The Reasons
On 25th June 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
imposed an emergency in the country. Fundamental Rights stood
suspended, censorship was imposed on the press and prominent political
leaders were arrested. So what prompted Mrs. Gandhi to take such a
drastic step? Could the emergency have been avoided? What role did her
son Sanjay and his cronies play during this crucial period? Were there
any personal motives? There are just some of the questions that we will
try to answer.
In many ways the foundation for the emergency was laid when the
Allahabad High Court set aside Indira Gandhi’s re-election to the Lok
Sabha in 1971 on the grounds of electoral malpractices. This verdict,
which came on 12th June, was later challenged in the Supreme Court,
which on 24th June 1975, granted a conditional stay to Mrs. Gandhi,
thereby allowing her to remain a member of parliament
but disallowed her to take part in parliamentary proceedings. However,
this was just the first step. The other, more significant reason for the
imposition of emergency was the “JP movement”. Many regard Jayaprakash
Narayan as “the Gandhi of Independent India”. In his entire political
career he never contested an election. After the Allahabad High Court
verdict, “JP”, as he was better known, gave the call for a “Total
Revolution” and also demanded the resignation of Mrs. Gandhi. In fact on
June 25, 1975, he announced a plan of daily demonstrations, not merely
in Delhi, but also in every State capital and district headquarters
until Indira Gandhi threw in the towel. He also appealed to the Army,
the police and the bureaucracy “to refuse to obey Indira” and “abide by
the Constitution instead”. His associate Morarji Desai went a step
further. In an interview to an Italian journalist he said, “We intend to
overthrow her, to force her to resign. For good…Thousands of us will
surround her house and prevent her from going out…night and day.”
Incidentally, Desai was once Deputy Prime Minister in her government.
Many argue that the emergency was the inevitable outcome of social,
economic and political crises resulting in “systematic failure” One of
them is Prof. P.N. Dhar, Secretary to the Prime Minister and her chief
official advisor during this period. In his book “Indira Gandhi, the emergency and Indian Democracy”,
he states that it was largely because of the opposition pressure that
she was forced to resign. He says “Even before she could file her
appeal, to which she was enticed, a delegation of opposition leaders
from the Congress (O), JS, BLD, SP and Akali Dal called on the president
and presented a memorandum to him saying that “a grave constitutional
crisis had arisen as a result of Mrs. Gandhi continuing to occupy the of
office of the prime minister despite a clear and categorical judicial
verdict.” Apart from Dhar, there were others who supported the
Emergency. One of them was prominent writer Khushwant Singh, who at the
time was the editor of “The Illustrated Weekly of India”. He says “By
May 1975 public protests against Mrs. Gandhi’s government had assumed
nationwide dimensions and often turned violent. With my own eyes I saw
slogan-chanting processions go down Bombay thoroughfares smashing cars
parked on the roadsides and breaking shop-windows as they went along.
Leaders of opposition parties watched the country sliding into chaos as
bemused spectators hoping that the mounting chaos would force Mrs.
Gandhi to resign.”
From the above arguments it is clear that Mrs. Gandhi was a
power-hungry woman who imposed the emergency to safeguard her own
political and personal interests. And the only beneficiary of this unfortunate period was her son Sanjay Gandhi.
From the early 1970s onwards, wide-spread discontent shook India: large
sections of the population came out in demonstrations against rising
prises, fall in the supply of essential commodities, unemployment, and
more importantly, corruption in government administration. These
protests reached a crescendo in two states – Gujarat and Bihar – in
1974, with students leading the agitations and giving them an organized
shape. The Gujarat state government ruled by Indira Gandhi’s Congress
Party was forced to resign that year. In fresh elections to the Gujarat
legislature in early June, 1975, the Congress was trounced and the
opposition parties formed the new government in that state. Indira
realized that she was losing her grip, and was threatened by a political
crisis. The threat became imminent when on June 12, 1975, the Allahabad
high court of the state of Uttar Pradesh (from where Indira Gandhi won
in the parliamentary election in 1971), declared her election invalid on
two corruption charges in the conduct of her poll campaign at that
time. She was accused of violating the Indian law by first, using an
officer of her government to make campaign arrangements, and secondly,
by using other state officers to put up speaker’s stands in her
constituency and supply electricity to her amplifying equipment. The
high court judgment debarred her from holding the office of prime
minister, but granted a stay of the order for 20 days – to allow her
party to choose another leader (since the Congress party still enjoyed a
majority in the Indian parliament).
The era of Emergency, which was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi on June
25/26, 1975, was the darkest chapter in the democratic history of India
(1991 to 2000 A D is the darkest economic decade).
The invalidation of the Prime Minister's selection by the Allahabad High
Court, is the `causa causans' of the mid-night proclamation of
Emergency.
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