They were either not born or were too small to remember the blackest spot in Independent India’s history. It is a long time, 40 years since June 25, 1974, the night that Emergency was promulgated in India, but the period was back in the news when former deputy prime minister L K Advani last week voiced the possibility of a repeat of that interlude, forcing the mind back to those 21 months when Indian democracy was paused.
Advani’s comments stoked the embers of the clouded mind and made the 40th anniversary of the Emergency more real. Though it is generally felt that declaring an Emergency in India again may not be easy, Advani’s comments on the Emergency cannot be treated lightly. It is important, therefore, that the Emergency and the excesses that were propagated under it cannot and should not be forgotten.
The Emergency proclamation under Article 352(1) of the Constitution was signed by then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. The proclamation was issued on the advice of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi citing ‘internal disturbance’. A day earlier, the Supreme Court had upheld an Allahabad High court judgement that had found Gandhi guilty of ‘misuse of government machinery’ for her election campaign. Her election had been declared null and void, and she was unseated from the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister had also been barred from contesting an election for six years.
Gandhi was in such a hurry to impose the Emergency that her cabinet did not know of her move until next morning and she got the decision ratified by the cabinet a day after the proclamation had been signed. The Emergency led to various civil liberties being curbed, elections being suspended, and allowed the Prime Minister to rule by decree. A large number of opposition leaders were imprisoned and censorship was imposed on newspapers. People relied on the foreign news broadcasts on the radio to learn what was happening in India. This dark period lasted 21 months, until March 21, 1977, when it was withdrawn.
After the Janata Party came to power in 1977 it brought in a number of checks and balances and declaring an Emergency will never be as simple as it was in 1975. It will in fact be almost impossible for an Emergency to be declared, as besides the process being made tougher, there not only now exists a more vibrant media but also a social media that will be impossible to control. Added to this is the judiciary that is today much more active in taking up Public Interest Litigation than it was four decades ago, and a civil society that is ready to take on the establishment for real and perceived wrongs.
If Advani feels that there is a possibility that an Emergency can be declared again, then it is for the current dispensation to assure the country that it should not fear this. And on the 40th anniversary of the declaration of the emergency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did just that. Modi on Thursday, terming the Emergency as one of the ‘darkest period’ tweeted saying, “A vibrant liberal democracy is the key to our progress. Let us do everything possible to further strengthen our democratic ideals and ethos.” It was a tweet that was retweeted several times over and reported in the Indian and foreign media.
It is the belief in democracy that has kept India on the road to progress. That one experiment with curtailing of civil liberties should never be repeated in this country. An Emergency would serve little purpose in a country such as India as it would only serve to set progress and development back several decades. India stands today as a respected nation on the world stage because of its democracy and the freedom it offers its citizens. The current government is well aware of this and is unlikely to jeopardize its reputation among nations with an Emergency in the country. But, should the government do so, a more enlightened people will fight it.
