Amritpal Singh: Decoding the making of a radical

Glittering bangles cover her thin wrists. Stars sewn into her blue salwar kameez sparkle. She sits, precariously, on the edge of a bed, like a ship anchored in a tumultuous sea. She is Kirandeep Kaur, wife of Amritpal Singh, radical Sikh preacher and India’s most wanted man.

Kirandeep, 29, married Amritpal in February, months after he took over as the leader of the radical group Waris Punjab De. The wedding took place in a gurdwara at Jallupur Khera, a village of 250 families in Punjab’s Amritsar district. She has been in Amritpal’s ancestral bungalow for the past two months, watching herself and the family plunge into crisis as Amritpal became a man on the run. “This is going to be my first long spell without him since I got married,” she said.

In his absence, it is Kirandeep who is taking care of Amritpal’s distraught parents, sister-in-law and children. Outside the iron gate―which has the letters AKF etched on it, after the Anandpur Khalsa Army―CCTV cameras keep watch on every movement. It is a world far away from the one she grew up in.

Born and raised in the UK, Kirandeep was a physiotherapist and interpreter when she met Amritpal online. She ran a radio programme on Punjab, titled Punjab Diya Leheran (The waves of Punjab). When she decided to marry Amritpal, she said, she knew that he was a man with a mission.

"I understood and accepted it," said Kirandeep. "He told me, ‘If I have to choose between panth and our relationship, panth would be first.' I knew I was his second priority.”

But Amritpal was also a caring husband. “Would I have married him if I knew he could not give me time and did not care about me? He really loves me and cannot bear to see me upset. He has always been gentle and caring,” she said.

The past two months, however, have been extraordinary for the couple. Amritpal, 29, started giving incendiary speeches, spreading fear and disharmony, and his supporters brandished swords and guns, attacking policemen and causing social unrest. The Punjab Police slapped six FIRs against Amritpal and arrested hundreds of his associates. As he went into hiding to evade arrest, the National Investigation Agency began investigating his alleged terror links. The Union government took unprecedented steps to catch him―lookout notices at airports, seaports and international borders, as Punjab witnessed the biggest manhunt since the dark days of terror in 1984.

Kirandeep’s life has plunged into a deep well of uncertainty. Camping outside Amritpal’s home, a quiet place until recently, are dozens of journalists and cameramen who relentlessly chase the family for soundbites. The relatives hardly open the gate, except when they are forced to counter stories about Amritpal’s alleged terror links and anti-national operations.

THE WEEK met Amritpal’s uncle Sukhchain Singh. He reluctantly opened the gate when I told him that I had come only to listen. He led me to a veranda inside the compound, and offered me water. Near the veranda were stacks of mattresses―meant for Amritpal’s close associates who used to visit often.

Sukhchain said he and Amritpal’s family had been residents of Jallupur Khera for nearly 25 years. Sukhchain lives in another house that the family owns nearby. “We made good money from a truck business in Dubai. We all have worked hard to build the wealth,” he said.

According to Sukhchain, the allegations against Amritpal are part of a political conspiracy hatched by the drug mafia in Punjab. “Amritpal was running a de-addiction campaign,” he said. “He rose in stature in the community so fast that powerful forces decided to go after him. He has not murdered or robbed anyone. He has given some statements, but he has not threatened to kill anyone.”

The Punjab Police, however, accuse Amritpal of having direct links with Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the US-based founder of the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), which has huge traction in Canada. The police also say they have unearthed evidence of Waris Punjab De receiving funds from dubious sources. With the support of a section of the Sikh diaspora in the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, Greece and Australia, SFJ and similar outfits have been whipping up pro-Khalistan sentiments. The sentiment is yet to find organic traction in Punjab, though.

Amritpal’s father, Tarsem Singh, has four brothers―Sukhchain, Harjit, Prem and Manjeet. Both Prem and Manjeet work with Tarsem in Dubai, while Sukhchain takes care of the family back home. Harjit, accused of being an old Khalistan hand who influenced Amritpal, was arrested in Jalandhar on March 20. Tarsem came to India early this year for the wedding, but he has since been busy handling Amritpal’s court cases. Sukhchain has been holding fort in Jallupur Khera in his absence.

Amritpal has two siblings―a brother who lives in Dubai and a sister in Canada. The family is well-knit, in personal as well as business matters. Amritpal was brought up by uncles, aunts and cousins, and he had little time to mingle with friends in the village before he left for Dubai after finishing school. He joined the family business after he failed to graduate from a polytechnic.

Apparently, his radical transformation began around this time. Amritpal’s mother, Balwinder Kaur, was the first to spot the troubling signs. “He cut his hair before he went to Dubai, and the family was very upset with him,” she said. “After that, I saw less and less of him. He was working and did not come to India often.”

As a child, said Balwinder, Amritpal was rather undemanding. “He would eat anything I cooked. I used to ask him [whether he wanted anything else] but he never demanded anything. In fact, when we used to fry pakodas, he would refuse to eat them,” she said. Apparently, Amritpal did not like fried food.

In Dubai, Amritpal joined a gym to bulk up. “Once back home, he never had time to exercise. He used to sleep and wake up late,” said Balwinder.

For a devout Sikh to not wake up to pray before sunrise is unusual, but Balwinder said Amritpal slept late because of his commitment to work. “He would be on his phone till late at night. He would wake up by around 11am sometimes,” she said.

Neighbours Parvinder Kaur and Rajwant Kaur have known Amritpal’s family for many years. Amritpal, they say, grew up in front of them. “My daughter studied with him in Class 5,” said Parvinder. “Amritpal was respectful towards his elders; he was a good child.”

Rajwant said Amritpal was always courteous and appeared happy in helping his family business grow. The police, however, say he once angered elderly people during an event in Moga district. Apparently, Amritpal took away their chairs and asked them to squat on the floor like everyone else. Upset, the elders reportedly stopped following him.

Did his followers lead Amritpal down the path of violent radicalism? “It appears that quite a few of them (followers) had criminal backgrounds and cases against them for indulging in vandalism and other crimes. Lumpen elements were getting attracted to him,” Amit Prasad, additional director general of police (counter intelligence) in Punjab told THE WEEK.

A senior NIA officer in Delhi said Amritpal was not following the traditional Sikh way of life. “The Ajnala violence (the storming of the Ajnala police station in Amritsar by Amritpal and supporters), his gang of drug addicts and [instances of] car snatching by close associates do not match with the principles of any religion or with the sentiment he was trying to tap into. There was disconnect with the Sikh ideology as well as the masses,” said the officer.

Amritpal was also reportedly suffering from health issues. The police said he was admitted to a hospital last year when he was leading a religious procession called Khalsa Vaheer in Amritsar. The illness apparently forced him to a take a weeklong break. “We do not know if he had a headache or seizure, but there was some issue,” said an officer.

Shehnaz, Amritpal’s sister-in-law, said he underwent an eye surgery in Georgia. “He wanted to get his eyesight corrected to avoid wearing spectacles,” she said. According to Shehnaz, there is suspicion that Amritpal went to Georgia to receive terror training, even though there are records proving that he underwent the surgery.

There is little information about Amritpal’s activities abroad before he became infamous. Intelligence agencies have been poring over evidence, digital and physical, seized from Amritpal’s house to find out whether he was involved in anti-national activities. “Some old CDs, a pen drive with some songs, a few tablets used by my father and daughter were seized during searches,” said Shehnaz. The allegations against Amritpal, she said, had made life difficult; she has not been able to send her daughter to school since he went missing.

“There was tension in the area after the Ajnala incident,” said Harkrishan Singh, deputy superintendent of police in Jallupur Khera. “But there is peace in the area now. Almost 75 per cent of the population here is against him.”

An eerie calm now surrounds Jallupur Khera, some 10km off the highway from Amritsar. On the outskirts of the village is the gurdwara compound where Amritpal used to run his de-addiction centre.

Sukhchain said their family always tried to give back to the community and Amritpal was doing the same. Starting a de-addiction centre in the gurdwara complex is unusual, but Amritpal did it. The police say it served as a front for setting up his own militia. Around 70 drug addicts were allegedly recruited and trained to launch a strike at short notice.

According to Harkrishan, there were no medical professionals or facilities at the de-addiction centre. “It was an excuse to form a band of drug addicts that would work for him,” he told THE WEEK. “When a police team reached the place, we were told that the drug addicts living there had left.” He said the centre became empty after the Ajnala violence. The police later nabbed some of the inmates.

Gurmukh Singh, a sevadar (volunteer) at the gurdwara, said the centre had rehabilitated around 20 addicts. They would visit the centre and the adjacent langar (community kitchen) hall every day, and engage in activities like cleaning and serving food. “The activities used to keep them so busy that they ended up quitting drugs,” said Gurmukh. “Drug addiction is so rampant here that we even had a schoolboy come in here once.”

Harpreet Singh, another sevadar, said Amritpal worked so closely with the addicts that he barely had time to pray or interact with the sevadars.

Balbir Singh, a villager who regularly visits the gurdwara, said people came to the centre on their own. “No one was forced to come here,” he said. “Only those who really wanted to quit drugs came. They would spend 10 days to three months here before leaving.”

The centre has been closed since February 15. A poster on the wall with Amritpal’s picture says it has been shifted to Moga district. But the sevadars say the Jallupur Khera centre was the only one run by Amritpal. Apparently, the Punjab government has taken steps to trace and shut down all de-addiction centres run by Amritpal or his associates.

Neutralising Amritpal’s influence, which now extends beyond Jallupur Khera, would be a more difficult task. Amritpal has been projecting himself as a follower of militant leader J.S. Bhindranwale, who was killed during Operation Blue Star in 1984. News of his rise has reached Jasbir Singh, Bhindranwale’s nephew, in Rode village in Moga district.

Jasbir said Amritpal rose in stature because of his efforts to rehabilitate drug addicts. “Yes, he got emotional about certain issues and made strong statements,” said Jasbir. “Anyone can make a mistake. It is not that he has been working underground. Every meeting and programme was held in front of everyone.”

Jasbir has been under the scanner for allegedly supporting Lakhbir Singh Rode, his brother and chief of the separatist Khalistan Zindabad Force. Lakhbir, who is based in Pakistan, has been accused of being involved in several terror attacks in India and abroad.

Jasbir says he has met Amritpal. According to him, Amritpal is just one among many aspiring Bhindranwales in Punjab. “There is no successor [to Bhindranwale],” said Jasbir. “Bhindranwale was unique. But, there are many Amritpals. One has just gained limelight.”