Longowalਲੌਂਗੋਵਾਲ

History

Longowal was founded by Baba Alla Singh as a village settlement of the Sangrur region — an unremarkable origin for a town that would twice enter national history. Its modern identity comes from two twentieth-century facts: the Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology, established by the Government of India in 1989 as a deemed university, which made the town an educational centre; and Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, the Akali leader who took his name from this town.

The Sant's story is Punjab's tragedy in miniature. As president of the Akali Dal during the dark years of militancy, Longowal negotiated the Punjab Accord — the Rajiv–Longowal Accord — signed on 24 July 1985, which promised the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab and a settlement of the river-waters dispute. For a moment, it seemed Punjab's long crisis might end at a negotiating table. Twenty-seven days later, on 20 August 1985, he was assassinated by militants at Sherpur while addressing a congregation — killed for making peace. The Accord that bears his town's name remains the reference point of Punjab's politics.

Geography & people

Longowal lies in Sangrur district, about 15 kilometres from Sangrur town on the road toward Sunam — at 30.2167° N, 75.6833° E, in the flat wheat-and-paddy country between the two towns. (Some geocoders misplace it in Gurdaspur; the town's own records and the census place it firmly in Sangrur.) The 2011 census counted 23,851 residents in the municipal council. Punjabi is the everyday language. The SLIET campus dominates the town's life — students and faculty from across India — while the surrounding villages farm wheat and paddy.

Places of interest

The SLIET campus — with its main building, hostels and green grounds — is Longowal's landmark and its economic engine. The town's memorials to Sant Harchand Singh Longowal draw visitors, especially around the Accord's anniversary on 24 July and his martyrdom day on 20 August — quiet gatherings, far from the politics his name still stirs. The surrounding countryside is classic Sangrur farmland, and the district town's Banasar Bagh is a short drive away.

Notable people

Sant Harchand Singh Longowal (1932–1985) — the Akali Dal president who signed the Punjab Accord of 24 July 1985 and was assassinated on 20 August 1985 — is Longowal's defining figure; the town gave him his name and keeps his memory. Baba Alla Singh, the town's founder, belongs to its earliest chapter — the village headman whose settlement became a town of national consequence.