Chandigarh: The creation of a new political party, Shiromani Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De), was announced Tuesday by Members of Parliament (MPs) Amritpal Singh and Sarabjit Singh on the occasion of the Maghi Mela.

At a political conference in Muktsar Sahib, a group supporting Amritpal, represented by his father Tarsem Singh and Faridkot MP Sarabjit Singh, announced that the new party would fight the next Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections as well as the 2027 Punjab election. Amritpal was announced as the President of the new political outfit.

Waris Punjab De is the outfit headed by Amritpal Singh, who took over its reins from Sikh activist Deep Singh Sidhu who died in a road accident in February 2022.

Elected from Khadoor Sahib last year, Amritpal is currently detained at the Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the National Security Act. The Dubai-returned Sikh radical won the 2024 parliamentary election as an independent candidate with a record margin of over 2 lakh votes. In his absence, Amritpal’s family including his parents had campaigned on his behalf.

Meanwhile, the group resolved that in the absence of Amritpal and till elections to the post to the president are held, a five-member working committee, including Tarsem and Sarabjit Singh, will lead the party. Sarabjit is the son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

At the event, Tarsem Singh said that they were not fighting for “one particular community but for injustice to every community.” He added that the party will work in a democratic manner taking everyone along an offer to the people of Punjab an alternative to the failed traditional parties.”

A series of 15 resolutions, including the demand to strengthen the law related to deterring the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib, were announced on the occasion. One of them announced a seven-member panel to oversee the membership drive of and selection of delegates who will get together on Baisakhi and then elect the office bearers of the party. Another five-member panel to draw up the constitution and agenda of the party was also announced.

No mention was made of Khalistan in the 15 resolutions that were passed Tuesday, even as the stage backdrop had the pictures of Sikh militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, activists Jaswant Singh Khalra and Deep Sidhu among others, along with the slogan ‘Save Punjab, Save Sikh Panth’.

Amritpal had been openly espousing the creation of a separate Sikh nation of Khalistan before he was arrested in April 2023.

The new party has been created as an alternative to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which is going through an existential crisis. Sukhbir Singh Badal, the former Punjab chief minister and the president of the party from 2008, was removed from the presidentship last week on the orders of the Akal Takht.

Badal was declared ‘Tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, in August last year. In the first week of December, the Akali leader survived an assassination attempt during the course of his ‘religious’ punishment at the Golden temple premises.

Also Read: With SAD in decline, a ‘radical’ Akali Dal emerges. What this means for Punjab politics 

What are the resolutions

The gathering resolved that the new party will strengthen the Sikh institutions and will create a “religious forum” to ensure that “religious people with high moral character” are chosen to man these institutions. “These persons will become the flag bearers of not just high moral character but also work towards elevating the prestige of the Sikh institutions,” said the state secretary reading the resolution.

The political party, the resolutions state, will “carry to the masses the legacy of the movement that began in the late 1970s.” “The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Badal has failed to provide adequate political leadership to the Sikhs or stand up for them. Especially the struggle that the Sikhs waged since 1978 in which hundreds of Sikhs were killed and properties and religious places destroyed. That struggle’s legacy needs to be carried to the masses,” stated the resolution.

“The Akali Dal Waris Punjab De party will bring about a change in panthic politics and will be based on the nature oriented and people oriented philosophy ingrained in the Shri Guru Granth Sahib. It will be based on the Kartarpur arrangement that is based on Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s three teachings of ‘naam jaapo, kirat karo vand chako’ (pray, work hard and share with others) and the Begumpuri model (a model of theo- political Sikh rule).

“The new party will protect the rights of all sections of society including Dalits, labourers, farmers, traders and employees. It will work towards protecting the religious interest of Sikhs settled abroad and work for them on their suggestions. Members of every community will be given the due respect and freedom that was done during the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Punjab. These communities will also be given due representation,” stated other resolutions.

The gathering also appreciated the working of the Akal Takht, highest temporal body of the Sikhs, in announcing punishment to leaders of the SAD and upholding the highest traditions of Sikhs.

“The jathedars of the Akal Takht deserve to be rewarded while the SAD leaders who have not fulfilled the punishment given by the Akal Takht should be boycotted by the Sikhs,” stated the resolution.

On 2 December, the Akal Takht had ordered Sukhbir’s removal from the presidency of the Akali Dal. Last week, Sukhbir’s resignation was accepted by the party. However, another order of the Akal Takht regarding the creation of a seven-member panel to run the SAD has not been accepted by the Akali leaders.

The gathering also resolved to support the movement undertaken by radical groups to press for the release of those jailed radical Sikhs referred to as Bandi Singhs, who were not released despite serving their sentences.

It also resolved to support the ongoing agitation led by Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who has been on a hunger strike for the past 50 days at the Khanauri border demanding legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for farmers.

The Sikh youth were encouraged to come back to Sikhism so that they lead “a pure life and are not drawn towards drugs”. Educational institutions in Punjab should be controlled and run by Sikhs and Punjabis, it was resolved.

The gathering also resolved that Punjab should be for Punjabis only and all attempts to change the demography of the state should be stopped. “People coming are being encouraged to come from outside Punjab and settle here. These outsiders are involved in serious crimes against the Punjabi apart from occupying their land and occupations. Punjabis should be given preference in jobs in Punjab before opening them for outsiders,” stated the resolution.

The Punjab Police, according to one of the resolution, would be restructured so that “we can work in an unbiased and fair manner and improve their working conditions”.

Development invites sharp reactions

Reacting to the announcement, Simranjeet Singh Mann, former MP and president of the Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar, said that the creation of the new party was like “frogs coming out in the rain”.

“There should have been a clear declaration of Khalistan during the creation of the party, and the sacrifice of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale should have been remembered,” Maan, who had initially supported Amritpal, told the media at the Maghi mela.

Addressing the Shiromani Akali Dal’s political conference at the mela, Sukhbir said the creation of the new party was like the opening of a “new shop” in the state.

“This new shop that has opened up, believes in getting people killed and ruling themselves,” Badal said.

He added that the leaders of the new party were talking about taking Punjab’s youth away from drugs while “their own family members” were arrested for in drug-related cases. “(Those) leaders are involved in the killing of a Sikh youth? Is this the Punjab you want?”

This was Sukhbir’s first public address after he resigned as the SAD president. Before his speech, the senior Akali leader sat on the ground among those who had come to attend the conference before he was called on stage to speak.

In the past six months, the former chief minister said, there have been extraordinary efforts to eliminate the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Badal family, and him. Central agencies were behind these moves, he alleged. “This is because the Akali Dal stands for peace and harmony in Punjab and for mutual brotherhood.”

(Edited by Tony Rai)

Also Read: What Sukhbir Singh Badal’s ‘submission’ before Akal Takht means for future of Akali Dal & his family