In his defence of Amritpal Singh, why Charanjit Singh Channi is not alone

Channi’s position is not even officially endorsed by his party, with the party’s communications chief Jairam Ramesh distancing the Congress from his comments.

A senior Punjab Congress leader, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Indian Express, “Channi’s statement on Amritpal was short-sighted. He appears to have been trying to appease a particular section of the society, one that supports Amritpal. But this is not the party line. The party ideology is crystal clear: the Congress is against any kind of fundamentalism, be it Hindu, Muslim or Sikh. That is why the party has distanced itself from Channi’s remarks. He is not a regular MP, but a former CM, so the party distancing itself from his remarks is a big snub to him.”

However, Channi is not alone in his demand for Amritpal’s release. Leaders of other parties have also been pushing for his release or mellowing down their stance since the Lok Sabha results in which apart from Amritpal, Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, the son of one of Indira Gandhi’s assassins, won from Faridkot as an Independent. More than separatism, the victories of Amritpal and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa were down to a large degree to voters’ disenchantment with traditional parties. The ongoing drug crisis in Punjab, which no political party has successfully addressed, drove voters to seek alternatives.

A day after the parliamentary election results were declared, the Congress’s Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who contested unsuccessfully from Sangrur, posted on X, “Now that the people’s court has given a landslide victory in favour of Bhai Amritpal Singh from Khadoor Sahib, I urge @BhagwantMann (the AAP CM) to withdraw the draconian NSA detention and release him unconditionally, so that he can participate in the Lok Sabha proceedings by representing his constituency. His victory also signals that the people of Punjab stand with the oppressed, not the oppressor.”

Even the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which lays claim to being the sole custodian of Sikhism, and whose candidate lost to Amritpal, has changed its position. After a scathing campaign against Amritpal — the party asked people to check if the preacher had been propped up by Central agencies — the Akali Dal too came out in Amritpal’s support after his detention was extended by a year with effect from April 23.

Alleging that Mann was doing the Centre’s bidding, Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal wrote in a post on X, “I and my party strongly oppose the extension of the NSA against Bhai Amritpal Singh, as this is a violation of the Constitution and of human rights. This decision of Bhagwant Mann has fully exposed his anti-Sikh and anti-Punjab face, and shown how he dances to Delhi’s tune.”

He further wrote: “Our differences of ideology with Bhai Amritpal Singh apart, we will oppose repression and injustice against him, or against anyone else, and we don’t care what political cost we have to pay for this. These are the principles which the Great Guru Sahiban has taught us.”

With several Akali leaders noting that their party’s move to go after Amritpal during the Lok Sabha campaign had cost it dearly, observers feel the move was aimed at pulling back its core vote bank.

Even the BJP, appears to have softened its stance, at least over separatists and extremists in general. Its losing Lok Sabha candidate from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu who had said during the campaign that “if people like Amritpal Singh get elected to the Lok Sabha, they won’t let peace-loving people live in Punjab” recently said that he wouldn’t oppose any move by the Centre to release Balwant Singh Rajoana, the assassin of his grandfather and former Punjab CM Beant Singh or any other “Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners)” who have completed their jail terms.