On April 23, pro-Khalistani separatist leader Amritpal Singh surrendered at Sant Khalsa Gurudwara in village Rode, district Moga, Punjab. Waris Punjab De’s chief strategically selected the Gurudwara to surrender, subtly establishing a deeper link with Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
As per the Gurudwara cleric, Amritpal Singh reached Gurudwara on Saturday night and informed the police that he wanted to surrender. The police came at around 7 AM and arrested him. Keeping the sanctity of the holy place in mind, the police decided not to enter the Gurudwara and Amritpal Singh himself came out to surrender.
On the other hand, police have maintained their position claiming Amritpal Singh was arrested, and he did not surrender. Police have already invoked National Security Act (NSA) against Amritpal Singh, and he was taken to Dibrugarh, Assam, for further investigation.
Choosing Sant Khalsa Gurudwara was a strategic move
In September 2022, when Amritpal Singh returned to India from Dubai to officially take over the Waris Punjab De organisation, he went to Rode village for the Dastarbandi ceremony. The auspicious ceremony of Sikhs in which a turban is tied on the head of a newly baptised Sikh was held at the Sant Khalsa Gurudwara. Village Rode is the ancestral village of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Amritpal Singh has been trying to establish himself as the 2.0 version of Bhindranwale. Before the scheduled surrender, an ardas (prayer) was held at the Gurudwara in presence of Jasbir Rode and head granthi Balwinder Singh.
When Amritpal surrendered, he was dressed exactly like Bhindranwale. It is a reminiscence of the time when Bhindranwale surrendered at Mehta Chowk Gurudwara in September 1981 in connection to the murder of Lala Jagat Narain. Bhindranwale was released a month after the arrest. He addressed his supporters present at Mehta Chowk before surrendering to the police. In a similar way, Amritpal Singh gave a small speech at Sant Khalsa Gurudwara before surrendering to the police.
Bhindranwale’s family, including his brothers and nephews, lives in Rode Village. The place of his birth was converted into Sant Khalsa Gurudwara, and it was open to the public in 2018. Amritpal is doing everything to match the rise of Bhindranwale. Before the arrest, he was running deaddiction camps. He launched Khalsa Vahir, a march across Punjab, to connect with the Sikhs.
In the late 1980s, Bhindranwale too marched across Punjab, met people, and asked them to take Sikhism and leave drugs. At one point, Bhindranwale became so popular and powerful that people started to attend his courts to solve disputes rather than going to law enforcement agencies. Had Amritpal Singh not been arrested, he would have been walking on the same path at a faster pace.
#Amritpal_Singh's video before arrest, sitting in front of Khalistani Bhindranwale's photo at the gurdwara in Rode village, Moga. pic.twitter.com/0hC8lzm3p9
— Nikhil Choudhary (@NikhilCh_) April 23, 2023
The importance of becoming a shadow of Bhindranwale is clear because there is a video of Amritpal Singh circling on social media where he was seen paying respect to a portrait of Bhindranwale minutes before the arrest.
