The 1975 Emergency

On the occasion of Nehru's birthday, who was very fond of children, here is an article to give a small recap of his daughter's biggest stint as the Nation's Prime Minister.

India is considered as the largest democratic country in the world and its Constitution is the world's longest for a sovereign nation. It is considered as the supreme law of India and we are all proud of it. But there was a time when the fundamental rights of the citizens of our country were taken away from them and many human rights violations took place even after Independence. We go back to June 25, 1975 - famously known as the ‘Black day’ - when the then PM Indira Gandhi declared a state of national emergency through All India Radio. Officially issued by the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the constitution, the presidential proclamation said, “The security of India is threatened by internal disturbance.”

Even before 1975 there had been two instances when the emergency was declared, During the Indo-China war in 1962 and during the India–Pakistan war in 1971. The 1975 emergency was not declared because of any war but due to multiple events that occurred in the preceding 6 years. According to Article 352 of the Indian constitution, the president can declare an emergency "if India's security is threatened by war or external aggression or internal disturbance". Internal disturbance, which means rebellion inside the country, was used as the reason for the 1975 emergency.

So, what led to the emergency?

JUDICIARY VS LEGISLATIVE:

After the Congress party came into power in the 1967 parliament elections, Indira Gandhi implemented the fourth five-year plan for the period 1969-1974. This plan included nationalization of 14 private banks and abolition of the privy purse. The idea of nationalization was not accepted by many businesspersons and investors but still the law was passed overnight in 1969. The Supreme Court declared that the law enacted by the government was discriminatory to the 14 banks and this law was unfair to the shareholders of the banks, thereby the ordinance of the government was rejected by the court. But in the very next year, the government brought a new amendment in the Constitution and this amendment reversed the decision of the supreme court. In 1970 the government proclaimed that they would not recognize the royal states and thereby abolish the privy purse. The Supreme Court invalidated this decision just like the previous one, but an amendment was introduced in the same way to reverse this decision as well. Incidents like these caused rifts between the legislative and judiciary and had a massive impact in imposing the 1975 emergency.

THE INCREASING RISE OF INDIRA GANDHI:

In 1971, the Congress party won the general election again, and this time Indira Gandhi gained even more power and became a very dominant Prime Minister. She was called the ‘Iron lady of India’ and had received massive respect and fame for her role in India's victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war. Her contribution for the liberation of Bangladesh received global recognition.

Journalist B.G. Verghese pointed out -

“She went around the world highlighting the genocide in Bangladesh and the crossover of millions of refugees to India”.

As Sreeradha Datta and Krishnan Srinivasan put it,

“Indian foreign policy had triumphed, backed by force of arms. The Americans and Chinese...had been trumped, leaving a compliant Bangladesh, grateful for the Indian sacrifice and support (1).”

This achievement established Indira Gandhi as the leader.

THE STUDENT PROTESTS:

Student protests in Gujarat

The Congress party became the most significant party and was ruling in every state across the country. Corruption and economic crises were visible in the Congress-ruled states. It was in 1974, when the student protests broke out in Gujarat against the then CM Chimbhani Patel, alleging corruption charges against him alongside the issue of rising food prices. The movement was named as Navnirman Andolan (Re-invention or Reconstruction movement) which demanded the resignation of the chief minister. Due to mass protests, which turned violent, Indira Gandhi asked the CM to resign and the governor of Gujarat dispersed the assembly and imposed President’s rule in the state. The protest in Gujarat was just the beginning and it paved the way for many more such protests.

SAMPOORNA KRANTI (TOTAL REVOLUTION MOVEMENT):

The Bihar Movement, also known as Sampoorna Kranti, was initiated by students of Bihar in 1974. It was led by Jayaprakash Narayan, also known as JP, to protest the state’s corruption and later turned against Indira Gandhi's central government. He was a big challenge for the Congress party post-independence. The students demanded the resignation of the CM and complete dissolution of the Bihar assembly. This movement, unlike the Nav Nirman movement, involved political student outfits like Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of Jana Sangh, Samajwadi Yuvajan Sabha (SYS) of Samajwadi Party, and Lok Dal. These peaceful protests went on for a year, turning violent only sometimes - causing damage to public property. However, Indira Gandhi did not change the Bihar government as she did in Gujarat.

THE 1974 RAILWAY STRIKE:

“POORA RATION POORA KAAM, NAHI TOH HOGA CHAKKA JAM!” - A slogan raised at the rally.

All - India 1974 Railway Strike

The world's largest industrial strike took place in India, when 17 lakh Indian railway workers stopped their work for 20 days between 8th May to 27th May, 1974. The workers demanded an increase in pay and to reduce the working hours for locomotive staff to 8 hours and thereby improve their working conditions. The Indira government jailed thousands of workers for this strike and overpowered their voice.

ALLAHABAD COURT VERDICT:

Raj Narain, a social activist who contested and lost against Indira Gandhi in the 1971 election from Raebareli seat, accused her of winning the election by using government machinery and resources to gain an unfair advantage in contesting the election. Total 14 crimes were reported against her. On 12th June, 1975 , the Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices and declared her election invalid and removed her from her Lok Sabha seat. She was barred from contesting elections for 6 years. On the same day, the election result of Gujarat assembly was announced with Congress losing. The situation in the streets turned violent as the opposition leaders and protestors demanded her resignation. Indira Gandhi appealed against the Allahabad Court’s decision in the Supreme Court.

THE DAY OF DRAMA AND CHAOS:

On June 24, 1975 , the Supreme Court granted a conditional stay on the Allahabad Court order and allowed her to continue as the Prime Minister till the next hearing. However, she was not allowed to take part in any parliamentary proceedings and draw a salary as an MP. The opposition took the advantage as they staged an intense protest all over the country against Gandhi and the situation was getting beyond the control of the police. JP Narayan requested students to come out and protest and asked the police and army not to follow the PM’s orders as he termed them as “illegal and unconstitutional ". He announced a nation-wide "Civil Disobedience Movement" in his 80-minute speech at a rally at Ramlila maidan in Delhi.

“SINGHASAN KHALI KARO KI JANTA AATI HEY” (Deboard your throne as the public is coming) - JP Narayan

On the night of 25th June, Indira Gandhi wrote a letter to the President to declare an emergency considering the imminent danger to the security of India being threatened by internal disturbances.

Prominent leaders like JP Narayan, Morarji Desai, LK Advani and other opposition leaders were arrested in the early hours of 25th June. Power supply was stopped on the same night for two days at the newspaper publishers' office in Delhi.

THE PERIOD OF DARKNESS:

“When Indira Gandhi asked the media to bend, it crawled.” Their pages were "filled with fawning accounts of national events, flattering pictures of Mrs. Gandhi and her ambitious son. (2)” -LK Advani

The Emergency went on for a period of 21 months. Press freedom was curbed; the dailies used blank editorials as a gesture of protest but it eventually vanished due to the threats. Many of the prominent press publishers surrendered to the Government as they had no choice. Prevention of Publication of Objectionable Matters Act, 1976 was a lethal blow to the press and the journalists. This act banned protests against government policies and media publicity of anti-government criticism. Indira Gandhi used three methods to manipulate the Press (3):

(a) allocation of government advertising;

(b) shotgun merger of the news agencies; and

(c) use of fear-arousal techniques on newspaper publishers, journalists, and individual shareholders.

These 2 years were considered as the darkest period of Indian Democracy as the fundamental rights were taken away from its citizens and the people who protested and questioned it were jailed. More than 1 lakh people were arrested in this period across the country.

Mass sterilisation:

In 1976, to curb the population, Sanjay Gandhi launched a compulsory mass sterilization programme. This was termed a “gruesome campaign” to sterilise poor men.

According to science journalist Mara Hvistendahl, “An astonishing 6.2 million Indian men were sterilised in just an year, which was 15 times the number of people sterilised by the Nazi”. 2000 men died due to botched operations.

IN THE END:

The Indira Government claimed that the position of the Indian economy was in a bad state because of the recently concluded war with Pakistan and the 1973 oil crisis. The protests and strikes from the opposition were making the country difficult to recover and had hurt the economy majorly. The military chose to remain apolitical during the Emergency. George Fernandes, who played a significant role in the railway protest was arrested for waging war against the State to overthrow the government. A photo of him chained in prison became an idea of resistance and the symbol of revolution. He contested the election from jail and his supporters won the election by campaigning through that photograph.

George Fernandes - Chained in Prison

On January 18, 1977, Indira Gandhi called fresh elections and released all political prisoners; the Emergency officially ended on March 23, 1977. In the Lok Sabha elections held in March 1977, Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi both lost their seats. Morarji Desai became the first Non-Congress Prime Minister of India after the Janata Party won the majority in Lok Sabha with a total 298 seats.

Credits:

Written by: Fadhl Ur Rahman

Edited by: Saniya, Fathima Ismail

Reference:

1)Sreeradha Datta and Krishnan Srinivasan, Bangladesh, The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy, Edited by David M. Malone, C. Raja Mohan, Srinath Raghavan, Oxford University Press, 2015, pp 384-397.

2) LK Advani quote- Indu B. Singh, The Indian Mass Media System: Before, During and After the National Emergency, Rutgers University, 1980.

3) Indu B. Singh, The Indian Mass Media System: Before, During and After the National Emergency, Rutgers University

4) http://www.caluniv.ac.in/global-mdia-journal/Article-Nov-2017/A4.pdf

5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India)

6)Navnirman movement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navnirman_Andolan

7)Bihar movement reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihar_Movement

8) Sterilisation reference: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30040790

9)Conclusion: https://www.barandbench.com/columns/45-years-since-the-emergency-few-highlights

10) Indira Gandhi's Emergency | Why it happened? | The Real Story | Dhruv Rathee