Hardeep Singh 

CHANDIGARH Limiting space for pro-freedom Sikh politics under its rule, Indian State has made further arrangements to keep young Sikh leader Amritpal Singh who has recently been elected as Member of Parliament (MP) from Khadoor Sahib constituency, locked in the jail and killed the hopes for his release in near future. 

Along with his nine aides, Amritpal Singh is undergoing political punishment for raising the voice of freedom of Punjab and rights of Sikhs and lodged in the far distant Dibrugarh Jail of Assam under draconian law of National Security Act (NSA). Months after his detention under the NSA was extended by one more year, another black law of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been slapped against him in a murder case of a Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau. 

The police claimed that they slapped the UAPA following new revelations in the case. “Sources, however, claimed that as the police were facing difficulty in presenting a challan (chargesheet) in the court within the prescribed period of 90 days, they decided to invoke the UAPA to deter the accused from seeking default bail”, reported The Tribune, an English Daily published from Chandigarh. 

Amritpal Singh was already nominated in this case under murder charges along with foreign based alleged gangster Arsh Dhalla. The Indian Police has now connected this case with the “terror activities” by invoking UAPA against Amritpal Singh. The Indian Police are under fire for registering this false case. 

This has been done ahead of a grand convention being organized by team of Amritpal Singh, which is working in the field in his absence, at Sri Muktsar Sahib on the historic festival of Maghi on January 14. A political party is also being announced by his team to fight the existing Indian mainstream political players. 

Assassination of Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau was carried out during the Panchayat elections. He was shot dead by unknown bike borne armed men on October 9 while returning home from the village gurdwara on his motorcycle.

This killing is being viewed as part of the series of assassinations of the Sikh activists peacefully fighting for Sikh human rights including right to self-determination. These assassinations are taking place across the world allegedly at the behest of Indian intelligence agencies, though the Government of India has refuted the charges of its involvement in any such conspiracy to eliminate prominent faces of the Sikh struggle.

It is worth noticing that Indian State and its security agencies including Punjab Police are acting on the plot of killing two birds with one stone in case of Gurpreet Singh’s assassination.

Gurpreet Singh was close aide of slain actor-turned-Sikh activist Sandeep Singh aka Deep Sidhu who played great role in revival of Sikh struggle in Punjab and energized the Sikh youths in short span of time, and was active member of Sikh organization Waris Punjab De (WPD) which was founded by Deep Sidhu.

Sidhu died under mysterious circumstances in February, 2022. The Indian State stated that he died in a road accident. However, the Sikh bodies have been alleging that the road accident was staged to eliminate him as he was fast taking centre stage in the political Sikh struggle. 

After his death, Bhai Amritpal Singh was appointed as head of the WPD by the members of the organization, with whom Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau had some differences. These differences sparked debate sometimes between him and supporters of Bhai Amritpal Singh over social media.

Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau was a renowned activist but the way the Police cracked the case of his murder was surprising. Many questions arose about the Police action.

After learning about the differences between Amritpal Singh and Gurpreet Singh, the Police and other Indian agencies planned to gain something from the assassination. They tried to use these differences to kill two birds with one stone. Months after framing murder charges, the Police invoked UAPA against him. This law has ruined the precious lives of scores of Sikh youths in Punjab so far. 

Amritpal Singh recently registered a thumping victory in parliamentary elections from Sikh bastion Khadoor Sahib, and emerged as the most popular Sikh leader. 

The Sikh segments have already said that such acts of the government have exposed its intention to keep him behind bars and defame him besides causing infighting in the community. 

“Claim of the Punjab Police DGP is ridiculous. Amritpal Singh is under tight surveillance in Dibrugarh jail. Nobody can meet him from outside without permission of the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner. He can speak over the phone only in presence of the intelligence personnel. How can it be possible for him to ask anyone to kill someone and carry out any other unlawful activity?”, said senior lawyer and human rights activist Advocate Harpal Singh Khara.