finally, in march 1985, the leadership of the akali party began to be released from prison under orders from the new prime minister rajiv gandhi. with a view to improving the situation and creating the conditions for a negotiated settlement of sikh demands, the prime minister's confidante, arjun singh who was posted as the governor of the state, also relaxed the censorship on the punjabi press, withdrew army control over certain districts, announced his willingness to institute a judicial enquiry into the november 1984 killings, lifted the ban on the all india sikh students federation and agreed to review the cases of thousands of sikhs imprisoned since the army's arrival in punjab the previous june. within a few days, the first 53 were released. a few days later, rajiv made an effort to address the economic woes of punjab, with its diminishing acreages and burgeoning unemployment by announcing the establishment of a rail coach factory at kapurthala, punjab which would need about 20,000 people. then, after weeks of secret negotiations, harcharnd singh longowal met the prime minister in delhi and on 23 july 1985 signed an eleven-point memorandum covering all the major issues which had defied resolution since the akalis had first presented their list of demands. the accord attracted opposition from several orthodox sikh leaders of punjab as well as from the politicians of haryana. some of its promises could not be fulfilled due to the disagreements.