Amid reports that ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh, currently locked up at Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the National Security Act (NSA), will be contesting as an Independent candidate for Lok Sabha election from Khadoor Sahib constituency in Punjab, Balwinder Kaur, mother of Amritpal Singh, has denied the report, saying no decision has been taken yet.
She told The Hindu over phone that so far no decision has been taken about Amritpal contesting the election even though there’s an “immense” pressure from people for him to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
“Amritpal’s father has gone to Dibrugarh today and any decision regarding contesting or not contesting the election would be taken after deliberations. So far, no decision has been taken,” she said.
A pro-Khalistan (sovereign state for Sikhs) propagator and the chief of Waris Punjab De (WPD) outfit, Amritpal was arrested in April last year and was charged under the National Security Act (NSA). He was arrested by Punjab Police from Moga on April 23, 2023. He was arrested a month after the police launched a massive crackdown against him and his outfit.
Two months before his arrest, on February 23, 2023 a violent mob, led by the pro-Khalistan propagator and self-styled Sikh preacher, stormed a police station in Punjab’s Amritsar, in what he called a “show of strength”. The protesters wanted one of their own to be released from police custody. The Aam Aadmi Party government of Punjab caved in to the demand.
The 31-year-old Amritpal does not have pretensions or niceties when it comes to his core beliefs. He openly says he draws “inspiration” from Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the militant leader who was killed in 1984. Before being jailed, he had said “the Khalistan movement cannot be stopped from flourishing”
Amritpal’s rise to fame or notoriety started in 2022 when he was anointed as the head of the ‘Waris Punjab De’, a social organisation established by actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, who actively participated in the year-long farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws drafted by the Centre and raised Punjab-centric issues. He died in a road accident in February 2022.
