New Delhi: Less than a year after publicly expressing his lack of faith in the Constitution of India, jailed separatist Amritpal Singh filed his nomination last week for Khadoor Sahib parliamentary seat in Punjab as an Independent candidate — a process which entails solemn affirmation to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution. His nomination has been accepted by the Election Commission.
According to his affidavit, he is a matriculate, has a balance of Rs 1,000 in his bank account, and has no other financial assets. His wife, a British citizen, has assets worth around Rs 18.37 lakh.
He has 12 criminal cases against him, with investigation pending. These include charges of kidnapping, provocative speeches, “breaking police barricading and threatening police officials by showing weapons”, rash driving, recovery of unauthorised electronic gadgets from jail, and “entering in house of complainant and snatching of motorcycle, shawl, specs, short turban and forcing her son to assist them to cross Sutlej river”.
Amritpal and nine of his associates, including his uncle Harjit Singh and actor Daljit Kalsi, have been locked up in the Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the National Security Act for over a year now.
Amritpal’s papers were verified in Dibrugarh on 9 May in front of the jail authorities, from where he filed his nomination. The affidavit was sworn before a notary from the Government of Assam and signed by the assistant jailer, where he has been detained since 23 April, 2023.
Amritpal was arrested by the Punjab police under the NSA after a month-long manhunt. The police had first attempted to crack down on Amritpal and his associates on 18 March, arresting hundreds of his supporters. He had managed to escape at the time, but was later arrested.
According to the affidavit, the 31-year-old passed the matriculation examination in 2008 under Punjab School Education Board, that being his highest qualification. Amritpal has no source of income and is completely dependent on his parents financially.
The passbook shows that Singh has Rs 1,000 in a State Bank of India account, earlier held in State Bank of Patiala, which happens to be his only asset. He does not own a car, residential building, agricultural land or any other immovable asset.
His wife, however, has movable assets worth Rs 18.37 lakh. Kirandip Kaur, a British citizen, has declared gold jewellery worth 18 lakh, 4,000 pounds (Rs 4.17 lakh) in a bank in the UK, and cash worth Rs 20,000.
According to the affidavit, Kaur is now a housewife, but at one point, worked as an interpreter in the UK’s National Health Services. Now, she lives in Amritpal’s parental home.
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How Amritpal ended up in jail
Heading the outfit Waris Punjab de, Amritpal had claimed the legacy of Sikh separatist activist Deep Sidhu, who had died in a car crash in February 2022. Actor Daljit Kalsi, a close associate of Sidhu, was instrumental in handing over Deep Sidhu’s position in the group to Amritpal by choosing him as his successor.
Amritpal claimed to have left his business in Dubai, and returned to Punjab in August 2022, to work towards the “emancipation of Sikhs from social evils and political bondage, and encouraging them to move towards following the purest form of Sikhism”.
After addressing a few ‘samagams’ in village gurdwaras, Amritpal had gained the confidence to speak to larger audiences. At a big programme at the historical Anandpur Sahib gurdwara on 25 September that year, he, along with several other youths, became a baptised Sikh. A few days later, Amritpal’s dastar-bandi ceremony was held at a gurdwara in the village Rode, built in the memory of Sikh militant and separatist, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
In November 2022, he started a month-long Khalsa Vaheer or Khalsa march, across the state of Punjab, invoking an age-old tradition of spreading Sikhism.
Amritpal witnessed a mercurial rise, becoming the face of a fresh demand for the creation of a ‘Khalistan’ state. While he claimed to be on a “pious” journey to encourage Sikh youth to partake in Amrit, give up drugs and preach Sikhism, he and his supporters soon declared themselves above law. Amritpal moved with heavily armed men in swanky vehicles, openly exhorted separatism, and asked Sikh youth to weaponise themselves.
He openly spoke not just about the creation of a separate state of Khalistan, but also against Hindus and Christians.
The Punjab police had given a long rope to Amritpal and his men, before deciding to take action against him. The storming of the Ajnala police station brought national attention to Punjab, and a “victorious” Amritpal gloated over his “achievement”. The police had started planning a massive crackdown to arrest Amritpal and his supporters in a single pan Punjab operation on 18 March.
With inputs from Chitleen K. Sethi
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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