Khadoor Sahib (Punjab): Driving about an hour out of Amritsar, one starts noticing hoardings of pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh, the chief of ‘Waris Punjab De’, supporting his candidature from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. Punjab votes on June 1.
With Amritpal jumping into the poll fray, this constituency has come into the national spotlight. A panthic seat (related to Sikh religious affairs), Khadoor Sahib holds significance for the fact that eight out of the ten Sikh gurus had visited this place.
Since Amritpal is imprisoned in Dibrugarh, Assam under the National Security Act (NSA), his campaign is being run by his father Tarsem Singh, paternal uncles, Sikh bodies, NRIs and some locals.
It’s not just the hoardings – even villagers en route Jallupur Khera, where Amritpal is from, spoke about ‘Panth’, ‘Punjab’, the drugs menace and extortion being key issues in these polls. The concern around drugs was widespread, and back home Amritpal is famous as an anti-drugs crusader who has saved many young men.
Amritpal Singh’s hoarding outside his village, Jallupur Khera. Photo: Kusum Arora
At around 8 am, when I reached Amritpal’s house, a group of elderly men – most of whom had left either the Shiromani Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party or Congress fold – were discussing Operation Blue Star, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, sacrilege and SAD’s political future, giving a glimpse of Amritpal’s election campaign.
Interestingly, not just Amritpal but other candidates too are also talking about panth and Punjab in Khadoor Sahib.
SAD candidate Virsa Singh Valtoha is seeking votes in favour of his stance for the panth, how he too was jailed during the militancy and his association with Bhindrawale. Reportedly, Valtoha also approached Amritpal’s family to seek support for his candidature. However, Amritpal’s family called it a bluff.
Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira is also wooing voters with claims that he came from a panthic family. “After winning, I will work for panth and Punjab,” he has claimed.
Drugs a big issue
Lakhwinder Kaur, who was heading out for work under the MGNREGA along with a group of women, said that she lost her only brother to drugs. “We are five sisters and the death of my brother came as a big setback. My elderly parents have been left all alone, they die every day,” she said.
Before Lakhwinder could overcome the loss of her brother, her 20-year-old son also fell prey to drugs. “While I am working in this scorching heat, my son is lying on the bed unaware of whether it is day or night. Had Amritpal been out, no young man would have dared to smoke or consume drugs. These days cigarettes, tobacco and drugs are being sold openly,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“We are waiting for that day when Amritpal Singh will come out of jail. He was saving our youth from drugs, a curse which has ruined many lives. The government did an injustice with him,” she added.
Another woman, Dalbir Kaur, also said that drugs were a big issue in this region. “People who benefitted through Amritpal’s anti-drug drive are all set to vote for him. Amritpal was taking the youth towards Sikhism. Was he doing something wrong? He is getting support for a reason,” she said.
She continued, “Jidan da gya, odan de nayane bigde (Ever since he went to jail, children are on a path of depravity). He made youth recite Gurbani, took them towards Sikhism. What was wrong in this? He was innocent but he was put behind bars.”
However, there are some like Dharam Singh, a granthi from Jallupur Khera, who said that Amritpal might have done something wrong, and that is why he is in jail. When asked if Amritpal is imitating Bhindrawale, he said, “We have seen Bhindrawale. Amritpal is different from him but we feel that all villages are with him.”
Even those who oppose Amritpal’s candidature believe that he did a lot to eradicate drugs. “He might have done a lot for the youth but we are not going to vote for him. We would rather prefer Congress or AAP,” said Rajwinder Kaur from the nearby Nijjar village.
History repeating itself?
Interestingly, in the year 1989, when militancy was at its peak in Punjab, people had elected pro-Khalistan ideologue and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann as its MP from the then Tarn Taran Lok Sabha constituency, which is now the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary seat.
Mann was in jail at the time and had contested the Lok Sabha election in absentia. Nearly 25 years later, Amritpal, the Dubai returned chief of ‘Waris Punjab De’, is also contesting the election in absentia as an independent. ‘Waris Punjab De’ was headed by model-actor Deep Sidhu, who died in a freak accident. SAD (Amritsar) also withdrew its candidate from Khadoor Sahib in support of Amritpal.
Currently, the Khadoor Sahib seat is represented by Congress MP Jasbir Singh Dimpa. Apart from Amritpal, the other candidates in the fray from Khadoor Sahib are Virsa Singh Valtoha from SAD, Laljit Singh Bhullar from AAP, Kulbir Singh Zira from Congress, Manjit Singh Manna from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Satnam Singh from the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Amritpal’s campaign
Notably, Amritpal’s hoardings bear the photos of Bhindrawala, Sidhu and human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Some of the hoardings also carry Bhindrawale’s slogans and some lines from the Guru Granth Sahib with a mention of Begumpura, a casteless and classless society imagined by Sri Guru Ravidas. “Many villages have put up hoardings declaring support for Amritpal Singh,” said Dubai-returned Gurbir Singh.
Amritpal’s father Tarsem Singh meeting villagers before going for election campaigning. Photo: Kusum Arora
One such example was Nijjar village, where a hoarding outside the village gurdwara on the road reads: “Entire voters of Nijjar village have decided to rise above petty politics and support Bhai Amritpal Singh Khalsa. No political leader (from rival parties) should come to our village to seek votes.”
It was also learnt that special announcements were also being made in gurdwaras to ramp up support for Amritpal.
Khadoor Sahib constituency came into existence after delimitation in 2008. Earlier it was part of the Tarn Taran Lok Sabha constituency. Punjab has 13 Lok Sabha seats.
From 2009 to 2014, the voters elected SAD leaders Rattan Singh Ajnala and Ranjit Singh Brahmpura as MPs. However, in 2019, they elected cCngress MP Jasbir Singh Dimpa.
Amritpal’s father speaks
Talking to The Wire, Amritpal’s father Tarsem Singh said that it was the Sangat’s (Sikh term for religious congregation) decision that Amritpal should contest election, as attempts to seek justice, approaching the government and protests failed to yield any result.
“People are considering Amritpal’s campaign as their own fight. Initially Amritpal was reluctant but then he agreed. In fact, many people left top positions in AAP, Congress and SAD to support us. We are appealing to everybody including farmers’ unions and Sikh bodies to support us,” he said.
A photo of Amritpal Singh being carried to election rallies in Khadoor Sahib. Photo: Kusum Arora
Talking about election issues on which they were seeking votes, Tarsem said, “Our main concern was to fulfil long pending issues of Punjab’s existence – be it the SYL (Satluj Yamuna Link) canal row, Punjabi language, Chandigarh as Punjab’s capital, federalism, harassment or extra-judicial killings of youth.”
On being asked about funding, Tarsem Singh said they were not campaigning like other traditional parties. “It is people’s power. People are campaigning for us and doing everything on their own. We are not doling out drugs to seek votes,” he added.
Tarsem Singh also reacted to SAD candidate Virsa Singh Valtoha’s election speeches on his sacrifices for the sake of Punjab and the panth, and said, “Valtoha must have made some sacrifices. But people made him an MLA, and what did he do? He never spoke against sacrilege issues while he was in SAD,”
To another query that Virsa Singh Valhota was questioning whether Amritpal’s legal counsel and ex MP Rajdev Singh Khalsa is with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), he retorted: “These are baseless allegations to divert public attention. First Valtoha should explain what they were doing in the SAD-BJP government all these years. Were they not related to the RSS then?”
When asked if they also faced backlash from other communities on Amritpal’s candidature, he said, “Punjab dwells with Gurus. We do not believe in caste, identity and communities. Even in Kapurthala district, Hindus were supporting us because drugs have affected everybody’s children. Amritpal was working to eradicate drugs, hence the support.”
Paramjit Kaur Khalra campaigning for Amritpal Singh
Paramjit Kaur Khalra, the wife of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, is also campaigning for Amritpal in Khadoor Sahib. She had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib constituency but lost the seat to Dimpa.
Talking to The Wire, Paramjit said that the way Amritpal was arrested, his parents were harassed, law and order is deteriorating, youth were being picked up on flimsy charges for even liking or sharing anything on social media – it leaves one wondering if there is any future for the common man.
“I am supporting Amritpal Singh for Panth, Punjab and to take forward his campaign of stopping drugs and motivating the youth. We are also fighting for the release of Bandi Singhs (Sikh political prisoners) to save Punjab’s youth and give justice to farmers. Khadoor Sahib will emerge as a platform for human rights,” she said.
Villagers distributing election material. Photo: Kusum Arora
Paramjit also said that there was a leadership vacuum when it came to Sikh politics and people were looking towards Amritpal as their leader. “The people of Punjab have done away with the corrupt and family-oriented politics of SAD, where all they did was manage elections to stay in power,” she added.
When asked about Amritpal’s support for Khalistan, Paramjit said that she does not know who started this term. “For us Sri Guru Granth Sahib is our election manifesto. We are talking of human rights, Begumpura and the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev in our election campaign.”
‘A new entrant’
Senior journalist Jagtar Singh, who has penned two books on Khalistani ideology and covered the 1989 Lok Sabha polls when Simranjit Singh Mann won said, “When Mann won, militancy was at its peak in Punjab. However now, neither is there militancy nor any radical ideology. If under normal circumstances, Amritpal wins, it will have a huge impact, as Amritpal is a new entrant in the political system. It would be interesting to see what would be his agenda and how he will achieve it,” he said.
Jagtar also said that he did not consider Simranjit Singh Mann a big factor, as when he won the Sangrur bypoll, he had already contested many elections. “He remained an MP earlier and knew the ins and outs of politics. However, Amritpal is contesting elections for the first time.”
On why Amritpal is getting so much support, Jagtar drew a parallel between Bhindrawale and Amritpal and said that at the social-cultural level, the issues from 1989 continued to hibernate. “Hibernation is a process in which after some time the subject finally comes to the fore. Interestingly, drugs were an issue during Bhindrawale’s time too, where youth used to consume opium and narcotic tablets. He too had started a campaign against drugs but never joined politics,” he said.
However, Amritpal has become a big factor in these polls. “All eyes are on June 4, when the results will be declared,” he added.
