Rajiv-Longowal Accord signed

Who: Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

What: On 24 July 1985 the two signed a Memorandum of Settlement, the first political settlement after Operation Blue Star and the November 1984 Ghallughara. Its main clauses, by number:

• 1.1: ex-gratia payment to those killed in the agitation or any action after 1 August 1982, and compensation for damaged property.
• 3.1: the Misra Commission, then inquiring into the November 1984 killings in Delhi, would have its jurisdiction extended to the disturbances at Bokaro and Kanpur.
• 5.1: the Government of India agreed to consider an All India Gurdwara Bill, to be drafted in consultation with the Akali Dal.
• 6.1 and 6.2: the notifications applying the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to Punjab would be withdrawn; special courts would try only cases of waging war and hijacking, and all other cases would go to ordinary courts.
• 7.2 and 7.3: a commission would determine the Hindi-speaking areas of Punjab that should go to Haryana, reporting by 31 December 1985, and Chandigarh would go to Punjab on 26 January 1986.
• 9.1 and 9.2: farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan would keep at least the water they used from the Ravi-Beas system on 1 July 1985, and a tribunal headed by a Supreme Court judge would decide the shares within six months. The tribunal that followed was the Eradi Tribunal (The Tribune).
• 9.3: the SYL canal's construction "shall continue" and it "shall be completed by August 15, 1986" (text in a Ministry of Jal Shakti note).

The Tribune also lists the rehabilitation of Sikh deserters from the Army among its promises.

Where: A settlement between the Centre and the Akali Dal covering Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Chandigarh.

Why it mattered: Other Akali leaders did not accept it, and there were protests in Punjab and Haryana. Longowal was assassinated at Sherpur village in Sangrur on 20 August 1985, 27 days after he signed. The Akalis then returned to power under Surjit Singh Barnala.

The Tribune says most of the promises were never implemented. By its 2010 account the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab is unresolved after three commissions (Mathew, Venkataramiah and Desai) failed to settle it; the Eradi Tribunal's recommendations "favoured Haryana" and were "not acceptable to Punjab"; and the prosecution of those responsible for November 1984 was left with the Misra Commission, where "the matter is still dragging on". The Eradi Tribunal's report of 30 January 1987 gave Punjab 5.00 and Haryana 3.83 million acre-feet (MAF), up from 4.22 and 3.50 in the agreement of 31 December 1981 (The Tribune, 2002; Supreme Court, 2016).