistan. Many times, some people try, but the government has done its job. The Punjab government has done a good job, the Centre has supported. We are monitoring the situation very closely.”