Radical Sikhs float Amritpal-led Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De)
A five-member executive committee was constituted to oversee the working of the outfit until Amritpal Singh, the regular president, was not elected through an electoral process of the party
Radical Sikh leaders launched a regional party, the Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De), at a political conference on the sidelines of the annual Maghi Mela in Muktsar on Tuesday.
Terming it a ‘panthic front’, the leaders announced that Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, 31, who is lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA), is the party president. A 15-point resolution, called the ‘Shri Muktsar Sahib Declaration’, was passed at the Maghi conference.
A five-member executive committee was constituted to oversee the working of the party until Amritpal Singh, the regular president, was not elected through an electoral process of the party. The committee comprises Amritpal’s father Tarsem Singh, Faridkot Independent MP Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, who is the son of former PM Indira Gandhi’s assassin Beant Singh, Amarjit Singh, Harbhajan Singh Toor and Surjit Singh.
A seven-member recruitment committee was also constituted to conduct a membership drive of the party. It was announced that the committee would conduct a membership drive in three months and delegates would be elected by the members. The leaders also released the membership forms of the party and asked the attendees to fill them out.
A delegate meeting would be convened at Takht Damdama Sahib on Baisakhi to elect the new party president and other office-bearers, the leaders added.
“We are forming this party for the creation of ‘sarbat da bhala da raaj’ (welfare of all). We want to do something for the people. We are creating a platform to fight for the issues of our society,” Tarsem Singh said at the conference.
The executive committee announced the formation of a panel to decide the party’s constitution, agenda, policy and discipline. This panel will advise the executive committee on the organisational structure of the party and its activities.
Ever since returning from Dubai in 2022 to take over the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, the radical Sikh preacher styled himself after slain Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and shot into the limelight by making controversial statements and challenging the state’s authority.
The tipping point came when the Amritpal-led mob stormed the Ajnala police station to secure the release of his associate. The attack left several police officials injured and also vandalised government property.
He was arrested from Rode village in Moga in April 2023 after a month-long chase and lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam along with his nine aides under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Amritpal won from the Khadoor Sahib seat as an independent candidate, defeating his nearest rival Congress’ Kulbir Singh Zira, by a margin of 1,97,120 votes. In June last year, the Punjab government extended Amritpal and his aides’ detention by a year under the NSA.
The other points of the resolution include reforms in order to empower Sikh institutions. The leaders said experts will be encouraged to build a religious platform. “This platform will bring forth honest and hardworking Gursikhs for the elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC),” they added.
We aim to fill void left by SAD: Faridkot MP
Further, the leaders resolved that Akali Dal (WPD) will try to fulfil the need for a new political platform to build a people’s movement. “At present, there is an urgent need for an alternative to fill the void created after the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) was rejected by the people of Punjab,” the leaders added.
Faridkot MP Khalsa said: “Punjab needs an Akali Dal because it represents Sikhs. The previous Akali Dal lost the trust of the people so Akali Dal (WPD) is the new hope for the Sikh community. People should support the new party and make it successful. I urge everyone to bring as many people as possible to join the party. The so-called Akalis have confessed to their crimes before the Akal Takht, so they cannot face the people now.”
Further, they resolved to protect the Miri-Piri (a concept which means religion and politics go together in the Sikh faith) principle of Akal Takht Sahib, demand the release of Sikh prisoners, extend support to ongoing farmers’ agitation, appeal for unity to create an alternative narrative of Sikh politics, return to Anandpur initiative to bring drug addicts to religious fold to reform them, make efforts to stop migration of youngster to abroad, efforts to bring strict law against desecration of holy books including Guru Granth Sahib and to provide conducive environment for all religions.
The conference also demanded a restructuring of the Punjab police. The resolution read: “Special efforts will be made to teach human values to the police to end the practice of false police encounters and inhumane torture. There is a dire need for restructuring of the Punjab Police at present. The present police system was created by the British and there is no place for the general public in this structure.”