The dark days of Emergency and lessons from it

It has been 50 years since democracy in India was given a serious blow with the imposition of the internal Emergency, for the first time, on June 25, 1975.

- Ravi Shankar Prasad

It is crucial to recognise the background of this dark chapter in the history of free India. Under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan, a legendary freedom fighter who never sought any office, students and young people in India were agitating for democratic, economic, and political reforms.

The movement began in Bihar, and as a young student activist, I had the privilege of being an active participant. Soon, it evolved into a mass movement across the country starting with the Gujarat Nav Nirman Movement, followed by the Bihar Chhatra Sangharsh Movement.

Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, had become unpopular due to bad governance, corruption, and the economic downturn. While the mass movement truly generated a national appeal, Indira Gandhi suffered another setback. The election petition challenging her election from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, alleging corrupt practices, was decided against her by the Allahabad high court, and she was barred from contesting for six years.

The courageous judge, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha, a judge from the pre-collegium days who shunned publicity, delivered the verdict. Indira Gandhi challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, which only gave her a conditional stay, raising serious questions on her political authority. There were huge public rallies in Delhi and other places demanding her immediate resignation.

Thereafter, a pliant President, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, signed off on the decision to impose Emergency without cabinet approval.

Regardless of all claims by Indira Gandhi, the stark fact was that it was done to save her own chair. What followed were shocking, systematic, and brazen attempts to undermine and destroy Indian democracy and turn India into a prison.