A dangerous turn in Punjab

India's politicians will have to place national interest ahead of electoral benefit to combat the emergence of the new Khalistan movement

- VIR SANGHVI

Every single time, I interviewed Amarinder Singh when he was chief minister of Punjab, he came E was, he said, a concerted attempt to revive the Khalistan movement. The campaign had very little to do with Sikhs in Punjab but was financed from abroad.

There were, he suggested, extremist Sikh groups in such countries as Canada who were backing this campaign. And, of course, Pakistan was providing support.

It was probably the mastermind of the strategy.

His concern, he said, was that we were not paying enough attention. And though he had cried himself hoarse about the growth of an imported Khalistan movement, nobody recognised how serious the issue was.

Well, we are certainly paying attention now. But it's not clear that we finally understand how serious the issue is.

Perhaps Amritpal Singh will be arrested by the time you read this.

And perhaps he is just a convenient figurehead. But what is certainly clear is that Amarinder was right. And sadly, there is very little reason to believe that the current Punjab government is up to the task of combating this campaign. It has already taken too long to act.

Anyone who has been targeted by Khalistani tweets from Pakistani handles (as many journalists have been) will be left in no doubt about the Islamabad connection that Amarinder worried about. But there is no agreement over what exactly is going on intelligence services as National Security Advisor should know. He had smuggled himself into the The Government of India believes that Pakistan (possibly the ISI or an organisation like it) picked up Amritpal Singh in the Gulf, where he was an inconsequential figure, and sent him to Punjab to be the front man for the agitation. It draws parallels with the rise of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who had a remarkable rise in a short period of time and was clearly assisted by Pakistan.