As his teacher was also a member of the Akali movement, it is likely that young Harchand Singh ji also imbibed the spirit of political activism at that time.
[citation needed] Leaving Maujo at the age of twenty-one, Harchand Singh served as scripture-reader and custodian at the village gurdwara at Heron Kalan, moving the following year to Longowal, a small town 16 kilometres (10 miles) south-west of Sangrur.
In 1962, Harchand Singh was named head of the important historical shrine at Damdama Sahib (Talwandi Sabo), but he took on the suffix "Longowal" which remained with him for the rest of his life.
He was affectionately known as "Sant Ji"[1] Longowal's life of political activism began in June 1964, when he led a demonstration for Sikh rights at the historic site of Paonta Sahib in the present-day state of Himachal Pradesh.
In 1969, he was elected to the Punjabi Legislative Assembly as the Akali candidate, defeating the Congress Party's Babu Brish Bhan, who had been chief minister of the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU).
In July 1975, all the senior Akali leaders courted arrest and Harchand Singh Longowal took over command of the protests which continued till January 1977.
Longowal led the Akali side in years of frustrating negotiations with Indira Gandhi, talks that served to undermine public faith in the course of peaceful dialogue with the government.
[4][5] In December 1983 Longowal invited sikh fundamentalist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to take up residence in the Golden Temple Complex at the Guru Nanak Niwas and later on in an adjacent building next to Akal Takht.
[9] Finally, Longowal announced that as of 3 June 1984 they would practice civil disobedience by refusing to pay land revenue, water and electricity bills, and block the flow of grain out of Punjab.
Malik Bhaita, the Akali Dal head of Amritsar, confessed to his role in arranging the taxi for Shinda’s escape.
[26] On 25 April, 1984, Longowal wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi informing her that Gurcharan Singh's life was in danger since the plot to kill Sodhi.
[27] During Operation Blue Star in 1984 the Indian army killed militants hiding inside the Golden temple complex.
Finally, in March 1985, the leadership of the Akali party began to be released from prison by order of the new prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
With a view to improving the situation and creating conditions for a negotiated settlement of Sikh demands, the prime minister's confidante, Arjun Singh, who was posted as the Governor of the state, relaxed censorship of the Punjabi press, withdrew army control over certain districts, announced his willingness to institute a judicial enquiry into the November 1984 killings, lifted the ban on the All India Sikh Students Federation and agreed to review the cases of thousands of Sikhs imprisoned since the army's arrival in Punjab the previous June.
[28] Then, after weeks of secret negotiations, Longowal met the Prime Minister in Delhi and on 23 July 1985 signed an eleven-point memorandum covering all the major issues which had defied resolution since the Akalis had first presented their list of demands.