India Police Crackdown on Separatist Supporters, Seek Sikh Leader

Police in India are looking for a leader of the Sikh community who recently called for an independent country. There is worrying that this could cause trouble in Punjab, which has had issues with violence in the past.

Indian police has accused Amritpal Singh, who is 30 years old and a preacher, and his helpers of causing trouble in the state. This state has a painful memory from over ten years ago when some people wanted an independent Sikh country called Khalistan. The Indian goverment did not agree with this goal and performed a military mission that cost many lives, according to official records.

Police officers have asked lots of military troops to come to the state and stopped cell phone internet in some places so that things don’t get out of control. So far, 154 followers of Singh have been arrested and 10 guns with bullets have been seized by the police. Singh has escaped since Saturday when the search for him began.

In February, Singh made news when lots of his followers attacked a police station with swords and guns in order to free an arrested friend. We know almost nothing about Singh who was working as a truck driver in the United Arab Emirates until 2022 when he moved back to Punjab. There, he started protesting on behalf of Sikhs which make up roughly 1.7% of India’s population.

The speeches of a certain person have gotten more and more liked by those who agree with the idea of Khalistan. India says that this idea is bad for their security, but it still has some followers in places like Punjab and other countries with a lot of Sikhs, such as Canada and the UK.

On Sunday, people that supported the movement took down India’s flag from their high commission in London and broke some of the building’s windows to show how upset they were about arresting Singh. India’s foreign ministry was not happy with this incident and asked someone from the UK to come to New Delhi so they could express their disapproval against what happened at the embassy in London.

On Wednesday, the police took away the barriers they had put up for extra protection outside the British High Commission in Delhi. We don’t know yet why they did it – if it was to do with something that happened in London.

Earlier this week, supporters of a group called Khalistan caused lots of damage to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.

Singh is inspired by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a Sikh leader who the Indian government thought to be leading a rebellion for Khalistan. In 1984, Bhindranwale and his supporters were killed when the Indian army invaded the Golden Temple, which is very important to the Sikh religion.

Mr. Singh helps lead an organization called Waris Punjab De, that was part of a big operation to make farmers rise against changes in farming laws which were suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. This event started in the year 2020 and thousands of farmers, mostly Sikhs from the Punjab province, created camps near New Delhi during winter despite the high risk posed by COVID-19. After months of protesting, Mr. Modi’s office dropped their original suggestion in November 2021.

Waris Punjab De was a foundation started by Deep Sidhu, an Indian actor who sadly passed away in a car crash in 2022.