Police suspend mobile internet in northern India over manhunt for Sikh separatist leader

Punjab police personnel walk near the residence of Waris Punjab De leader Amritpal Singh, in the village of Jallupur Khera, Punjab. (AFP)
Punjab police personnel walk near the residence of Waris Punjab De leader Amritpal Singh, in the village of Jallupur Khera, Punjab. (AFP)
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Updated 19 March 2023

Police suspend mobile internet in northern India over manhunt for Sikh separatist leader

Punjab police personnel walk near the residence of Waris Punjab De leader Amritpal Singh, in the village of Jallupur Khera.
  • Mobile internet, SMS services will be suspended until Monday noon, Punjab government says
  • Police say 7 people arrested, illegal weapons seized, as part of the major crackdown

NEW DELHI: Mobile internet services in the Indian state of Punjab will be suspended until Monday as police pursue Amritpal Singh, the leader of a Sikh separatist movement in the Hindu-majority country.

A controversial, self-styled preacher, Singh is the leader of Waris Punjab De, or Heirs of Punjab, who has publicly supported the Khalistan movement for a separate homeland for the Sikhs, a minority community comprising about 1.7 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population.

The suspension of mobile internet and SMS services will continue until noon on Monday, according to an order issued by the Punjab government, “to prevent any incitement to violence and any disturbance of peace and public order.”

Police in the Punjab city of Amritsar said members of the organization have been named in a first information report, which authorities typically use to launch an official investigation.

“Last night a FIR under (the) Arms Act has been registered against them, and Amritpal Singh is the main accused in the FIR,” Satinder Singh, senior superintendent of Amritsar police, told reporters on Sunday.

Amritsar authorities also seized six illegal weapons, he added.

More than 70 people were arrested in the “mega crackdown,” according to a tweet posted by the police in Punjab, where Sikhism is the dominant religion.

The crackdown comes after Amritpal Singh and his supporters broke into a police station with swords and guns last month, demanding the release of one of his aides.

With six police officers injured in the clash, and the Punjab government drawing flak for the security lapse, the incident brought Singh to national attention.

Singh’s supporters have reportedly compared him to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a militant leader of the Khalistan movement that peaked in the 1980s, who was eventually killed in a military operation in 1984. 

Thousands of people died during that violent period in Punjab’s history, which also led to the assassination of India’s then-prime minister, Indira Gandhi, by two Sikh security guards, which in turn sparked anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and elsewhere that left several thousand more dead and injured.

In the decades since, the separatist movement has lost a lot of support.

“It’s truly bewildering how Amritpal was allowed to gain so much prominence in a short time,” Sanjay Kapoor, chief editor of the political magazine Hard News and former secretary-general of the Editors Guild of India, told Arab News.

“As he was breathing so much fire, one wonders why the local or central agencies didn’t pick him up,” he said. “What’s further intriguing is how he managed to sneak himself into the Khalistani narrative with little background of struggle or even pedigree. Not too long back he was in Dubai and not even wearing a turban.”

Not much is known about Singh’s early years, though he reportedly moved to Dubai in 2012 to join his family’s transport business. Last August, he returned to India looking visibly different from old photos, appearing as a devout, practicing Sikh, and was appointed head of Waris Punjab De about a month later, in a ceremony attended by thousands of people.

“That’s the reason why any skeptics believe that Amritpal represented a diabolical plan to polarize the Hindus against the Khalistani threat before the 2024 elections,” Kapoor said.

Ronki Ram, a professor at Panjab University’s department of political science, said the government was responsible for propelling Amritpal Singh to fame. 

“Amritpal Singh has been given lots of space by the government. In a short time, he got a larger-than-life image,” Ram told Arab News.

“By doing this massive crackdown against Amritpal Singh, they are making him more popular. There are so many organizations behind him, that also shows the gravity of the situation in Punjab.”

But even as Singh’s popularity grew, Ram said it did not translate to a resurgence of the Khalistan movement.

“Whenever something happens in Punjab, they associate it with Khalistan,” Ram said. “This talk of the Khalistan movement gaining traction is far-fetched.”

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Updated 27 March 2023

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Police fire tear gas as fresh protests erupt in Kenya despite ban
NAIROBI: Police fired tear gas to disperse anti-government protests on Monday over the high cost of living, after the opposition vowed demonstrations would go ahead despite a police ban.
Security was tight, with riot police stationed at strategic points in Nairobi and patrolling the streets, while many shops were shut and train services from the capital’s outskirts into the central business district were suspended.
Veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga has urged people to take to the streets every Monday and Thursday, even after protests a week ago turned violent and paralyzed parts of Nairobi.
Police clashed with stone-throwing demonstrators in Nairobi’s largest slum Kibera, where protesters set tires on fire, defying a warning by the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome who said Sunday that the rallies were “illegal” and would be banned.
The situation was calmer elsewhere in the city, with a heavy police presence in neighborhoods where protests had taken place last week.
During last Monday’s clashes in Nairobi and opposition strongholds in western Kenya, a university student was killed by police fire while 31 officers were injured as running battles erupted between riot police and demonstrators.
More than 200 people were arrested, including several senior opposition politicians, while protesters — as well as Odinga’s own motorcade — were hit with tear gas and water cannon.


It was the first major outbreak of political unrest since President William Ruto took office more than six months ago after defeating Odinga in an election his rival claims was “stolen.”
Despite the police ban, Odinga called Sunday on Kenyans to join what he has described as “the mother of all demonstrations.”
“I want to tell Mr.Ruto and the IG Koome that we are not going to be intimidated,” he said. “We are not going to fear tear gas and police.”
Odinga also accused Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua of orchestrating an operation to cause “mayhem” at Monday’s rallies.
Nairobi residents were wary after the previous violence.
“I may have to close too because I have seen most of my neighbors are closed,” said Mercy Wangare, an Mpesa (mobile money) kiosk attendant at an electronics shop.
“I am just weighing the situation before I decide because the sight of these policemen patrolling around is a sign that it may not end up well.”
The Communications Authority of Kenya has sought to prevent television stations from broadcasting the demonstrations live, but the move was blocked by the High Court.


Ruto, who is currently on a four-day trip to Germany and Belgium, has urged his rival to halt the action.
“I am telling Raila Odinga that if he has a problem with me, he should face me and stop terrorizing the country,” he said Thursday.
“Stop paralysing the businesses of mama mboga, matatu and other Kenyans,” he said, referring to women stallholders and private minibus operators.
Many Kenyans are struggling to put food on the table, battling high prices for basic goods as well as a plunging local currency and a record drought that has left millions hungry.
“If the leaders don’t talk, it is us who are affected. They are rich people, it is who will sleep hungry,” motorcycle taxi driver Collins Kibe told AFP.
During the election campaign, Ruto portrayed himself as champion of the downtrodden and vowed to improve the lot of ordinary Kenyans.
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Demonstrators in Kibera, an Odinga stronghold, on Monday banged empty pots and pans as they faced off against police, chanting “we don’t have maize flour.”
Kenya’s energy regulatory body has also announced a hike in electricity prices from April, despite Ruto insisting in January there would be no such increase.
Last week’s protests proved costly, with Gachagua saying the country had lost at least $15 million.
Police said Friday they had launched a manhunt for suspects involved in last week’s riots, and published photographs showing people throwing rocks at police, burning tires and vandalising property.
But an AFP Fact Check investigation found that a number of the photographs were old and unrelated to Monday’s events.
And on Saturday, a red-faced Directorate of Criminal Investigations issued an apology on Twitter for what it said was a “mix-up of images.”

Taiwan’s former leader Ma begins China visit

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TAOYUAN: Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou departed for a 12-day tour of China Monday, a day after Taiwan lost another of its 14 diplomatic partners to China.
The ex-president is visiting in a private capacity, bringing a delegation of academics and college students for exchanges, as well as members of his family, but the trip is loaded with political meaning.
Ma’s policies brought Taiwan and Beijing to their closest relationship ever, but his exit from office was overshadowed by massive protests against a trade deal with the mainland and his successor has focused on defending the autonomy of the democratically-governed island that China claims as part of its own territory.
Ma’s visit comes amid rising tensions. Beijing has exerted a long-standing campaign of pressure against Taiwan, poaching its diplomatic allies while also sending military fighter jets flying toward the island on a near daily basis. On Sunday, Honduras established diplomatic relations with China, leaving Taiwan with only 13 countries that recognize it as a sovereign state.
Ma, a member of the opposition Nationalist Party (Kuomingtang), will land in Shanghai before starting his visit in nearby Nanjing. He is expected to tour the mainland from March 27 to April 7, stopping in Wuhan and Changsha, as well as other cities. He is bringing college students from Taiwan to meet with fellow students from Shanghai’s Fudan University and Changsha’s Hunan University.
Ma has framed the visit as a bid to lower the tensions in cross-strait relations through people to people exchange. “I hope through the enthusiasm of the youth and their interactions to improve the cross-strait mood, so bring peace faster, and earlier,” he said to reporters ahead of his departure on Monday afternoon. He also said it would be his first time visiting China.
His trip has not drawn much controversy in Taiwan, where the public is used to seeing Kuomingtang politicians visit China. However, it has been criticized by some political opponents and activists.
A former mainland student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen square protests called on Ma to cancel his trip. “If you have even a strand of affection for Taiwan ... you should announce the cancelation of your trip,” said Wang Dan, a Chinese dissident who previously lived in Taiwan, on his Facebook page.
A handful of protesters from a pro-independence group held a demonstration at the departures area at Taoyuan airport before Ma’s departure. “Ma Ying-jeou is humiliating our nation and forfeiting its sovereignty,” they shouted before police carried them out. “You are a stinky beggar.”
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Ma met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015, while he was still in office. The meeting was the first between the leaders of the two sides since Taiwan split from mainland China in 1949 during the Chinese civil war, but was considered more symbolic than substantive.
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Myanmar junta chief vows continued crackdown, then elections

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Myanmar junta chief vows continued crackdown, then elections

Myanmar junta chief vows continued crackdown, then elections
  • Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government
  • Min Aung Hlaing: Military will take ‘decisive action’ against opponents and ethnic rebels supporting them

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Flanked by tanks and missile launchers, Myanmar’s junta chief Monday vowed no letup in a crackdown on opponents and insisted the military would hold elections — weeks after admitting it did not control enough territory to allow a vote.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government over two years ago after making unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud.
The putsch sparked renewed fighting with ethnic rebels and birthed dozens of anti-junta “People’s Defense Forces” (PDFs), with swathes of the country now ravaged by fighting and the economy in tatters.
The military will take “decisive action” against its opponents and ethnic rebels supporting them, Min Aung Hlaing told an audience of around 8,000 service members attending the annual Armed Forces Day parade in the military-built capital Naypyidaw.
“The terror acts of NUG and its lackey so-called PDFs need to be tackled for good and all,” he said, referring to the “National Unity Government,” a body dominated by ousted lawmakers working to reverse the coup.
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Women lined the streets leading to the parade ground to garland marching soldiers with flowers, images on state media showed.
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Voter turnout ticks up in Cuba legislative elections

Voter turnout ticks up in Cuba legislative elections
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  • Modest increase from the 68.5 percent who voted in last November’s municipal elections

HAVANA: Cuba’s government managed to mobilize voters on Sunday for National Assembly elections, the results of which were a foregone conclusion, as it pushed back against a recent abstentionist trend in the communist-ruled nation.
As many as eight million eligible voters selected from the 470 candidates on the ballot — 263 women and 207 men — are vying for the 470 seats in the congress.
But what was really in play was the number of Cubans refusing to vote.
The opposition had called on citizens to abstain, with one opposition Twitter account branding the vote a farce.
Voting is not obligatory and abstention has risen steadily in recent years.
On Sunday the nation’s 23,648 polling stations closed at 7:00 p.m. (2300 GMT), an hour later than initially announced by authorities.
According to the latest provisional figures released by the National Election Council, as of 5:00 p.m. turnout stood at 70.33 percent.
That marked a modest increase from the 68.5 percent who voted in last November’s municipal elections, the lowest turnout since the island’s current electoral system was set up in 1976.
Last September about 74 percent of eligible Cubans voted in a referendum on a new family code, down from the 90 percent turnout in the 2019 referendum on a new constitution.
Cuba’s communist government does not allow opposition, so most parliamentary candidates are members of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
Candidates still must receive 50 percent of votes to be elected.
Voters had two choices: they could tick the names of any number of individual candidates, or they could select the “vote for all” option.
“I voted for the unified vote because, despite the needs, the difficulties that this country can have, I could not imagine” abstaining, Carlos Diego Herrera, a 54-year-old blacksmith in Havana, said.
He said abstaining would be like voting “for those that want to crush us, the Yankees.”
Washington has imposed sanctions on the island nation since 1962, three years after the communist revolution that saw Fidel Castro take power after overthrowing US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Student Rachel Vega, 19, also said she voted for all candidates, considering it “a step forward right now” that would “improve the situation in the country.”
President Miguel Diaz-Canel is among the candidates, as is his predecessor, 91-year-old Raul Castro.
“With the united vote we defend the unity of the country, the unity of the revolution, our future, our socialist constitution,” said Diaz-Canel, 62, after voting in Santa Clara, 175 miles (280 kilometers) southeast of Havana.
The opposition scoffed at the turnout figures, with dissident Manuel Cuesta Morua of the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba warning about “the government’s electoral mathematics.”
“At 9am it reports that 18.2 percent of the electorate has voted. At 11am it says 41.66 percent — that is, in less than two hours the turnout increased by 23.46” points, he said on Twitter. “Impossible!!! The polling stations are empty.”
Final figures will be released Monday.