MILPITAS, California, USA—After having most of his programs in the Bay Area cancelled last week, Kumar Vishwas issued an apology for his remarks against Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In 2015, Vishwas had referred to Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a bhasmasur (demon).

An Aam Aadmi Party founding member, Vishwas is also a Hindu nationalist. Sant Bhindranwale, often termed as the greatest Sikh of the 2oth century, led the Sikh struggle seeking equal rights for the Sikhs during the early 1980s. The same struggle later became known as the Khalistan movement in which Sikh freedom fighters tried to liberate Punjab from Indian occupation.

In his video apology, Kumar Vishwas stated –

“Sat Sri Akal friends. My name is Kumar Vishwas and I work in the Aam Aadmi Party. I am a small poet of the Hindi language. When we initiated the struggle to seek justice for 1984 victims, I also went on a 2 day hunger strike at the Jantar Mantar. At that time, our opposition parties took many of my clips out of context and distorted them against us. Many of those videos were over 12-13 years old. In one such video, for which I have already apologized, supporters of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Ji were troubled. I take back my words. I pledge to never cause trouble to anyone again or hurt their sentiments. I call upon everyone to understand the tactics used by political parties. Let’s all join together and embrace each other and give up hate. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh”

Meanwhile, several activists of the Referendum 2020 campaign carried out a protest against Vishwas at the University of Silicon Andhra in Milpitas, California. Protesters raised anti-Vishwas and pro-Khalistan slogans. The program was disrupted however police was called in, which asked protesters to carry out their protest outside. Protesters also threw water bottles at Vishwas as he raised pro-India slogans.

Vishwas later spoke about Shaheed Bhagat Singh during his event.

https://youtu.be/6declzqt4pI