This is the front page of The Indian Express published on July 26, 1984, Forty Years Ago.
The mass failure of students in the high school and intermediate examinations of Uttar Pradesh symbolises the monumental failure of the government’s education policy which has been subjected to whimsical innovation. The inability of 3,25,825 candidates, (68.3 per cent of the students who appeared), and the incomplete results of another 1,23,000 have shocked students and their parents.
Akali Talks
The Union Home Minister’s disclosure about what transpired at the last meeting with the Akali leaders on May 26 this year and the Prime Minister’s plea for “a movement for unity” highlighted debate on the White Paper on Punjab in Parliament. In the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister P V Narasimha Rao indicated that talks with Akali leaders broke down.
Mafia Reign
Haji Mastan was arrested in Bombay under the National Security Act, for supplying incendiaries to disturb the “uneasy peace” in Bombay after the communal outbreak in May. Karim Lala, a merchant of narcotics and a gang leader was accused of violent action against an opponent. When security officers tried to arrest him, he used the excuse of old age to gain sympathy from the official. The charge against him was of supplying bombs, Molotov cocktails and other weapons to provocateurs of communal violence.
Bengal’s Relief Fund
West Bengal Finance Minister Asoke Mitra described the Eighth Finance Commission’s report as “an attempt at reducing West Bengal to destitution by denuding the state of its resources and offering a measly amount of Rs 7.89 crores as interim relief.” He said that the state has been robbed of Rs 350 crores due to political differences.
