We have heard our parents describe it as the worst 2 years of India since the Britishers left. We have seen black and white clips in news channels showing people protesting on roads, apparently asking for their rights to be restored. And one word that we have heard a lot while reading and hearing about the thrilling reality of India from 40 years ago is, EMERGENCY.
But not many of us are aware of what exactly happened 40 years ago from today that still continue to haunt our elders. And believe me, once you get to know the whole history of that dark phase of India, you will feel the chills run down your spine.
1. So, what exactly was “the Emergency”?
“The Emergency” is the apt term used to describe the 21-month ordeal, spanning from 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977, which was imposed upon whole of India by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The order was officially declared by the then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. The order gave Indira Gandhi the authority to rule by decree. Wondering what ‘rule by decree’ exactly is? It is the kind of ruling generally done by monarchs and dictators, whereby countrymen have no rights of their own.
2. What factors led Indira Gandhi to impose “the Emergency”?
During the period between 1973 and 75, the political unrest had started to brew against the Indira Gandhi government, in the entire country. The unrest was marked by some of the significant movements like-
- The Nav Nirman movement in Gujarat led by students and middle-class people against corruption.
- Student agitation by Bihar Chatra Sangharsh Samiti, which was led by the socialist Jayprakash Narain (popularly known as JP), who also declared “total revolution”, asking students and public at large, to non-violently protest everyday.
- The nationwide strike of the railway-employees union, the largest union in India. The strike had to face brutal suppression by the government, with thousands of employees and their families being driven out of their quarters.
3. But it was Raj Narain’s case against Indira Gandhi that brought her one step closer to declaring “the Emergency”
- Raj Narain, who had lost the Lok Sabha election to Indira Gandhi, filed a case in Allahabad High Court accusing the Prime Minister of engaging in fraudulent practices during elections.
- Indira Gandhi was found guilty on the charge of misuse of government machinery for her election campaign and owing to this, she was banned from contesting for elections for 6 years. Her election was declared null and void, and she was unseated from her Lok Sabha seat.
- But as it turned out, the court acquitted her of frivolous charges, ignoring the more serious ones. And this was, obviously, not well received. And protests led by JP Narain, Satyendra Narayan Sinha and Morarji Desai, flooded the streets of Delhi.
4. Government started fearing threats to national security, which eventually led to the declaration of “the Emergency”
The war with Pakistan had recently ended, the impact of “oil crisis” of 1973 was still very much there, drought conditions were overwhelmingly challenging, and to top it all, the protests and strikes going haywire across the country were proving to be further paralyzing for the government and the country’s economy. Amidst all this tension brewing up, Gandhi resorted to seeking advise from her loyal ministers.
And it was the then Chief Minsiter of Bengal, Siddharth Shankar Ray, who expressed declaring “internal emergency” as the need of the hour, to Gandhi. An idea, which later on proved to be disastrous for the citizens by all means.
5. Some of the scarring memories from the time during “the Emergency” period are-
- All the fundamental rights of the citizens were cut back.
- Arrests were made without framing any charges.
- Media was censored.
- The opposition leaders were tortured, arrested, or detained. Some of the many notable leaders from the opposition to have faced the major wrath were Jayprakash Narain, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Avani, Raj Narain and Jivatram Kripalni.
- Subramanian Swamy and Narendra Modi disguised themselves as Sikh to avoid getting arrested.
- A Bollywood movie, ‘Kissa Kursi Ka’ a satire on politics of Indira and Sanjay Gandhi, was banned by the government.
- Slums and low-income housing at the Turkmen gate and Jama Masjid area of Old Delhi, were allegedly destroyed.
- Illegal enactment of laws, which apparently also included making modifications in the Constitution of India.
- Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was banned.
- In September of 1976, a widespread compulsory sterilization program was carried out by Sanjay Gandhi with the idea of curbing population growth. The program primarily involved men to undergo vasectomy. And allegedly, the rule was also forced upon the unwilling candidates. It is known that as many as 8.3 million sterilizations had taken place during the period between 1976-77.
“The Emergency” was the worst phase in the history of India since she gained independence in 1947. Don’t you almost feel lucky for not having been born during that phase, where at one point of time people were put behind bars simply for voicing their opinions or, for no reason at all?