Opinion October 3, 1985, Forty Years Ago: India-Morocco Spat

Balasaheb Deoras, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said that granting a special status to Jammu and Kashmir state had been a mistake. Article 370 he said, had sown the seeds of secession. Addressing a mammoth rally at Ramlila Grounds on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Deoras said the conditions were grave despite some improvements. In this situation, he said, India needed to have a strong Centre.

Labourers in Cage

Nearly 100 bonded labourers are being kept in a 60-by-15-foot cage made of tin in the midst of cooking fuel, vegetables, rice and wheat in Joshiyara, Uttarkashi district, according to a report of the district judge of Tehri Garhwal.While these labourers were employed by Continental Construction, several other companies including the government’s own NPCC have been indicted for gross violation of labour laws and the Bonded Labour Abolition Act.

Violence in UK

Ten people were hurt and cars and shops set ablaze as violence spread to more British cities overnight amidst government warnings that the country’s “divided” cities were powder kegs waiting to explode. The latest outbreak was in Toxteth, Liverpool, where around 300 youths stoned a police station and set several cars on fire. Violence has hit three major British cities during the last two weeks. Mostly Black mobs, whose principal target has been the police, were involved. The worst outbreak was in Handsworth in Birmingham where two Asians were killed.