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Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was the leader of Damdami Taksal, a Sikh organization based in the Punjab, India. He became famous in the late 1970s as a religious preacher. He was the leader of the Sikh group that occupied the Golden Temple of Amritsar and fought Indian government forces in Operation Blue Star.
He was widely believed to be a supporter of the creation of Khalistan, the proposed Sikh nation-state, but in a BBC interview he stated that if the government agreed to the creation of Khalistan, he would not refuse, what he mainly wanted was for Sikhs to be treated as equal citizens of India. However he said that no matter what, the moment a bullet hits the Akal Takht the foundation of Khalistan would be made
He established his headquarters in Akal Takht Sahib, next to the Golden Temple of Amritsar, when he found out that Indira Gandhi's government was planning to attack it. There he and his men engaged in a three-day battle with the attacking Army forces.
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