A purported video of fugitive, pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh surfaced on social media platforms on March 29, in which he is seen appealing to the chief priest of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, to hold a Sarbat Khalsa (congregation of Sikhs) to discuss issues related to Punjab and the quom (the Sikh community).
“I appeal to Sikhs from across the globe to join Sarbat Khalsa on the day of Baishaki, where a discussion should be held on issues of our quom (community). For long, people of our community have been organising small fronts on different issues. If we want to get the issues of Punjab solved, if we want to get the Sikh youth released who have been arrested, if we want to fight against excesses against Sikhs... to raise voice against all these is our duty, and hence I appeal to the chief priest to hold Sarbat Khalsa and appeal all Sikhs to join,” Mr. Singh, the chief of Waris Punjab De, says in the video.
The 30-year-old, who gave the police the slip on March 18, after what appears to have been a botched-up police operation to capture him in Jalandhar district, said his arrest was in the hands of the Almighty.
Politics surrounding the issue continues to escalate. The Shiromani Akali Dal on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to apologise to the Sikhs for insulting the Akal Takht as well as its Jathedar (chief priest), Giani Harpreet Singh.
Mr. Mann on Tuesday hit out at the chief priest, accusing him of provoking people by giving an “ultimatum” to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to release all Sikh youths who were held during the crackdown against the Khalistan preacher and his outfit.
Senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the Chief Minister hurt Sikh sentiments and that instead of realising his mistake, he was displaying arrogance. He pointed out that the State government had been forced to release a large number of youth who were arrested on trivial charges. He demanded that all pending cases against the youth who had secured bail should be withdrawn.
Mr. Cheema said the AAP was involved in divisive politics, and all this was being done to divert the attention of the people from the failure of the government on all fronts, be it law and order, managing State finances, undertaking development work or extending social welfare benefits to the weaker sections of society.
