He contested the 1979 Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) election, backed by Bhindranwale, but lost to Jiwan Singh Umranangal.

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale began the Dharam Yudh Morcha to implement the Anandpur Resolution which primarily requested more autonomy for Punjab, arguing that it was being oppressed and treated unfairly by the Indian government.

[8] Amrik Singh studied at Khalsa College[9] and received his MA and was on his way to completing his PhD, but never submitted his thesis as he began pursuing promotion of Sikh teachings.

In the General House Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections of 1979, the first in 13 years,[14] Amrik Singh ran and lost to Jiwan Umramangal.

[17] The AISSF held a strike on 25 October 1980 and another on 14 November 1980 to protest against the high bus fare increase and some other issues in such districts as Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Patiala, Ludhiana with trains not being able to operate then.

[21] During the time of the bus fare agitations the AISSF also held numerous demonstrations against various political leaders including the chief minister of Punjab, Darbara Singh.

Some notable agitations including Sikh students besieging various Punjab ministers and lock themselves inside their offices or residences during early December 1980.

[22] The success of the AISSF, which this time numbered to a membership of 300,000 members,[23] at one point compelled the non-government political parties to join in and hold a demonstration in front of the state secretariat at Chandigarh from making a speech, in January 1981.

Meanwhile, AISSF members forcibly started preventing merchants from selling tobacco[26] and to add to the heat Harchand Longowal also publicly expressed his support for the ban.

[29] In response to the pro tobacco march, on 31 May 1981, the AISSF, Damdami Taksal, Dal Khalsa joined together led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and with over 20,000[30] supporters put out a procession.

[31] Following the march there were eruptions of Hindu-Sikh clashes in Amritsar with the government then initiating new laws banning non-religious processions from taking place.

[32] On 10 September 2016 Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal promised 'holy-city' status to Amritsar as well as Anandpur Sahib[33] on his visit to the city.

[38] Harcharan Longowal, leader of the Akali Dal than announced that his morcha would also be for the release of Amrik Singh and the 45 original demands presented to Indira Gandhi.

Amrik Singh is said to have been involved in the planning of an attempted assassination of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) DR Bhatti on March 16, 1983.

[39][40][41][42][43] SSP DR Bhatti had been targeted for his role in the Chando Kalan incident[44] which saw police fire upon Sikhs, looted their luggage, and burned the Guru Granth Sahib.