Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJarnail Singh Bhindranwale
Panjabi Sikh leader
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Moga district, Punjab, India
About Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
- Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale ([d???n??l? s?´?g? p?`???ã?a?e], born Jarnail Singh Brar) (2 June 1947 – 6 June 1984) was a militant leader of the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal.
- He gained prominence due to his involvement in the 1978 Sikh-Nirankari clash.
- He symbolized the revivalist, extremist and terrorist movement in Punjab.
- In 1983, to escape arrest, he along with his militant cadre occupied and fortified the Sikh shrine Akal Takht.
- Operation Blue Star was launched to remove him and the armed militants from the Golden Temple complex. Bhindranwale was the head of the orthodox Sikh religious school Damdami Taksal and held the title of missionary "Sant", a common religious title in Punjab.
- Over the period Bhindranwale grew up as a leader of Sikh militancy.
- There was dissatisfaction in some sections of the Sikh community with prevailing economic, social, and political conditions.
- Bhindranwale articulated these grievances as discrimination against Sikhs and the undermining of Sikh identity.
- The growth of Bhindranwale was not solely by his own efforts.
- In the late 1970s Indira Gandhi's Congress party supported Bhindranwale in a bid to split the Sikh votes and weaken the Akali Dal, its chief rival in Punjab.
- Congress supported the candidates backed by Bhindranwale in the 1978 SGPC elections.
- The Congress leader Giani Zail Singh allegedly financed the initial meetings of the separatist organisation Dal Khalsa.
- In the 1980 election, Bhindranwale supported Congress candidates.
- Bhindranwale was originally not very influential, but the activities of Congress elevated him to the status of a major leader by the early 1980s.
- This later turned out to be a miscalculation as Bhindranwale's separatist political objectives became popular among the agricultural Jat Sikhs in the region.In the summer of 1982, Bhindranwale and the Akali Dal launched the Dharam Yudh Morcha (battle for righteousness), with its stated aim being the fulfilment of a list of demands based on the Anandpur Sahib Resolution to create an autonomous state for Sikhs.
- Thousands of people joined the movement in the hope of acquiring a larger share of irrigation water and the return of Chandigarh to Punjab.
- Bhindranwale was responsible for launching Sikh militancy during the 1980s.
- Bhindranwale also increased the level of rhetoric on the perceived "assault" on Sikh values by the Hindu community.In 1982 Bhindranwale and his armed group moved to the Golden Temple complex and made it his headquarters.
- From inside the complex, Bhindranwale led the Punjab insurgency campaign in Punjab.
- In June 1984 Operation Blue Star was carried out by the Indian Army to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed militants from the buildings of the Harmandir Sahib in the Golden Temple Complex.
- Bhindranwale died and the temple complex was cleared of militants. Bhindranwale has remained a controversial figure in Indian history.
- While the Sikhs' highest temporal authority Akal Takht describe him a 'martyr', he is widely regarded in India as a terrorist.
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