On 17 Mar, Sikh groups gathered at Heritage Street in Amritsar to demand transfer of Waris Punjab De (WPD) chief Amritpal Singh and his nine associates to a Panjab jail. Since March 2023, WPD members have been detained in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail. In the gathering, a man allegedly from a national security agency was roughed up for filming the proceedings. Sukhchain Singh, uncle of Amritpal Singh, refuted the reports. In February this year, Amritpal and associates went on a hunger strike (with water allowed) over the same demand. Three of his associates had taken ill and been hospitalized (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 11, Updates). Two days later, the Panjab govt. informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that fresh orders are being passed concerning the National Security Act (NSA). Under the NSA Act, the Indian govt. can detain individuals for up to 12 months without pressing charges. However, the operation of an NSA order is limited to one year, necessitating the issuance of fresh orders. On 21 Mar, on the Akal Takht’s directions, a delegation of five Sikhs met Amritpal Singh and nine other detainees at Dibrugarh jail. The detainees ended their hunger strike with traditional offerings brought from Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) by delegation members. It is strange that for a whole year the government has not been able to press charges on the WPD members and now even their request for transfer to a Panjab jail has been turned down. Dibrugarh is 2,750 kms from Amritsar and the travel by families of WPD members has been expensive and time consuming.
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