Khalistan movement set to wane, with PM Modi rising it at the highest-level

The Punjab Police were left in an embarrassing situation, when they surrendered before Amritpal Singh’s followers, who stormed the Ajnala station demanding the release of their aide Lovepreet Toofan.

The urgency to act against the rise of the Khalistan movement was seen in the statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At a joint presser with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, PM Modi said, "it is a matter of regret that attacks on Temples have come regularly from Australia over the past few weeks. It is natural that such news worries everyone in India and disturbs our mind."

The High Commission in a press release said, "the frequency and impunity with which the vandals appear to be operating are alarming, as are the graffiti which include glorification of anti-Indian terrorists. These incidents are clear attempts to sow hatred and division among the peaceful multi-faith and multi-cultural Indian-Australian community."

These are welcome signs from the Union Government and the fact that the issue has now been taken up at the very highest level, the action will be swift and one could hope that the Khalistan movement would wane.

The Intelligence Bureau has for long warned that the ISI will be looking to boost the Khalistan movement. The rise of Amritpal Singh and him being thrown into the ring out of nowhere following the death of Deep Sidhu, was a major sign that the movement was gaining traction.

An official explains to OneIndia that it was important to raise this issue at the Prime Ministerial level. It shows the seriousness and the intent of the government. There have been many so-called referendums in Australia, which the PM called out and said that it is time to act against these elements.

The officer expressed confidence that the Australian government will act on the issue now that it has been raised at such a high-level. Strong action by the Australian government will put an end to the menace to a large extent and incidents of vandalism will stop. However, there are concerns when it comes to countries such as Canada, which has done little or nothing on the issue. It is also necessary for the United States to act on the issue and reign in on the likes of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the terrorist who heads the proscribed Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).

YouTube channels blocked:

The Centre also blocked six YouTube channels which have been promoting Khalistan sentiments.

Six to eight YouTube channels have been blocked over the past ten days, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said. He said that the Punjabi language channels were trying to foment trouble in the border state.

The government has also asked YouTube to use artificial intelligence and algorithms to identify and block objectionable content automatically.

Action in Punjab:

While it is important that the international community acts on this, it is equally pertinent that the Punjab Police do a more serious job on this. The Punjab Police appears to now be acting agains the operatives of the Waris Punjab De led by Amritpal Singh.

In a major move, the police detained Gurinderpal Singh alias Gur Aujila at the Amritsar airport on Thursday. He hails from London and was in charge of the social media accounts of Amritpal Singh.

This is an important development because the spread of the Khalistan movement is also directly linked to the kind of posts that are going up on the social media.

In another recent development, the Punjab police had cancelled the arms licences of 9 aides of Amritpal Singh.

The Punjab Police have been criticised heavily for surrendering to Amritpal's supporters. Recently his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station with arms demanding the release of one Lovepreet Toofan. The police gave in and released him a day later.