Waris Punjab Dey supporters raise slogans in favor of their chief and separatist leader Amritpal Singh inside the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. , Photo Credit: AP
while Khalistan supporter Amritpal Singh remains at large after what appears to be A botched-up police operation to nab him On 18 March, concern over the presence of ‘sleeper cells’ or pro-terrorist elements in Punjab and other states of India has only grown.
The one-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, which has been facing flak over the poor law and order situation, has again found itself on the back foot after the police failed to arrest Singh. 30 year old head waris punjab day He dodged the police after his convoy was stopped in Jalandhar district. Mr Singh, who has at least half a dozen criminal cases against him, has been absconding ever since. This has raised questions on the efficiency of the police. Days after the crackdown on Mr Singh and others who were found disturbing law and order, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while hearing a habeas corpus petition, rapped the AAP government for “intelligence failure” as Mr Singh was not Caught in spite of the presence of an 80,000-strong police force in Punjab.
As Mr Singh’s whereabouts are yet to be confirmed, police say there is a possibility that ‘sleeper cells’ of Khalistan sympathizers are harboring the fugitives and trying to provide them safe passage. Security experts have long been pointing out that even if the Khalistan movement in Punjab has lost popular support, as evidenced by the negligible public support following the government’s crackdown on Mr. Singh, there are people abroad and elsewhere in India Who are interested in keeping alive the embers of the long dead Khalistan movement. These sleeper cells may be waiting for the right time to create disturbance and assess the strength and potential of AAP, which is newly in power in Punjab.
Over the past year, a series of incidents with Khalistan links have taken place in Punjab and neighboring Himachal Pradesh. In 2022, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the headquarters of the Punjab Police Intelligence Wing in Mohali. Police indicated the role of Babbar Khalsa International, a terrorist organization striving for a separate Sikh state, and a nexus of gangsters and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence in the attack. There was also a clash in Patiala between pro-Khalistan and anti-Khalistan groups. In Dharamshala, some Khalistan flags were found on the main gate and walls of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. All these incidents have again fueled the apprehensions of armed extremism.
Police have said that some of these incidents have the support of terrorists from abroad. This is an alarming trend and cannot be ignored. The current government cannot afford to lower its security in Punjab, which shares a border with hostile Pakistan. Treading with caution and sensitivity is the need of the hour.
The movement of drugs, cash, weapons and explosives from Pakistan to India through drones and other means has been a persistent concern. Who is receiving these, and where are these people located? They are apparently ‘sleeper cells’, located in the state and possibly elsewhere in the country.
Former Punjab Director General of Police Shashikant, who has worked in several intelligence agencies, says that the police should investigate further and find out the recipients of these drugs, cash, explosives and weapons which pose a serious threat to internal security. produce.
In June last year, the victory of well-known hardline Sikh leader and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann, who has been raising the slogan of Khalistan from time to time, from Punjab’s Sangrur parliamentary constituency was widely accepted. There are indications that fundamentalists are gaining strength and the narrative around Khalistan may get a boost. A few months later, the rapid rise of Mr Singh and the rise in Khalistan-related incidents have created ripples across the state and beyond.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has asserted that some people are trying to divide the state on communal lines for their vested interests and said that the actions and intentions of these leaders, who are hostile towards Punjab and its people, will not be justified. allowed at any cost. He has promised that he will be given a befitting reply. Amritpal Singh’s arrest can go a long way in instilling faith in the people towards the new government and its promises.