Authorities in New Delhi had been stalking Singh since the 30-year-old Sikh leader and his supporters, armed with swords, knives and guns, stormed a police station in February. Earlier, one of Singh’s assistants had been arrested for assault and alleged attempted kidnapping. Several police officers were injured in the attack in broad daylight in a suburb of Amritsar. This increased the pressure on the authorities to take action against the radical preacher.
Since then, the police have tried unsuccessfully to arrest Singh for weeks. He almost got caught in mid-March after reportedly escaping police on a motorcycle after changing at a Sikh temple.
Internet turned off for days
During the manhunt, the authorities in Punjab, with its 30 million inhabitants, switched off the mobile internet for days. Gatherings of more than four people have been banned in some regions. More than a hundred followers of Singh were arrested.
After allegedly being spotted in the capital New Delhi and elsewhere, Singh released a video in late March mocking the authorities and describing the police operation as an “attack on the Sikh community”.
anger abroad
The persecution had also caused a stir internationally. Supporters organized demonstrations in front of Indian consulates in the UK, Canada and the US, some of which were accompanied by vandalism. Demonstrators smashed windows in San Francisco, an Indian flag was torn from the embassy in London, and a Gandhi statue vandalized in the Canadian province of Ontario.
India summoned the diplomatic representatives of the US, UK and Canada to New Delhi to protest and demand that the security of Indian missions in those countries be guaranteed. India has repeatedly complained about the activities of the Sikh diaspora abroad and accused them of providing financial support to the separatist movement.
Fight for “Khalistan”
Sikhs are a religious minority in India, but make up the majority of the population of the Punjab, which borders Pakistan: around 58 percent of the population belong to the religion. With the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a city of over a million inhabitants in Punjab, the state is also home to the spiritual center of Sikhism.
Singh, who quickly gained popularity, is considered an advocate of “Khalistan,” the idea of a separate Sikh homeland. The separatist movement in Punjab was particularly active in the 1980s, which resulted in an armed conflict between the Indian government and Sikhs.
80’s Separatist Leaders as “Inspiration”
The leader of the separatists was the preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who holed up in the Golden Temple with hundreds of followers in 1984 – and was ultimately killed by the Indian army during the controversial “Operation Blue Star” along with his followers, mostly young men. As a result, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was murdered by her two Sikh bodyguards – which in turn led to riots. Ultimately, thousands of Sikhs lost their lives. In the 1990s, the separatist movement lost importance.
For Singh, Bhindranwale is an “inspiration” – the 30-year-old also looks like him. Singh takes similar views, as the BBC writes. For example, he says statehood for Sikhs is the only “permanent solution” to Punjab’s problems, from water disputes to drug addiction to the demise of Punjabi culture, according to the BBC.
The Punjab is considered a relatively prosperous country. But recently the state has been struggling with persistent unemployment. A crisis in agriculture is also sapping the state’s reputation – Singh would use that to his advantage, experts at the BBC say. Social networks also played an important role in Singh’s rise – because he could use them to reach more people.
