This is the front page of The Indian Express published on June 19, 1984, Forty Years Ago.
THE ARMY WILL hand over control of law and order in Punjab to the paramilitary forces in stages over the coming few weeks. It has already launched phase III of Operation Blue Star, which is aimed at flushing out terrorists from the countryside in the state. These announcements were made to the international and national press, who were acquainted with the flushing-out operations that were carried out across temples and gurudwaras in Punjab, as well as the terrorist fortifications around the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Tripura Landslide
AT LEAST 12 people were buried alive and about 20 others are missing in landslides across three villages under the Sonumura sub-division, which is about 80 km from Agaratala, on June 18. The villages are — Thalibari, Dhupchhera and Monalpathar. Official sources said that the heavy landslides on the Assam-Agartala road in the Atharamuga ranges have rendered the highways unmotorable, as two important bridges have collapsed.
Extremists Arrested
IN THEIR CONTINUED action to root out terrorism in Punjab, the security forces raided more hideouts and arrested 76 extremists, seizing a sizable quantity of arms and ammunition on June 18. The security forces also shot dead an individual who was attempting to escape custody. Meanwhile, normalcy returns to Punjab, as day curfew restrictions are relaxed and rail traffic is restored.
Railway Row
A SERIES OF feuding letters have been exchanged between Railway Minister A B A Ghani Khan and his junior colleague, Minister of State C K Jaffer Sharief. Sharief’s letters are just short of being abusive, calling out Choudhury’s “behavioral eccentricities” and luxurious lifestyle as being a burden on the railway exchequer, as well
as the indiscriminate ordering of passenger trains, diverting line capacity for essential materials to the disturbed north-eastern region.
