The violence goes beyond India’s borders. As Indian authorities on Monday extended an internet shutdown in the northwestern state of Punjab during a manhunt to arrest a separatist Sikh preacher, suspected supporters of Amritpal Singh, ransacked the Indian consulate in San Francisco in the United States.
Previously, similar incidents in London before the Indian High Commission prompted the summons of a senior British diplomatic representative to the Indian Foreign Ministry on Sunday to seek explanations for the lack of protection of the premises. “I condemn the outrageous acts committed today against the people and premises of the @HCI in London – totally unacceptable,” tweeted the British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis.
More than 110 people arrested
The Punjab police announced on Monday that they had already arrested 114 people, but still did not know where the preacher was. It had been deployed in large numbers on Sunday in Punjab, according to local media, particularly in rural areas and around Singh’s village, Jallupur Khera. The internet shutdown which was to end Monday at noon has been extended by 24 hours in this state of 30 million inhabitants, to avoid the dissemination of false information on social networks and potential street violence.
The Punjab authorities had launched a search on Saturday to find Amritpal Singh, 30, who has become famous in recent months by preaching radical Sikhism, going so far as to demand the creation of a separatist Sikh state called Khalistan. The authorities’ decision followed an attack that left several police officers injured last month when the preacher and his supporters stormed a police station in broad daylight on the outskirts of Amritsar, the city that is home to the holiest of Sikh temples, the Golden Temple. The attack was carried out after an aide to Singh was arrested for alleged assault and attempted kidnapping.
Violent separatist movements
Indian media citing security service sources say Singh is backed by Pakistan. The state of Punjab, where 58% Sikhs and 39% Hindus live, experienced violent separatist movements in favor of Khalistan in the 1980s and early 1990s, which left thousands dead.
The violence peaked in 1984 after an army assault on separatists at the Golden Temple, which left at least 400 people dead, including the radical leader of the place, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. This event led to the assassination a few months later of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Anti-Sikh riots then broke out across the country, killing thousands. The insurgency has since lost momentum, due to the departure of its most important representatives in Canada, Australia and elsewhere.