Amritpal Singh

 

Amritpal Singh Sandhu  (born 17 January 1993)[5] is a radical[9] Indian Khalistani separatist, and a self-styled Sikh preacher. After living in Dubai for a decade, he returned to Punjab in September 2022 — having been controversially appointed as the leader of Waris Punjab De (lit. "Heirs of Punjab") — and started a campaign which encouraged youth to refrain from drugs, adopt a traditionalist form of Sikhism, and advocated a sovereign Sikh state ("Khalistan").

Personal details:

Born

17 January 1993 (age 30)

Jallupur Khaira, Baba Bakala, Amritsar, Punjab, India[1]

Known for

Khalistani separatism

On 10 February 2023, Amritpal married Kirandeep Kaur, a native of Jalandhar district who used to live in the United Kingdom.

 Amritpal claimed it to be an instance of "reverse migration" and a message encouraging Punjabis to return to Punjab and settle there.[ As of March 2023, she resides in Jallupur Khera.

Amritpal Singh grew up as a resident of Jallupur Khera in the Amritsar district. He was the youngest of the three children of Tarsem Singh and Balwinder Kaur. His family is said to be very religious (Sikhism). His uncle Harjit Singh Sandhu was the sarpanch (head of village) for 10 years before moving to the United Kingdom.

After passing the 10th class, Amritpal enrolled in a diploma course in mechanical engineering at Lord Krishna Polytechnic College in Kapurthala in 2009. He dropped out after three years, never having completed the course. He has also said that he hasn't ever read a book.

In 2012, he moved to Dubai in UAE to join his family's transport business.

 His LinkedIn profile claimed that he has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Punjab.

 His profile further claimed that he was the "Operations Manager" at a company called Sandhu Cargo Transport and that he had experience in transportation, trucking and railroad industry.

 According to The Indian Express, he worked as a dispatcher for about ten years. Some sources state that he was a truck driver. However, many details of his time in Dubai for the rest of the decade remain unknown.

Amritpal often spoke about issues concerning Punjab on social media. In 2019, he started supporting the farmers' protest and also became a vocal supporter of Deep Sidhu. His social media reach multiplied after he got associated with Sidhu. He travelled to India to support the protest. At that time he was a Mona Sikh (Sikh without a beard and turban). After the farm laws were withdrawn, he returned to Dubai.[