JOIN US2 videos, 1 audio: A look at Amritpal Singh's messages
Amid a police crackdown on Amritpal Singh and his outfit, the pro-Khalistan preacher has released two videos and one audio clip over the last couple of days. From calling for a 'Sarbat Khalsa' to discuss issues related to the Sikh community to debunking speculation that he was negotiating his surrender with the police, Amritpal Singh has sent several messages to the government, police, as well as the Sikh community.
Let us take a look at his key messages through the two videos and the audio clip:
1. In a video audio clip that surfaced on Thurdsay, radical preacher Amritpal Singh asserted he was not a fugitive and would soon appear before the world.
2. Singh said that he was not afraid of death in his second video. "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.
3. The pro-Khalistan preacher said he was not like those who would flee the country. "One has to face a lot during the days of rebellion… These days of rebellion are difficult to pass," he said.
4. "I want to tell the government that I did not fear them before and I don't fear them now. Whatever they have to do they may do... I cannot even think of becoming a fugitive," Amritpal Singh said, adding that he was not afraid of getting arrested.
5. Earlier on Thursday, Amritpal Singh, in an audio clip debunked speculation that he was negotiating his surrender.
6. In the audio message, he again nudged the Akal Takht again to summon a “Sarbat Khalsa” congregation to discuss issues related to the Sikh community. "I have urged the jathedar to call the sarbat khalsa. Call the sarbat khalsa, and prove that you are the jathedar,” he said in the new audio clip.
7. Piling pressure on the Sikh body, he said, “If we are going to play politics even today, doing the same things we used to do earlier, then what’s the point of being a jathedar in the future,” he said in Punjabi. In his first video too, the pro-Khalistan preacher had asked the jathedar (or chief) of the highest temporal body of Sikhs to summon a congregation of the faithful to discuss issues concerning the community.
8. There was no immediate comment by police on the authenticity of the nearly two-minute audio clip in which the pro-Khalistan preacher accuses the government of committing “oppression”.
9. Police have stepped up security in and around Amritsar and Bathinda amid reports that Amritpal Singh may surrender after entering any of the two Sikh shrines - Golden Temple in Amritsar and Takht Sri Damdama Sahib in Bathinda.
10. The preacher remains untraceable since March 18, when he gave the slip to a police dragnet in Jalandhar, switching cars and changing appearances. Several videos and images have appeared on social media that purportedly showed him alone and with his aides in different areas. However, his exact location is not yet known, though police believe he is in Punjab and has been trying to enter Amritsar for the past few days.