Does Pakistan’s ISI have a role in Khalistan propagator Amritpal Singh’s rise in Punjab?

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has reportedly provided a social media push to Amritpal Singh, a pro-Khalistan leader and the chief of Waris Punjab De.

Singh, whose hundreds of supporters armed with sharp weapons stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar last week, has been on the radar of India’s security agencies since he landed in India from Dubai in August 2022, as per The Times of India (TOI) report.

CNN-News18 has reported citing top intelligence sources that Pakistan’s intelligence agency has been endorsing Singh through “indirect funding routes”.

Let’s take a closer look at who Amritpal Singh is and if ISI has a role in his sudden rise in Punjab.

Who is Amritpal Singh?

Amritpal Singh, 30, was born in Jallupur Khera village in Punjab’s Amritsar district.

As per ThePrint, he studied till Class 10 and went on to enroll at a polytechnic in Kapurthala.

He dropped out from there and later left for Dubai for joining his family’s transport business in 2012.

He has been vocal about issues related to Sikhs on social media for at least the last five years, as per The Quint.

Before he returned to India last August, Singh spent one-and-a-half months in Georgia, Indian Express reported citing a senior officer with the Union government’s security establishment.

In September 2022, Singh was made the head of a faction of Waris Punjab De, a social organisation founded by late Punjabi actor and activist Deep Sidhu, reported ThePrint.

Sidhu had actively participated in the 2020 farmers’ protest against the Centre’s three farm laws. He died in a road accident last February.

The dastarbandi (turban-tying ceremony) of Singh was held at Rode village of Moga district — the ancestral village of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a militant Khalistan propagator, who was killed in Operation Blue Star in 1984.

Singh, who often dons a navy blue turban and white chola along with carrying a sword-sized kirpan, has called Bhindranwale an “inspiration”, reported ThePrint.

Dubbed ‘Bhindranwale 2.0’ by local media, Singh, however, has denied copying the slain Khalistan militant.

“I respect Bhindranwale so much that I cannot match him. I don’t care if the state calls me Bhindranwale 2.0 or 3.0. If they do then it is disrespectful to Bhindranwale, and I do not want that”, he told ThePrint last October.

Singh, who is surrounded by armed men for protection, has called on the Sikh youth to fight for “full freedom”.

“We all are still slaves… We have to fight for freedom… Our waters are being looted, and our Guru is being disrespected… The youth of Punjab should be ready to give up their lives for panth,” the Khalistan sympathiser was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

While he is criticised by many who accuse him of trying to destabilise Punjab, he is popular among his supporters for his efforts to revive Sikhi and his campaign against drugs, The Quint noted.

Does ISI have a role in Amritpal Singh’s rise?

As per the TOI newspaper report, the Central security agencies believe the rise of Amritpal Singh is an attempt by ISI to plant a “real, flesh and blood cult leader” in Punjab and flare secessionist sentiments, especially among the social media-savvy youth.

He was also pointed out as a potential threat by these agencies from “day one” when he returned to India last year, senior officers told the newspaper.

Singh’s followers have grown and he has developed a “private army” of gun-wielding supporters, whose number has increased from four-five to almost 20-25 now, the report added.

As per the Central security agencies, Singh first showed “signs of radicalisation” during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was out of business, reported TOI. 

It is then that he started following stories on Bhindranwale and social media posts by Sikh radical leaders. He also got in touch with Sidhu, particularly during the year-long farmers’ protests.

A source told TOI that at this time Singh was “spotted” by ISI agents and was eventually “groomed” to talk in such a way that would “touch a chord with the radically-inclined Sikhs, both in India and abroad”.

The report further said citing an officer that Singh has been backed by Avtar Singh Khanda, a UK-based radical leader linked with Khalistan TV.

Khanda has reportedly used his purported connections with radical Sikh outfits that have leaders based abroad, who are in touch with ISI, to support Singh as a “pro-Khalistan icon”.

According to CNN-News18, under the ISI’s social media push, young Sikhs in the 18-25 age group are being targeted through Facebook and Instagram with pictures of alleged “suppression” and “atrocities” on Sikhs in India.

These are being promoted through advertisements which are also visible in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany, sources told CNN-News18.

These ads are also highlighting the similarity in the way of dressing and style of Amritpal Singh with that of Bhindranwale, the report added.

The intelligence sources further said that the comments on such posts are not from India’s Punjab but from Pakistan’s Punjab province, while they are visible in India through VPN with the location set as the UK, Canada, or Germany.

As per Indian Express, in a presentation on 22 January to prime minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav had ‘red-flagged’ the rise of Amritpal Singh.

The home ministry is keeping a close watch on the situation in Punjab and a probe is underway to find out who is funding Singh, as per media reports.

“Often a meteoric rise is met by an equally rapid fall. Amritpal will make his mistakes, and hopefully, the state government will act against him at least then. At the same time, since larger national security could be at stake, the Centre will do its bit to keep nudging the Punjab government and intervene where necessary and as per the Constitutional scheme of things,” a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) functionary told TOI.

With inputs from agencies

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