Opinion August 22, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Longowal cremated

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 22, 1985.

August 22, 2025 06:55 AM IST First published on: Aug 22, 2025 at 06:55 AM IST

The body of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, the Akali Dal (L) chief, who was assassinated, was consigned to the flames with full state honours amidst chants of “Longowal amar rahe” at his dera near Longowal. Heart-rending scenes were witnessed when Giani Kirpal Singh, jathedar of the Akali Takht, lit the funeral pyre while the guns from a Punjab police posse boomed in salute. Earlier, Giani Sahib Singh, head priest of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, performed the ardas while gloom descended on the large gathering consisting of about 1.5 lakh people, including a significant number of non-Sikhs. The Akali Dal faces a leadership crisis, perhaps the gravest in the 65-year history of the party. None of the present leaders of the party is of the stature the Sant had acquired after the signing of the Punjab accord.

Punjab bandh

Punjab observed a total bandh as people mourned the assassination of the Akali Dal president, Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. Most business establishments remained closed in Chandigarh and parts of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh . The call for the bandh was given by the Akali Dal in protest against the assassination. Reports said people responded to the bandh voluntarily. However, curfew was clamped in parts of Ludhiana. It is understood that the Cabinet Committee reviewed the question of holding elections in Punjab under the changed circumstances and also intelligence reports on law and order.

Thimphu Talks

The prospects of the second round of talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil groups being resumed at Thimphu during this week appear dim. While the representatives of the militant Eelam National Liberation Front failed to turn up in New Delhi for a meeting with the Prime Minister, the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader, A Amirthalingam, asserted that “killings must stop before any meaningful talks are resumed”.