Jaibans Singh
On 25 June, 1975, the then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, under Article 352 of the Constitution and quoting “internal disturbance’ as a reason, proclaimed a state of emergency in India. Under Article 352 of the Constitution of India, the Government has the right to proclaim an emergency in the event of a grave internal security threat to the country. This is the only instance in the history of Independent India when emergency powers have been used by a government of the country.
This action of the President was taken under advice of the then Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi. President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, kept extending the period of emergency every six months for a period of 21 months. Emergency was finally revoked on 21 March, 1977.
The trigger for this draconian step by the prime minister was a judgement passed on 12 June 1975, by Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court that found the prime minister guilty on the charge of misuse of government machinery for her election campaign. The judgement was passed by the honourable judge on a case filed by Shri Raj Narain who had fought the 1971 parliamentary election against Indira Gandhi from Rae Bareli constituency of Uttar Pradesh and was defeated.
Prior to the judgement, Indira Gandhi had been cross-examined in the High Court for about five hours. This was the first instance of a prime minister of India being thus cross-examined.
The judgement was naturally challenged by Indira Gandhi in the Supreme Court. On 24 June 1975, Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer of the Supreme Court upheld the High Court judgement. Consequently, all privileges being enjoyed by Indira Gandhi due to her position as a Member of Parliament ceased immediately. She was also debarred from voting and banned from contesting elections for six years. She was, however, allowed to continue performing the duties of prime minister. Emergency was declared in India the very next day.
In the general elections of 1971, Indira Gandhi had registered a record win of 352 seats out of 518. She further gained stature due to the massive defeat inflicted upon Pakistan in the India-Pakistan War, 1971. She felt that she could do no wrong and carried out a series of unpopular constitutional amendments like abolition of privy purses and promulgation of the twenty-fourth amendment of the Constitution that enabled Parliament to dilute Fundamental Rights of the citizens. The making of a despot had been initiated. It was the brute majority, enhanced political stature and megalomania that propelled Indira Gandhi towards declaration of emergency.
It is quite obvious that the conspiracy to proclaim emergency had been hatched while the case was being fought in the Allahabad High Court. Before the emergency, the Indira Gandhi government had already passed draconian laws which were used to arrest political opponents before and during emergency. One of these was the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), 1971, which was passed in May 1971. MISA allowed indefinite detention without trial, a tool used incessantly during the period of emergency to silence the opposition.
It is said that the inner circle of Indira Gandhi that mainly included her son Sanjay Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister, Siddhartha Shankar Ray and Union Law Minister H.R. Gokhale comprised the core group that took the decision to impose emergency. The letter to the president is said to have been drafted by Siddhartha Shankar Ray. In the letter, the Government said that threats to national security, in the aftermath of the war, many years of draught and oil crises of 1973 had posed additional challenges upon the nation. The Government claimed that the strikes and protests in the wake of the difficulties had paralysed the government and hurt the economy of the country greatly.
Indira Gandhi adhered to this advice probably because she was under a lot of pressure by the opposition leaders to forsake her position as prime minister. The opposition movement was spearheaded by the towering social activist, Jayaprakash Narain who had, in anticipation of the Supreme Court judgement, organised to address a massive rally at Ramlila Ground, Delhi on 25 June 1975 itself. Quoting the famous poet, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Jayaprakash Narayan thundered, “Sinhasan Khali Karo Ki Janta Aati Hai” (vacate the throne, the public is coming). Jayaprakash Narayan goaded the police to reject immoral and unethical orders of government. He went to the extent of motivating the armed forces to revolt against the Indira Gandhi led government.
Declaration of Emergency by Indira Gandhi
At 7:00 AM on the 26 June, 1975 Indira Gandhi went on air on All India Radio to declare to the people that a state of emergency had been imposed in the country the previous day. With immediate effect the fundamental rights provided by the Constitution to all citizens of the Republic of India were suspended. Special emphasis was on the suspension of the right to freedom of speech, personal liberty and assembly.
Earlier during the night, power supply to all major newspaper offices had been disconnected. It was restored only after a few days, when the code of the media censorship had been put in place. A large number of opposition leaders and political workers were arrested early morning on 26 June itself. Overall, more than 14 lakh individuals, including political adversaries, activists, journalists, writers, and ordinary citizens expressing dissent, were arbitrarily arrested and detained during the period of emergency.
Prominent leaders who were detained were Vijayaraje Scindia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Raj Narain, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Jivatram Kripalani, George Fernandes, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Arun Jaitley, Jai Kishan Gupta, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Gayatri Devi and many others. Most remained under detention all through the period of emergency. Several other human rights violations were reported from the time
The order bestowed upon the prime minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be cancelled and civil liberties to be suspended. Indira Gandhi could rewrite the nation’s laws since the Congress party had two-thirds majority in the Parliament. When she felt that the parliamentary process was too slow she resorted to issuing of ordinances.
Accordingly, state governments were dissolved and local elections were suspended nationwide, thus giving to the centre the power to assume direct control, while stifling the voice and representation of the people at the grassroots level. Prominent in this erosion of state rights was the imposition of President’s Rule in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, where governments of opposition parties were in place.
The government then moved to impede the powers of the judiciary. It systematically appointed those subservient to the ruling cartel in positions of judicial power while the dissenters were consigned to irrelevance through transfers etc. A deliberate and systematic methodology ensured total erosion of judicial autonomy. Landmark judgments that had, over the years, served to uphold citizens’ fundamental rights were reversed or diluted.
All instruments of state and government were left toothless in the face of the new ruling dispensation which consolidated all power to itself. Those who challenged the regime faced physical violence and brutal treatment. Rumours of terrible torture in custody, sexual assaults and even unrecorded disappearances abounded. The central government assumed direct control. This concentration of power impeded the independence of the state and central legislature and undermined the judiciary’s role as a guardian of constitutional rights.
Forcible sterlisation by the repressive regime
The worst fall-out was a brutal campaign of forcible sterilisation initiated under the direct supervision of Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of Indira Gandhi. With the ostensible objective of population control, lakhs of people, mostly from the poor segments of society and marginalized communities were forcibly sterilised. Not only did these hapless people lose their right to parenthood, many also lost their lives due to lack of medical care.
Another instance of the brutality of the emergency regime, specifically carried out on orders of Sanjay Gandhi, pertains to a period in 1976 when a plan was conceived to ‘beautify’ Delhi by clearing Jhuggis (temporary dwelling of poor people). Under the energetic initiatives of Sanjay’s henchman, Jagmohan, then vice chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), entire colonies were bulldozed to the ground and the residents consigned to miserable conditions on the far corners of the city.
The most significant and often quoted area in this regard is Turkman Gate in old Delhi. On 18 April 1976, the entire power of the state swooped on the hapless residents who, most courageously, offered resistance. The police opened fire that led to many deaths that remain unaccounted for till date. The matter was not reported due to press censorship. The horror came to light only after the revocation of emergency.
With time the people of the country united to fight this assault on their freedom and democratic rights. Countless peaceful demonstrations, strikes, and acts of civil disobedience were organised to express discontent and demand the restoration of democracy. The emergency brought together people from diverse communities, religions, and social strata for a common cause to preserve democracy in the country.
Here too the dynamic state of Punjab made a sterling contribution. The Sikh leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) under the leadership of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal launched its agitation “Democracy Bachao Morcha” (Campaign to Save Democracy) as early as 9 July 1975. The Sikhs resolved to oppose the “fascist tendency of the Congress.” Over 40,000 Akalis and other Sikhs courted arrest during the Morcha. Those arrested included many leaders of the SAD as well as the SGPC. Interestingly, Sant Kartar Singh Bhindranwale, the then head of the Damdami Taksal, held 37 processions to defy the emergency.
Possibly the malevolence that Indira Gandhi harboured towards Punjab and Sikhs for the role played in opposing her during emergency led to the faulty policies that her government adopted towards the state, which ushered the period of debilitating militancy.
Indira Gandhi was quick to ban powerful social organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jamaat-e-Islami. Police clamped down on RSS workers and thousands were imprisoned. The RSS, however, defied the ban. Karyakartas (workers) who had managed to evade arrest went underground and motivated the people to raise their voice against the undemocratic and draconian act.
Satyagraha (peaceful public protest) was organised across the country and literature, published clandestinely, and explaining the evil of emergency was distributed in large volume. This helped offset the lack of information caused by censorship of traditional media. Networks were established between leaders of different political parties in the jail and outside for the coordination of the movement. The main RSS leaders who carried out this activity were Nanaji Deshmukh, Madan Lal Khurana and many others. They were assisted within parliament by the likes of Subramanian Swamy.
The emergency also witnessed the emergence of a new leader, Narendra Damodardas Modi, who went from place to place in disguise and carried out activities against the emergency regime. He spent a lot of time in Punjab disguised as a Sikh. Hence, as the period witnessed the fall of a leader, it also became a cradle for the nurturing of another tall leader.
Many other movements contributed towards the resistance to the emergency. A notable example is that of the Nav Nirman movement in Gujarat, led by students who played a crucial role in organizing protests, boycotting classes, and demanding the restoration of democratic principles. It was an example in the exhibition of youth power in the face of national adversity.
The coterie that had motivated Indira Gandhi to impose the emergency was joined by many more Darbaris (courtiers). They collectively pandered to Indira Gandhi’s ego and convinced her that she had gained public support for the “good work done.” This motivated her towards the declaration of fresh general elections on 18 January 1977. Many opposition leaders were released, even as those whom she considered to be big threats continued to remain under detention.
The general election held from 16 to 20 March, 1977, resulted in a landslide victory for the Janata Party and its partners who secured 298 seats in the Lok Sabha. The ruling Indian National Congress only managed to win 154—a decrease of 198 as compared to the previous election. Emergency was finally revoked on 21 March 1971 and India breathed free once more.
The imposition of the emergency witnessed a grave erosion of the constitution and democratic principles. Brute force was applied to weaken the pillars of the very democracy that our freedom fighters had sacrificed so much to attain. It had a detrimental effect on India’s international image with the western world getting into the “we said that India was incapable of self-rule” mode.
However, defying all predictions of the rise of dictatorship, India emerged as a mature and vibrant democracy where people were ready to sacrifice everything to maintain their hard earned freedom. The atrocities heaped upon the people serve as a reminder for the importance of civil liberties.
(Jaibans Singh is a strategic affairs expert, social worker, journalist and author)
test