On Monday, it will be 48 years since the dreaded internal emergency was promulgated by the then Congress government headed by Indira Gandhi, which many contemporary historians consider as one of the darkest chapters in the recent history of this country. The declaration entailed suspension of basic human rights and empowered the ruling dispensation to arrest and jail, many leading opposition leaders, besides members of civil society who were opposed to the regime.
Looking back, there were multiple reasons why this extreme step was taken by the then Prime Minister, who had earlier on 12th June, 1975, been unseated from her Rae Bareilly Lok Sabha constituency, by a judgment of Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court, following a petition by well-known socialist leader Raj Narain, the loser in that particular election. Former Law minister Shanti Bhushan, then an eminent lawyer, appeared for the petitioner. The defendant, Indira Gandhi had made up her mind to quit after the controversial ruling, that used technical grounds to unseat her. However, according to one version, senior party leaders and her favourite son, Sanjay Gandhi prodded her to continue in office, and file an appeal in the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court verdict.
The opposition parties were not in any forgiving mood, and escalated their demand for her resignation. It was at that point, that the then West Bengal Chief Minister, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, a close associate of the Prime Minister, advised her to clamp down on the Opposition, and put those opposing her, in jail to bring back some semblance in the country. However, the fact, according to many senior leaders of that time, was that while the promulgation of emergency was under consideration on the suggestion of Ray, Indira Gandhi took the step only after Jai Prakash Narain, who was leading the Total revolution movement, gave a call to uniformed personnel, not to obey orders, and revolt. Many Opposition leaders dispute this but it is a matter of record that such a call was given by JP a couple of days before the declaration. In the period between June 12th and June 26thth when the promulgation came into effect, both sides tested their strengths on the streets of Delhi.
The Opposition was in a defiant mood but Congressmen, were also ready to take on their opponents. The then Indian Youth Congress Chief, Ambika Soni was in the forefront in organizing the pro-Indira movement. On the other hand, several Socialist leaders including Raj Kumar Jain and Lalit Mohan Gautam succeeded in reaching the Prime Minister’s residence to register their protest.
Soon after the Emergency was declared on the night intervening June 25 and 26, there was a mid-night knock on the doors of opposition leaders. Congress (O) leader, Morarji Desai, former UP Chief Minister Charan Singh, Jana Sangh stalwarts, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishan Advani, Socialists such as Raj Narain and Madhu Limaye and leading journalists including Kuldeep Nayar were all rounded up. The then Delhi University Students’ Union president, Arun Jaitley was picked up from outside the University Coffee House and whisked away to Tihar Jail. JP was arrested along with his close associates, and several top student leaders all over the country, were similarly taken into custody.
In Delhi, the regulars at various Connaught place restaurants were taken aback after special supplements of leading newspapers hit the streets announcing the declaration of the Emergency, and they did not know what it entailed or meant, except they were all fearful. There were leaders like George Fernandes, Kidar Nath Sahni and Nanaji Deshmukh, who went underground to organize the resistance movement, where the RSS volunteers played a major role.
The Opposition had succeeded in driving home the narrative, rightly or wrongly, that the emergency was declared by Indira Gandhi at the behest of her son, Sanjay and he was the one who wanted to fix the opponents through draconian means. While fundamental rights remained suspended, Sanjay launched his five-point programme which included family planning. Rumours were all over that Sanjay had ordered forced sterilization, and even Sadhus went unspared. The propaganda was effectively used to defame the government. Close aides of Sanjay like the then DDA vice chairman Jagmohan went overboard, and the crackdown at Turkman Gate occurred where many were killed in the police firing. Political activity was banned and no elections were held to even the Students Unions. Indira Gandhi had apparently faltered and did not comprehend the wide-ranging ramifications of her step. Apart from being severely criticized internationally, she was losing popularity and even within her own party, a new coterie emerged which had total allegiance to Sanjay Gandhi. Vidya Charan Shukla, Bansi Lal, Om Mehta were amongst those who were part of the caucus around the Prime Minister. Dev Kant Barooah, who was the party president, made his infamous comment that “India is Indira and Indira is India’’. Ambika Soni represented a strong power centre around Sanjay Gandhi.
There are anecdotes one can recall which pertained to the declaration. On June 26th, two leading NSUI student leaders went to the 5, Rajendra Prasad office of the Congress party during that time, and found P.V. Narasimha sitting in one of the rooms. When asked what was happening, Rao, kept his finger on his lips and advised them not to speak or say anything. Baffled by his reaction, they came out. There is also this story of Kamal Nath, a close friend of Sanjay Gandhi being summoned by the Prime Minister and asked to convey a message to the CPM leader, Jyoti Basu, that he was not going to be arrested, and therefore, there was no need for him to be underground. Kamal Nath who was well conversant with Calcutta, told Indira Gandhi that he did not know where Basu was. She gave him a chit bearing the address of another CPM leader, Amal Dutta and told him that he could find him there. The message was finally conveyed to Basu though Datta took time to allow Kama Nath inside the house, maintaining all along that he was not there.
The imprisonment of the Opposition leaders, helped to bring them closer to each other, despite acute ideological differences, paving the way for the Janata Party experiment later. Within the Congress, leaders felt suffocated, and when Indira Gandhi under tremendous pressure and the call of her own conscience, decided to lift the emergency, Congress stalwarts like Babu Jagjiwan Ram and Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, walked out. They floated the Congress for Democracy (CFD), which according to many political analysts was the reason, why the element of fear disappeared in the people. In the elections that followed, the Congress was routed in North India, with both Indira Gandhi and Sanjay losing from their respective constituencies.
The Emergency witnessed the beginning of the collapse of many democratic institutions and even the Supreme Court came under a threat following the supersession of Judges. Towards the end, Indira Gandhi was remorseful and although she won the appeal in the Apex Court, yet she had damaged herself and her party at that time. It was a different era, but many Opposition leaders of the present times, continue to maintain, that the conditions of fear that prevailed then, can be witnessed even under the current dispensation. However, the fact remains, that whatever the compulsions were, and even if it is to be presumed that western forces wanted to destabilize the popularly elected government of Indira Gandhi, as events before the declaration, probably demonstrated, the promulgation of the draconian measure cannot be defended. It was a direct attack on democracy and its fundamental principles and provides many unforgettable lessons for the future.