Opinion August 25, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Akalis’ Next Leader

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 25, 1985.

August 25, 2025 06:58 AM IST First published on: Aug 25, 2025 at 06:58 AM IST

Top Akali leaders failed to reach a consensus on an interim successor to the assassinated party chief, Harchand Singh Longowal. Both sides, one with SGPC chief G S Tohra and the other with former CM Parkash Singh Badal, are anxious to have an interim party setup in view of the election,s and there are indications that once the jathedars elect an acting president or convenor, he will be accepted by all.

Sri Lanka Deadlock

India is pressing Sri Lanka to come forward with a more comprehensive and acceptable set of proposals which would help break the current deadlock in Colombo’s negotiations with Tamil groups. Foreign Secretary Romesh Bhandari, at a meeting with the leader of the Sri Lankan delegation, Hector Jayewardene, is believed to have emphasised the urgent need for such an initiative. Tamil militant groups had rejected the proposals last week as being “inadequate and far short of meeting the aspirations of the Tamils of the island”.

Kanishka Inquiry

Justice B N Kirpal, inquiring into the Kanishka crash, has said it might be necessary to extract the main structure of the Air India jumbo jet from the ocean bed to determine the exact cause of the disaster. During his meetings with experts, it was felt that if Kanishka had exploded at a height of 31,000 feet, at which it was flying when it lost contact with the Shannon control tower in Ireland, its wreckage would have been strewn over an area of several hundred kilometres. But the wreckage was in an area of a few kilometres, which suggests it exploded at 10,000 feet or less.

Assam electoral rolls

The Election Commission has extended time up to September 27 for filing claims and objections in Assembly constituencies in Assam where the electoral rolls have not yet been finalised. In the cases where the rolls have been finalised, a month’s time has been given to file claims and objections.