The Rajiv Gandhi - Longowal pact on Punjab

The Rajiv Gandhi - Longowal pact on Punjab.

Rajiv-Longowal accord on Punjab, signed on ]uly 24 in the capital, was preceded by four weeks of behind the scenes negotiations. Few records were maintained of the unfolding events except for a slender bunch of letters, business-like and bereft of emotion, exchanged between the two leaders. Assistant Editor Prabhu Chawla visited Chandigarh last fortnight to piece together, from the letters and the scraps of evidence available, a chronicle of the weeks leading to the historic accord. His report:

Arjun Singh is known to be peripatetic. So no one took notice when, A in the weeks following Rajiv Gandhi's return from his US visit on June 18, Singh flew in and out of the capital every few days.

Longowal letter to Rajiv Gandhi

There was speculation about fresh initiatives on the vexing Punjab problem but Singh gave nothing away: he met only the prime minister and scrupulously avoided the Punjab Government's officials based in Delhi.

Not surprisingly then, very few people were in the know when, on July 2, Rajiv handed Singh a sealed letter addressed to Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, president of the Akali Dal. The same evening, Singh, with the letter safely in his briefcase, flew back to Chandigarh.

Within hours, Shankar Narayan, joint secretary to the Punjab governor who had been on Singh's staff since 1980 was driving to Longowal village, 80 km from Chandigarh, to deliver the letter to the Sant.

The 16-line letter was brief and to the point. It read: "Dear Sant Longowalji, you are aware that finding a solution to the problems in Punjab has been one of our foremost concerns. Despite many handicaps, in view of our commitment to bring peace and prosperity to Punjab, we have taken a number of initiatives on the economic, cultural and political fronts to create an atmosphere in which sincere efforts for a solution could be made. It is a matter of satisfaction to us that the Shiromani Akali Dal and you personally have responded positively to these measures and we feel that the stage has now been reached when a formal initiative for a settlement of the outstanding problems can be taken. I would request you, therefore, to come to Delhi at your earliest convenience for a meeting with me so that we could discuss and decide the manner in which further steps are to be taken. You may decide, if you so choose, to bring any other person along with you for the meeting."

For days together, the letter elicited no overt response from the Akali leader. But Singh knew what Longowal needed most at that stage: time. Perhaps no one knew more than Singh - chief minister of Madhya Pradesh when the Akali triumvirate of; Parkash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Longowal was lodged at Panchmarhi Jail in his state - that the detention of the leaders in the months after 'Operation Bluestar' had brought about a sea-change in both Badal and Tohra.

While Longowal remained a moderate leader, Badal and Tohra had toughened in their stance. Singh knew that Longowal would have to hasten slowly if he did not wish to be outflanked by his fire-spewing comrades.

So, hiding the fact of his receiving the letter from the prime minister, Longowal decided to go ahead with his already fixed calendar of events. Accordingly, a convention of all ex-MP's, ex-MLA's, district level  office-bearers and jathedars of the peace moves Akali Dal was convened on July 9 at the historic shrine of Anandpur Sahib. Presiding over it, Longowal gave a call for resuming the dharam yudh (holy war) against the Centre from August 20.

Longowal's letter to 

the prime minister

A member of the committee was Balwant Singh, industrialist from Jalandhar who had served the Akali ministry as its finance minister, and who was in the know of things. Only a day after the fireworks at Anandpur Sahib, Balwant Singh wrote to Arjun Singh on July 9: "He (Longowal) has desired me to convey through you his warm greetings to the prime minister. He has further desired me to intimate it to you for the information of the prime minister that he will be writing to him in response to his letter on his return from the tour of Rajasthan."

Longowal continued to play with his cards close to his chest. His tour of Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in the following days was, therefore, a delicate blend of caution and aggression. On the one hand, he made it clear that he was looking for a settlement within the framework of the Constitution. But on the other hand, he repeated his preconditions for peace, reiterating the familiar theme of the Centre being untrustworthy.

Balwant Singh was not the only one in touch with Arjun Singh: Prithpal Singh Kapoor, a retired principal of Amritsar's Khalsa College and a trusted friend of Longowal, and Attar Singh, a Chandigarh academician also close to the Sant, were constantly carrying messages, tying up loose ends and clearing the deck for a top-level parley.

The Rajiv administration was not lacking in reciprocity: as many as 1,700 alleged extremists were released from detention, and it was announced that the special courts to try extremists would not have their term extended. Longowal's negotiators were also told that the scope of the judicial enquiry into the November riots in Delhi would be extended to other areas, as demanded by the Akalis, and the Sikh deserters from the army would also be rehabilitated.

Now the climax was in sight. Longowal, convinced that he was close to clinching peace, finally wrote a letter to Rajiv on July 16. He drafted the letter in Gurumukhi and Kapoor, who took it to Singh, translated it en route into English. The letter read: "It is good of you to have taken note of the efforts of the Shiromani Akali Dal towards a peaceful and just solution of the Punjab problem. Your personal efforts towards finding a solution to this problem and certain measures taken by your government in this regard have generated new hopes in the minds of the people of the country in general and the Sikhs in particular. I wish it were possible for you to take a few more steps in this regard to solve the matters mentioned by me on public platform to enable the Sikh masses to have the feel of your fresh approach. I share your anxiety for an early settlement in the larger interests of the country and the Punjab state. The Shiromani Akali Dal has never failed to respond to the invitations for talks. Accordingly, I accept your invitation. We may meet aha suitable time to carry the dialogue to a successful end."

The "suitable time" was six days away. On July 17, only a day after Arjun Singh had faithfully rendered his same-day courier service and carried Longowal's letter to Rajiv, came a reply from the prime minister. Rajiv wrote: "I welcome your readiness to come to Delhi for talks. It would be appropriate in my view that we meet at 1000 hrs on Tuesday, the 23rd July, 1985."

Characteristically, Longowal hesitated once again. He did not reply quickly to the prime minister. On July 21, prepared to break all protocol, Singh drove down to the house of Balwant Singh at Sector 6 in Chandigarh, where he met Longowal for the first time since becoming the governor of Punjab. Besides Longowal, the other Akali leaders present at Balwant Singh's house included Badal and Tohra.

After hours of hemming and hawing at the meeting, where Singh was also present, Badal and Tohra sourly agreed that Longowal should talk to the prime minister. But Longowal's written acceptance did not arrive till the next day, minutes before Singh was to leave for Delhi.

The letter simply read: "I will reach at the appointed time for the meeting on July 23, 1985." With the letter in his pocket, Singh drove to the prime minister's residence. It was evening already. By night, the press announcement was made about the talks next day. The rest is history.

Courtesy India Today.