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New panthic party needed to raise Sikh issues, says Amritpal
Amritpal Singh calls for a new political party in Punjab, addressing Sikh issues amid Akali Dal's decline, aiming for regional rights and unity.
A day after jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh’s father Tarsem Singh announced to float of a new panthic party, a statement of the radical Sikh preacher has emerged in which he has said that with the marginalisation of (Shiromani ) Akali Dal, there is a need for a new platform to raise the issue of panth and state effectively.
The statement on micro-blogging site X, Amritpal read: “On appeal of Sangat (community) and after a long discussion, we have decided that Punjab needs a regional political party to deal with the issues being faced by the state and panth. Due to the marginalisation of Akali Dal, Sikh issues have disappeared from politics. And other organisations which call themselves Panthic have failed to gain space at the grassroots level in sangat”.
Amritpal and his nine aides are lodged in Dibrugarh jail of Assam under the National Security Act (NSA) and the statement it seems has been released by the team which handles the radical Sikh preacher’s social media handle.
“The objective of the party is the struggle for the rights of Punjab. To get the demands of Punjab and panth met. We will also present a resolution which will be the basis of the struggle for more rights to Punjab. This struggle will be converted into a mass movement by bringing organisations which are struggling on various issues, under one flag”, the statement further said.
The post further said that this statement was issued after Amritpal’s wife Kirandeep Kaur met him in Assam on Monday.
Tarsem Singh flanked by his wife Balwinder Kaur, on Sunday, announced the launch of a political party in Punjab to address the concerns of the “panth” and for “the welfare of all” after offering prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Earlier this year, Amritpal, who is lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA), won the Lok Sabha elections from the Khadoor Sahib seat in Punjab. His family’s announcement assumes significance in view of the upcoming assembly bypolls in the four constituencies of Barnala, Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak and Hoshiarpur in Punjab.
Tarsem said Punjab is going through a “sensitive phase”. “We have prayed before the Akal Takht for the formation of a new party. The party will be for the welfare of all and will follow the principle of ‘manas ki jaat sabhay eke pechanbo’ (equality of mankind),” he said on the fourth foundation day of Amritpal’s organisation, Waris Punjab De.
