40 years ago November 3, 1986: Farooq to lead coalition

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on November 03, 1986.

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on November 03, 1986.

2 min readNov 3, 2026 06:40 AM IST First published on: Nov 3, 2026 at 06:40 AM IST

The National Conference leader, Farooq Abdullah, will form a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir sometime this week: It will have nine or 10 members. The seal of approval to the Congress(I)-NC(F) coalition was given at a meeting of the Central Parliamentary Board presided over by the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. A resolution adopted by the CPB (I) hoped that the coalition would “consolidate the secular and democratic forces in the border state”. Hoping that the coalition would fight “anti-national and fundamentalist forces”, the resolution recalled how the National Conference had been an active part of the national and freedom movement in the state.

Sikh head priests’ appeal

The five Sikh head priests appealed to the Sikh masses not to give credence to the resolutions at the so-called “Sarbat Khalsa” held at the Golden Temple. The priests discussed the situation after Saturday’s Sarbat Khalsa meeting called by Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, the acting chief of the Akal Takht. The Sarbat Khalsa had excommunicated Surjit Singh Barnala, the Chief Minister, and the Finance Minister, Balwant Singh, from the Sikh panth for their “anti-panthic” activities.

13 killed in Karachi riot

In one of the worst ethnic riots in Karachi, 13 persons were killed when groups of Pathans and Muhajirs (Urdu-speaking migrants) exchanged fire and clashed with the curfew-enforcing army and security agencies.

Violence in Madras

Militants belonging to the Sri Lankan Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) opened fire with machine guns at Choolaimedu in the city, killing one man and injuring two others, one of them seriously. The Diwali afternoon clash between 10 militants and a 600-strong mob at Thiruvalluvarpuram First Street killed Thirunavakkarasu, aged 24, and injured Ravi and Gurumoorthy, both in their 20s.