His agenda mingles demands for action on social problems in Punjab with separatism. It could yet strike a chord in the Sikh-majority state
His arrest ended a month-long manhunt that had Indians glued to their phones as the media reported sightings of Mr Singh across north India. He has been charged with attempted murder, among other things, over an attack on a police station in February. His capture will lower the profile of a man whose sudden notoriety raised fears of a resurgence of the militant Sikh separatism that once threatened to tear India apart.
With his long beard and flowing white garments, the 30-year-old Mr Singh models himself on Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a Sikh militant leader who was killed by the Indian army in 1984, setting off a decade-long insurgency in which thousands were killed. Before Mr Singh returned home to Punjab last year, he had worked in Dubai for a decade, sporting short hair and-shirts.
Mr Singh’s arrest has not prompted significant protests, suggesting there is less support for him than there is interest. Yet his agenda, which mingles demands for action on social problems in Punjab, such as a drug epidemic, with Sikh separatism, could yet strike a chord in the Sikh-majority state.
The authorities show signs of understanding that political risk. After they angered the public with internet shutdowns during their search for Mr Singh, the police took care over his arrest, firing no shots and respecting the sanctity of the gurdwara where he was hiding. The government should show similar judiciousness in tackling the causes of dissatisfaction among young Punjabis that Mr Singh has identified.
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