The Republic of Khalistan is an independent country located around the former Indian state of Punjab. It is led by President Sadhu Singh Bhaura, an important religious leader of the dominant Sikh ethnicity. Despite originating from a Sikh independence movement, the Republic of Khalistan has developed into the only liberal democracy in the Indian subcontinent. During the harshest fighting of the 1947 Indo-Pakistani conflict, a number of Sikh militias took advantage of the situation and revolted against both sides, their small state being the predecessor to Khalistan.