Punjab: A day after Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh released a video saying he was in high spirit (Chardhi Kala), another video clip has surfaced in which he claimed that he was not afraid of arrest. He asserted he was not a fugitive and would soon appear before the world.
He also debunked speculation that he was negotiating his surrender and nudged the Akal Takht again to summon a “sarbat khalsa” congregation.
The Facebook live video came out on Thursday evening, five hours after he released an audio message at around 4 pm. Unlike Wednesday, he does not wrap a shawl around him and is seen in a white kurta and black turban.
“Those who feel that I have turned fugitive and I have left my associates, they should not keep this illusion in their mind. I do not fear death,” he said in the video in Punjabi.
“And soon will appear before the world and will also be amongst the ‘Sangat’,” he said.
In the video, Amritpal again made an appeal to Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh, for holding a ‘vaheer’ from Akal Takht, Amritsar, and conclude it at Damdama Sahib on Baisakhi by holding Sarbat Khalsa there on that day.
“This is your testing time. The Sikh community is watching as to how serious you are for their cause. You face blame for your affiliations to a family. But this is the time to get out of such blame,” he said.
Amritpal said he would surely come out in public soon. He trashed the views of some people that he could get his hair shorn again. He stated, “I will get my head removed before I do that”. He termed his 13-day escape from the police as a ‘period of revolt’.
“We should understand that today is the time for the entire community to come together,” he added, calling for “unity” among Sikh bodies.
He also referred to some media reports suggesting that he had put conditions for his surrender, including that he should not be subjected to torture. He has not spoken to anyone over offering arrest, and there have been no conditions put by him, the fugitive said.
Amritpal remains untraceable since March 18, when he gave the slip to a police dragnet in Jalandhar, switching cars and changing appearances.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government has informed the Akal Takht that almost all the people taken into preventive custody – 348 out of 360 – during the crackdown against Amritpal Singh and his ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit have now been released.
