The Emergency 1975-77: A Critique

The 40^th anniversary of the emergency, in India, on 25^th June 2015, was marked by intense debates courtesy L K Advani’s assertion to the “Indian Express” some days earlier that he cannot say with conviction that a similar draconian intervention shall not be repeated. Emergency lasted for 19 months between 25^th June 1975 till Jan 1977 when general elections were announced & was finally revoked on 21^st Mar 1977 after Indira Gandhi lost the elections; she lost from Rae Bareli while her son Sanjay – credited with most of the excesses during the said period – from neighbouring Amethi. Rumours persist that Indira tried to rig the election results by exerting pressure on the returning officer – the young IAS officer, Vinod Malhotra – as well as influence the army to impose martial law, both of which failed, perhaps, because of the brave professionalism displayed by remarkable individuals representing reputed institutions.

However, not all institutions – designed by the founding fathers of the constitution to create adequate checks & balances – covered themselves with glory during this dark period. The 4^th estate – the press – in Advani’s words crawled when it was merely asked to bend. The "Indian Express" & "Himmat" were some of the few exceptions. The Congress’s quest for a “committed judiciary” – in the words of Mohan Kumaramangalam – post the Kesvananda Bharti case led to A N Ray being appointed as the Chief Justice, in 1973, superseding 3 senior judges who were part of the majority judgement. Similarly, post the ADM Jabalpur case or the  habeas corpus case, the dissenting judge, HR Khanna, was punished with supersession. While the incumbent Chief justice then was A N Ray (73-77) the other 3 judges, who were part of the majority judgement - MH Beg (77-78)   Y V Chandrachud (78-85) & PN Bhagwati (85-86) - went on to become Chief Justices during the period 1973-86. Only Bhagwati publicly regretted his 1976 judgement, much later in life.

“Batein kum, Kaam zyada” was the slogan raised by the Congress & punctuality at govt. offices was rigorously implemented. Trains running on time delighted the middle class despite suspension of civil liberties. About 34988 people were arrested under the draconian MISA (Maintenance of internal security) provisions that circumvented the judicial process while another 75818 languished in jails under various Defence of India (DOI) rules; this crushed political opposition since their entire leadership was  incarcerated – a ruthless replication of  the British suppression of the  “quit India” movement in 1942. Mohan Dharia opines that Indira withdrew the Emergency just before submitting her resignation for she feared being arrested under MISA otherwise.

Stories of valour abound. Resistance was offered by some young Turks who occupy the top slots across political parties today. BJP's Sushma Swaraj pleaded the “Baroda Dynamite case” for George Fernandes while her colleague Arun Jaitley - President of the JNU students union in 1974 - was jailed. The current PM Narendra Modi too distinguished himself during this period which explains his meteoric rise thereafter. Leftists who distinguished themselves include CPI(M)’s Prakash Karat & Sitaram Yechury while Lohiaites Lalu Yadav, Mulayam, Sushil Modi & Nitish Kumar cut their political teeth during the said period. Journalist Shekhar Gupta cheekily observes that Indira, therefore, unwittingly, strengthened democracy by helping throw up new talents who were responsible for the Congress’ nemesis in subsequent elections.

Emergency has spawned many literary & cinematic representations. Coomi Kapoor’s “ The Emergency: A personal history”, Kuldip Nayyar’s “The judgement” & “Emergency retold” along with the Justice Shah commission’s report  – whose copies were purportedly destroyed by Indira Gandhi post returning to power in 1980 – give a chilling glimpse of those troubled times.  Salman’s Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children” has certain sections based on the said period for which Indira did seek a court injunction. If “Garm Hawa” was, perhaps, the best take on the pangs of partition, the 1989 Malayalam movie “Piravi” best epitomized the troubles of the emergency. Piravi is a moving account of a father’s search for the whereabouts of his son who had disappeared during the emergency; critics attribute it as a take on an REC Calicut student Rajan’s disappearance post a purported arrest on the charge of being a Naxalite. Other films like Gulzar’s “Andhi”, Amrit Nahata’s “Kissa Kursi ka”, IS Johar’s “Nasbandi” are also based on the emergency. That begs the question

Why was the Emergency imposed?

Indira Gandhi was convicted by the Allahabad High court on 12^nd June 1975 - for electoral fraud perpetuated in 1971 - on a case filed by Raj Narain & argued by Shanti Bhushan – who later held the law ministry portfolio in the Morarji Desai’s govt. She was implicated by Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of being guilty on charges of using the state police to build an electoral dais, availing the services of a government officer, Yashpal Kapoor, during the elections before he had resigned from his position, and use of electricity from the state electricity department. Her election was declared null & void & she was debarred from contesting elections for 6 years.

Justice V R Krishna Iyer – a Kerala state minister earleir in the CPI (M) govt. of EMS Namboodiripad (1957-59) & a doyen of civil liberties - on 24 June 1975, upheld the High Court judgement and ordered stoppage of all privileges Gandhi received as an MP. She was debarred from voting but allowed to continue as Prime Minister which meant that she could not take part in parliamentary proceedings. Indira’s

closest advisers then were the Bengal Chief Minister S S Ray, the Congress President Devakanta Barua who famously coined the slogan “India is Indira & Indira is India”, Law Minister HR Gokhale, Mumbai Pradesh Congress Committee President & chief fund collector Rajni Patel & Principal secretary PN Dhar. A paranoid Indira decided, perhaps, under advice from Siddhartha Shankar Ray decided to impose the emergency to continue her hold on power; surprisingly, SS Ray was the first to defect after the Congress defeat in the 1977 elections & deposed against Indira Gandhi before the Shah Commission

RK Dhawan – the secretary to Indira during the said period –claims that Indira in fact wanted to resign post the judgement but was prevailed upon by her cabinet colleagues led by Jagjivan Ram – who later dumped her & joined the opposition - & P N Haksar – later her trenchant critic – prepared the press statement accordingly. He believes that decision to impose the emergency was not triggered by the adverse court judgement but was under consideration from about a year earlier & was later prompted by SS Ray’s letter to Indira in Jan 1975 asking for “drastic action” to control the lawlessness that was spreading across the country. President, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, he claims, signed on the proclamation without much prodding. 

Why the lawlessness?

The 1971 Bangladesh war spurred inflation that was accentuated further by the subsequent drought in 1972 & international oil crisis in 1973. This caused resentment amongst the public which triggered the “Navnirman Andolan” (Dec 1973 – Mar 1974), in Gujarat, that catapulted the opposition “Janata Morcha” - a coalition of Congress (o), Jan Sangh, PSP & Lok Dal - to power in that state. The huge corruption allegations in Bihar compelled Jaiprakash Narayan (JP) to call for a “Total Revolution”. George Fernandes led a strike crippling the Railways in May 1974. while. L N Mishra – the influential Minister of Railways in the Central Cabinet was suspiciously killed in a blast at Samastipur, Bihar, in Jan 1975. “Mitrokhin papers” suggest that Mishra - one of the chief fund raisers of the Congress - was accepting money from the KGB. Was he an unfortunate victim of the internal politics within the Congress or was he eliminated as part of the KGB/CIA slugfest on Indian soil is hard to guess.

Clearly winds of change were blowing across the country. India was on the cusp of transitioning from a single party rule to a multiparty one & Indira wanted to stall the shift at any cost. Likewise, the assassination of Allende in Chile, created in Indira, a fear psychosis, that the same fate awaited her, courtesy the machinations of a “foreign hand”. The convergence of all those vectors created grounds for the imposition of the emergency.

The 20 point program announced soon after was chillingly similar to Adolf Hitler's 25 point program announced in 1920 which helped the latter constitutionally seize unbridled power. The "ordinance" raj &  "rule by decree" that followed destroyed the democratic processes that Indira's father, Nehru, so deeply espoused.

The Excesses of the Emergency

The first casualty of the emergency was the then I & B Mininter, IK Gujral, who resigned post being ticked off by Sanjay Gandhi for not carrying a Congress political rally on DD & not couching the Allahabad judgement in a softer language on AIR. VC Shukla replaced him & took censorship to new heights of belligerence. Jagmohan – the head of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) – applied to himself the epithet “Haussmann of India”- as a reminder of the Frenchman responsible for the transformation of Paris between 1853 & 1870; with the support of Sanjay, he forced the Turkman gate demolitions & compelled the displaced to shift to Trilokpuri, in a bid to beautify Delhi. Sanjay followed through on the sterilization program with gusto which created angst that got reflected in the elections of 1977. Sanjay - as per Ram Guha- was the closest India came to a fascist

In the words of R K Dhawan, Sanjay was influenced by Zail Singh, SC Shukla, ND Tiwari, Gokhale & Bansi Lal to believe that he was in fact more popular than his mother. He therefore became an extra constitutional authority & as per Nirad C Choudhary had the knack of “attracting riffraffs” who were responsible for both the excesses during the emergency; a part of the same brigade were responsible for the 1984 Delhi riots too.

Sanjay mysteriously, wielded enormous power on his mother, the reason still in the realm of speculation. RK Dhawan claims that Sanjay joined politics only post the 1975 supreme court judgement & started organizing rallies in Delhi supported by Mr Jagmohan, then DDA vice-chairman, Mr B R Tamta, then MCD commissioner, and P S Bhinder, then DIG police. They influenced Sanjay to order uniform sign boards on all shops, price tags & demolitions.

Lewis M Simmons’s Washington Post article – released after he was deported from India for penning an article that army officers were unhappy with the imposition of the emergency – accusing Sanjay of slapping Indira, 6 times, at a private party, before the imposition of emergency, spread like “wildfire through word of mouth” as per Coomi Kapoor with the caveat that its authenticity is however doubtful.

Why Did Indira announce elections?

Indira announced elections in 1977, perhaps, convinced by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that she would secure a comfortable majority. Others argue that burdened by a feeling of guilt for the excesses committed during the emergency, she wanted to make amends. Some critics interpret the accusations of “dictatorship” in India during the Pak elections pained Indira who was conscious of her international image erosion; she took this unexpected decision to protect the legacy of her family - including her illustrious father.

Sanjay was in the dark regarding this decision, some allege, while others believe that he too went by the IB ‘s observation & acquiesced to the decision to formalize power democratically. However, the elections threw up an unexpected result.

Why did the Congress Lose in 1977?

Critics argue that the IB’s analysis of a simple majority was not off the mark when it was made. The opposition was in jail & in disarray while the middle class was largely impressed with punctuality in govt. offices. The twist in the tale happened with leaders like H N Bahuguna, Nandini Satapathy & Jagjivan Ram belonging to the "Congress for Democracy" (CFD) defecting to the opposition ranks just before the elections. The opposition unity under JP – the “Gandhi” of Independent India – triggered a tsunami that washed away the Congress in entire North India; the Vindhyas stopped a congress rout. That begs the question

Why did the Congress sweep the South but was wiped out in the North in elections 1977?

The Akalis under Sant Longowal raised a banner of revolt, against the emergency, in Punjab while the JNU student unions did so in Delhi. Charan Singh charisma ensured victory in the Jat lands of UP, Rajasthan & Haryana.  The RSS played the role of the resistance movement in its bastions - West & North India. The left led the movement in Eastern India. JP's overall leadership of bringing diverse political faces together helped in increasing the index of opposition unity. 

It is alleged that the relentless & reckless implementation of Sanjay’s diktats in North India turned deleterious while the circumspection & candour displayed by Congress CM’s in the South – Devaraj Urs in Karnataka & Jalagam Vengal Rao in AP – helped in voter consolidation. The leaders of the resistance did not have any influence in the South either. Congress(I), therefore, won 41 of the 42 seats in AP & 26 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 11 of 20 in Kerala & 14 of 39 in Tamil Nadu. Thus south accounted for 92 of the 153 seats won by the congress.  Coincidentally, the south came to the Congress’s rescue in 1989 too, when it was plagued by the Bofors controversy.

In Tamil Nadu, K Karunanidhi’s DMK govt. was dismissed in Jan 1976; he had opposed the emergency. While the "sympathy factor" should have ideally helped the DMK to return back to power, smeared as it was by corruption scandals, it lost the 1977 elections miserably. Had Rajaji or Kamaraj been alive, Congress would have found it difficult to to penetrate Tamil Nadu. The presence of the ADMK as well as the death of stalwarts - Rajaji of the Swatantra Party in 1972 & K Kamaraj of the Congress (O) in 1975 - helped Congress (I) get 14 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.

Conclusion

The emergency is but a grim reminder of what could happen when institutional integrity is compromised at the expense of individual glory. When paranoia combines with megalomania the consequences are generally disastrous.

The excesses by the executive in trying to create a “compliant” judiciary in the 70’s - characterized by supersession of judges - has invited criticism while accusations of “non- transparency” has bogged the judiciary post the 2^nd judges case in 1997 - that ruled the supremacy of the collegium over the executive in judicial appointments. Surely a middle ground is called for & hopefully it shall fructify soon. The remarkable judgements in the 2G, CWG, Coal Gate etc. would not have occurred but for an independent judiciary & safeguarding its jurisdiction is, therefore, absolutely essential.

It is critical to strengthen institutions like the Chief Vigilance Commission (CVC), Chief Information Commission (CIC) & the Lokpal. Intriguingly, the positions of the CIC & CVC were not appointed by the NDA govt. for over a year & the Lokpal still remains vacant. Such a lackadaisical attitude by any govt. needs censure.

Only by strengthening institutions & governments being amenable to criticism can India become a “participative democracy” from currently being only a “representative” one. In the words of Tagore “Into such world of freedom let my country India awake”.