Amritpal's rise a repeat of last 3 years of Pakistan's J&K, Myanmar tactic? Behind 'Khalistan's new face

Terrorist groups whose names have never been heard before, claim responsibility for bloody attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. In Punjab, a man who was living in Dubai for more than 10 years, suddenly emerges, becomes the chief of a fledgling organisation, and starts talking about separating the state from India.

With suspicion growing that Pakistan's spy agency ISI has been propping up Amritpal Singh, Punjab appears to be witnessing a repeat of Islamabad's playbook already used in Kashmir, and even Myanmar.

Ever since the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status in 2019, the state-turned-Union Territory has seen mushrooming of several terror organisations. But these are actually just old outfits with new names, according to authorities.

The most prominent of these is The Resistance Front, which is an off-shoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and some fighters drawn from other established terror groups like Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad, as per intel agencies. Since 2020, TRF has been taking responsibility for many attacks, with other groups conspicuously silent.

Some of the other rechristened outfits are the People's Anti-Fascist Front, Jammu & Kashmir Ghaznavi Force, Kashmir Tigers, and Kashmir Janbaaz Force.

Giving a new identity to old terror groups is a calculated move by Pakistan. One of the biggest reasons behind this was growing pressure on the country to crack down on terror financing by the global watchdog FATF. Another reason was to try to get international support for the terrorists by trying to show them as secular, local rebels, instead of religious warriors. Thus, names like Resistance Front and Anti-Fascist Front. But channels for funding and logistics stayed the same, as per reports.

The same strategy was reportedly used by Pakistan while creating radical Rohingya outfits in Myanmar, as per intel sources.

Now, Islamabad appears to be trying to implement its strategy in Punjab.

The state already has terror outfits operational for decades. These include Babbar Khalsa - the oldest Sikh militant group since Independence - which stormed back into headlines in 2022 after a grenade attack at the police's intelligence headquarters in Mohali. Around 9 groups, with operatives in 6 countries, have been trying to cause violence and spread terror in Punjab, according to a recent assessment.

And yet, it was a relative nobody who has allegedly been propped up by Islamabad to become the face of the artificially-propagated Khalistan movement. When Amritpal came back to India from Dubai in August 2022, he mysteriously became the chief of a young organisation named Waris Punjab De, which had been created by late actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu. Beyond this, Amritpal was allegedly trying to create a new militia by the name of Anandpur Khalsa Fauj, according to sources cited in news reports.

Pakistan was removed from the FATF's grey list in October 2022. The developments in Punjab appear to be a sign of growing confidence in the Pakistan Army and ISI in this strategy of plausible deniability. More importantly, it shows Islamabad's desperation to get international attention on India-related issues - a move which has failed to get traction so far.