Since Punjab Police started the massive crackdown on pro-Khalistan separatist leader Amritpal Singh, he has been projected as a saviour on social media platforms. In fact, the mother of controversial singer and Congress leader late Sidhu Moosewala also praised him for the so-called anti-drug drives he was running in Punjab. In her address at an event on Moosewala’s death anniversary, she said, “On one hand, gangsters are signing death warrants while in prison. On the other hand, they [government] are trying to frame Amritpal Singh, who brought people closer to Sikhism and taught them to stay away from drugs.”
Many social media users are laying down a narrative that the idea behind the crackdown on Amritpal is his anti-drug drive in the state.
For example, Twitter user Aman Singh wrote, “IT cell people must understand who Amritpal Singh is and why all politicians across all parties joined hands against him. Tomorrow your kids & families can also be victims of this drug menace supported by these political parties, stand with him instead of being against him.”
He shared a video clip where a Sikh man praising Amritpal said, “A mother came to me asking for help for putting her son in a rehabilitation centre. When I asked her to put her wherever she wanted, and I would pay, she said no, send him to Amritpal. There is hope in mothers in Punjab.” He further added mothers do not trust the leaders in Punjab as they know the reverse would happen. “Do we really need to define his [Amritpal] character? Do we need to tell what position he holds among the masses?”
IT cell people must understand who is Amritpal Singh and why all politicians across all parties joined hands against him.
— Aman Singh (@amansinghlasuri) March 18, 2023
Tomorrow your kids & families can also be victim of this drug menace supported by these political parties, stand with him instead being against. pic.twitter.com/OYr5UASFyy
Similarly, many such tweets and videos are circulated on social media platforms painting Amritpal as some crusader against the drug menace in Punjab. Twitter user Simran shared a video where five Sikhs narrated how they used to take drugs but stopped after joining Amritpal. All of them were carrying weapons.
Twitter user Gurpreet shared a video of a Sikh youth asking what Amritpal did wrong. He claimed he stopped taking drugs after Amritpal baptised him.
Twitter user Baljinder shared a video of a youth seeking help from Amritpal to leave rugs.
Daljeet shared a video of Amritpal guiding youth to leave drugs.
Prabh claimed Amritpal worked against drugs and genocide and preached the way of Sikh Gurus.
Vikky said Singh was in politics to stop corruption, drugs and gangs.
The drug problem in Punjab
Drug addiction is a major issue in Punjab. Large quantities of drugs get smuggled into the state from neighbouring states and Pakistan ruining generations after generations. According to a report by India Today from December 2022, around 190 cases of drug overdose deaths were reported from March 2022 to December 2022. In Bathinda, a district that topped the chart, 31 such cases were reported, followed by Tarn Taran and Ferozepur with 24 and 21 deaths, respectively. No district is untouched by the drug menace in Punjab.
Quoting Kirti Kisan Union president Nirbhay Singh, India today reported the possible involvement of police officials in drug trafficking. Nirbhay said, “Half of the police officials are drug addicts. What can be expected from tainted police officers? When the police are selling the drugs themselves, how can the menace be controlled? Police officials involved in drug smuggling and peddling have kept their own agents in villages who sell drugs without any fear.”
In September last year, several videos of drug addicts in Punjab surfaced on social media. Interestingly, those videos surfaced right on the time when Amritpal was about to officially take over Waris Punjab De.
The rise of cults in the guise of de-addiction in Punjab
The drug problem is deeply rooted in the state to a level that self-proclaimed Godmen like Ram Rahim used it to form a cult-type following. His organisation is running several de-addiction centres under Dera Sacha Sauda. Similarly, Radha Soami Dera Beas, Dera Baba Jagmail Singh, and others are running de-addiction centres. Several NGOs in Punjab are also indulged in similar activities. Despite so many efforts, the addiction problem has seen a steep rise in the state.
The connection between drugs, Khalistan and Pakistan
In September 2020, OpIndia reported Pakistan’s vicious narco-terrorism plan in India and its connection to the Khalistan movement. Narco-terrorism as a word was first used in the 1980s in the US when drug smugglers in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, and other Central Americans started using the illegal trade as a profession. Their impact on the economy in the region was so deep that they virtually ran the parallel government. The US became the largest consumer of the produced drugs, and the country is still struggling with the problem.
Siegfried O. Wolf, in ‘Pakistan’s bigger plans of narco-terrorism, said that in the last years, it had established smuggling networks across India, especially in the Kashmir Valley. The network helps in a steady supply of weapons and narcotics. After the major terrorist attacks in Uri and Pulwama, India increased security measures that resulted in the suspension of traditional smuggling routes. Pakistan shifted its concentration to other land-based trafficking routes via Punjab and Gujarat. Border Security forces seized several consignments on the India-Pakistan border that contained weapons and narcotics.
The drug problem in the state can be tracked to the time of insurgency in Punjab. There has been an increase in such cases in recent times. Some notable cases help explore the connection between Pakistan’s ISI and Khalistan Movement. Several cases, including 532 KG of heroin seized on the Attari border in June 2019, were linked to terrorist outfits.
In July 2019, there were reports that Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorists smuggled drugs into India to fuel terror activities in Punjab. The report mentioned three instances linked to Paramjit Singh Panjwar, chief of Khalistan Commando Force, a terrorist organisation based in Lahore since 1994.
The security agencies and media reports have already established the link between Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and Pakistan. Recently, Punjab Police said Amritpal Singh was also linked to ISI. His treasurer was receiving funds from Pakistan, as per the Police.
Bhindranwale and Amritpal’s de-addiction drive
In the late 1980s, one of the issues that Bhindranwale picked was the drug problem among youth. He lured families to follow him to get the addicts out of the drug problem. When he started preaching Sikhism across Punjab and urged the youth to get baptized, the state had a drug problem. He raised his voice against drugs, smoking, and other social evils including dowry and atrocities against women. It worked for Bhindranwale, and it is serving Amritpal Singh in the same way. When Singh started his state-wide march codename Khalsa Vaheer, he called upon the youth to leave drugs. Being a good orator and the name of Bhindranwale worked well among the hopeless families in Punjab, and many addicts started to reach his village centre.
As per the reports, Singh used his de-addiction centre as a front for recruiting youth for his Khalistan movement.
