On Sunday, old tweets of Aam Aadmi Party’s Himachal Pradesh state social media president Harpreet Singh Bedi went viral on Twitter in India over his pro-Khalistan stances. The AAP member from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh deleted his Twitter account after his blatant demands for a separate Khalsa state created a controversy on social media.
On Sunday, many Twitter users including popular user @BefittingFacts pointed out Harpreet Singh Bedi’s Twitter presence, which included Pro-Khalistani quotes, replies and tweets from his handle since 2012. Netizens pointed out Bedi demanding Khalistan as a ‘constitutional right’ in his many conversations on the social media platform. OpIndia conducted a further scanning of his account in which his open support for Khalistan comes out. This comes at a time when the Aam Aadmi Party has already been accused of taking Khalistani support to win the recent Punjab assembly elections.
Meet Aam Aadmi Party Himanchal Social Media president Harpreet Singh Bedi, he believes “demand for Khalistan is constitutional right”. He has been supporting Khalistan for movement for atleast 10 years.@ArvindKejriwal pic.twitter.com/f9Lg98hS02
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) May 1, 2022
Since AAP social media convenor Harpreet Singh Bedi’s Twitter handle @iHarpreetSBedi no longer exists, here is a gist of his pro-Khalistani exercises on social media, layered with separatist sentiments against the Indian state. In 2012, Bedi put out tweets asking vehemently in reference to one Jathedar Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana that Amritsar and Khalisatan should be declared free and one must continue to fight for freedom. “Such is the power of a true saint-soldier of the Khalsa Panth. Stand tall and pledge Orange and Pledge Khalistan!” he was seen tweeting.
In the same year, he was seen hilariously sharing a morphed image of conceptualised ‘Khalistani Dollar’ with an image of terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the Golden Temple in Amritsar in the back.
Furthermore, Bedi was also seen justifying giving separatist slogans for demanding Khalistan as non-seditious. “If saying Khalistan is Deshdroha (sedition) then saying Hindustan is also the same according to the constitution,” one of his tweets reads. In a conversation with another Twitter user, he referred to draftsmen of the Constituent assembly as ‘Your leaders’ suggesting a difference from his own. As late as May 2020, Bedi could be seen reiterating his demand for Khalistan, which suggests that he stood for what he demanded for more than 10 years until now.
Bedi could be seen arguing with Congress leaders from the state over the 1984 genocide of Sikhs and the operation Blue-Star led by Indira Gandhi as a basis for his demand for a separate Khalsa state. He was seen accusing former Punjab CM Capt. Amrinder Singh that he was the one who had signed papers for Khalistan earlier. Bedi was seen trolling Congress leaders and state party handle over the same.
Bedi in a June 2020 tweet was seen accusing the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi of butchering (Sikhs). He pointed out the alleged hypocrisy of Congress leaders in supporting a movement for Khalistan and thereafter killing the Sikhs in his tweets directed to the party.
Bedi was also seen seeking legitimacy for the Khalistan movement by citing ‘The Gandhi family’s role in attacking the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar.
In 2019, Bedi was seen asking Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra, ‘Since Muslims and Dalits are being allegedly killed in the name of Ram and Cow, Why can’t Khalistan Zindabad be said when Constitution gives the right to do so?”
After Harpreet Singh Bedi was caught in the controversy over his Khalistani sympathetic behaviours on Twitter, he took no time to deactivate his account. As of now, his Twitter handle no longer exists on the social media platform.
How is Harpreet Singh Bedi associated with AAP?
Harpreet Singh Bedi’s Twitter handle described himself as State President for Social Media AAP Himachal. According to his bio, he was a former Punjab representative for Chattra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, the youth wing of AAP. When his controversial tweets were pointed out by people on Twitter, he tried to hide his credentials related to AAP by deleting his bio before his account was deleted altogether.
Information on his association with AAP was cross-verified on Facebook after the same person was seen posting an update about his role in AAP Himachal Pradesh in June 2021. Bedi was also seen posing with Lal Chand Kataruchakk who currently serves as the Food & Civil Supplies Consumer Affairs Minister in the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP Government in Punjab.
After Harpreet Singh Bedi’s continued open support for Khalistan was exposed, accusations of AAP rallying support from Khalistanis during the Punjab assembly elections have been underlined yet again. On Friday, Clashes erupted between Khalistan supporters and members of a Hindu organisation outside the hallowed Ma Kali Temple in Punjab’s Patiala. In February, former AAP member Kumar Vishwas had also called out Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal for extending support to Khalistani separatists.
