Emergency in India (1975 – 1977)

The Emergency of 1975 has been the most talked about event in the history of independent India. It is considered to be a black mark in the face of Indian democracy. Two years of unprecedented times and even today, some people still haven’t been able to recover from its repercussions. 

The Emergency was invoked sighting “Internal Disturbance” and spanned over a period of 21 months from 25^th June 1975 to 21^st March 1977. It was initiated by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, and was issued by the then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

As part of the Emergency, elections were suspended, civil liberties were restricted, the press was censored, political leaders of the opposition were arrested, and core religious organizations were banned. In a way, as per the experts, the Emergency period was the face of dictatorship. Dictatorship in a country that was the epitome of democracy, freedom, and human rights. Leaders across the political spectrum have unanimously condemned the Emergency of 1975 over the years.

In this article, we will cover everything around the Emergency of 1975 – its inception, the period, and its upliftment.

Introduction

The Emergency in India though came into effect in 1975, its foundation was laid a few years back. Indira Gandhi churned through elections and was elected as the Prime Minister of India for the first time in 1966. She was considered naïve when she was elected, but in years to come, she started making a mark for herself. As the days went by, she became confident, fierce, and strong. Some people used to call her The Iron Lady and some Durga, a Hindu Goddess. 

There was a point in time when she had total control over the government. The Indian National Congress (INC), of whom she was part, was the largest political party then. Experts say that during her peak period, Indira Gandhi’s cabinet played no role in the Indian policies and decision-making and that all the power was in the hands of Indira Gandhi and her close colleagues.

Indira Gandhi had a strong influence on lower sections of society. She campaigned for the 1971 Lok Sabha (lower house) elections with the motto Garibi Hatao (Remove Poverty). INC came out as a clear winner with a huge majority (352 seats out of 512) in their favor.

She showed her mettle in the 1971 war (liberation of Bangladesh war) against Pakistan and came out victorious. She was invincible then. The people of India had full faith in her and there was nothing that could go wrong for her.

Failure of Monsoons and Sanjay Gandhi’s Maruti Project

It all started in 1972 when the monsoons failed in India. After the 1971 war, because of a huge number of refugees, the resources of the country plunged. There was a shortage of stocked grains and the economy went down. With the monsoons failing, the conditions became worse, and there was growing resentment among the people for Indira Gandhi’s government.

The other thing that went against Indira Gandhi was the Maruti Project undertaken by her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi. Without any prior knowledge of how it all works, Sanjay started the Maruti Project with a vision to establish the car industry in the country. His act was supported by the political leaders and nobody questioned his way of working as he was the son of Indira Gandhi. The people who did question were sidelined by Sanjay Gandhi. If not, Indira Gandhi was fed with false information so that she could take appropriate action against the person(s).

Sanjay Gandhi’s Maruti project was a complete failure. He borrowed a huge sum from the banks and utilized it to a bad effect. News of bad handling of the project started percolating among the common man and talks of nepotism grew.

The thing just kept on getting worse for Indira Gandhi. The monsoons failed again in 1973. Not only this, other factors like oil prices hike, inflation hikes, labor turmoil, strikes, etc. hurt India and Indira Gandhi. Her close colleagues in the later interviews supported the view that Indira Gandhi changed post these events. She did not trust anyone, became isolated, and also didn’t take any criticism. Sanjay Gandhi played a big part in this.

Gujarat Navnirman Movement & Railway Strike

Jayaprakash Narayan or JP was an Indian Independence fighter, a socialist, and a political leader. He always stood against corruption and malpractices esp. when it came from the government. Considering the situation at hand, JP initiated the movement, Youth for Democracy, where he asked the youth to come forward and take part in reforming the democracy of India.

The first noticeable event was the Gujarat movement (Navnirman movement) where students came together to raise their voices against the corruption of the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Chimanbhai Patel. Indira Gandhi was not involved initially and expected the Chief Minister to tackle the situation, but it was not the case. With Jayaprakash Narayan’s support, the movement became big. There was violence, shops were looted, and law and order were in pieces. Many theorists believe that the movement took a violent turn because of the interference of the anti-social elements and that JP was always in favor of peaceful protests.

People were out on the streets for the Chief Minister’s resignation, dissolution of Assembly, and re-elections. It was much later that Indira Gandhi intervened. By then, the critical situation had already dawned. Indira Gandhi accepted the advice of her colleagues and re-elections were declared.

Taking advantage of the unrest, George Fernandes, the President of the Railway Workers’ Union threatened a complete strike if the demands of the railway workers were not met. There was no outcome of the talks and so the strike came into effect. Indira Gandhi’s government came down heavily. The army was called in, Fernandes and other railway workers were arrested, and people were thrown out of the railway quarters. The strike inevitably ended but it started a larger movement in days and years to come.

Bihar Movement

There was growing discontent among the people of Bihar due to price hike, drought, unemployment, and poverty.

In 1974, just like Gujarat, Jayaprakash Narayan asked the students of Bihar to come forward and stand for freedom, democracy, unemployment, hunger, and their rights. The students demanded the dismissal of the Bihar government and called for total revolution. Unlike Gujarat, Indira Gandhi’s government crushed the Bihar movement in the initial stages with brute force.

Mutual friends of Jayaprakash Narayan and Indira Gandhi tried their best to sort out the differences, but nothing worked.

Case by Raj Narain

Raj Narain (from the Samyukta Socialist party) fought against Indira Gandhi in the 1971 Lok Sabha elections for the constituency of Rae Bareli where he lost. Soon after the election, Raj Narian filed an appeal against Indira Gandhi in the Allahabad High Court that there was a misuse of government machinery and unfair practices followed by her in the elections. The appeal was filed with the intention of considering the election of Indira Gandhi null and void.

Initially, due to the growing unrest within the country, the case was not highlighted much in the media. But later, this case proved to be one of the primary factors leading to the proclamation of Emergency In India.

On 12^th June 1975, Indira Gandhi lost the case in the lower court. She was unseated from her Lok Sabha seat and was debarred from taking part in any electoral process for the next 6 years. 

The Emergency in India

The Verdict

Indira Gandhi decided to quit as the Prime Minister, but her close associates and her younger son Sanjay Gandhi were not in favor of it. There were talks that D.K. Barooah, the then President of Congress, could be made temporary Prime Minister till the matter was not heard in the Supreme Court. Sanjay Gandhi and Siddhartha Shankar Ray (Chief Minister of West Bengal) were totally against this move, esp. Sanjay Gandhi believed that once Barooah is seated as PM, he would not quit.

Later, a stay order of twenty days was granted by the court. The days were enough for Indira Gandhi to appeal to the Supreme Court, but the road ahead was not that easy. Indira Gandhi and her close colleagues were apprehensive about the action of the opposition in days to come. They had to think of something soon.

Indira Gandhi organized huge rallies to regain people’s faith in her by talking about possible plots against her, external forces acting to destabilize the government, and foreign governments making plans to dethrone her.

On 22^nd June 1975, the Supreme Court delivered its interim verdict on the appeal. It stated that until the final appeal is heard, Indira Gandhi could continue as the Prime Minister and can visit Lok Sabha but she won’t be able to vote, nor she would be able to draw any profits from her position.

Start of the Rebellion

On 24^th June 1975, Indira Gandhi got the information that Jayaprakash Narayan was planning to hold a huge rally the very next day where he would ask the armed forces and the police to disobey any orders from the government. This was not good news for the Prime Minister. She had to intervene or else the country might drown in complete rebellion.

It was during the deliberation between Indira Gandhi and Siddhartha Shankar Ray (who was the Chief Minister of West Bengal and also a lawyer) that Ray found out that there is an article (Article 352) in the constitution of India that states that an Internal Emergency can be declared if there is a threat to the country. He convinced the Prime Minister to implement the Emergency citing examples of anti-government movements in Gujarat and Bihar. He and Indira Gandhi knew that if the rebellion was not controlled, it would lead to widespread protests across the country which would be difficult to deal with.

On 25^th June 1975, news came in that Jayaprakash Narayan in his rally has asked for Indira Gandhi’s resignation and appealed to the armed forces to disobey the government orders which they considered unlawful. He wanted a total revolution.

JP in his rally also announced creation of a committee, Lok Sangharsh Samiti that would ensure that people’s struggle against the government continues. Later, news trickled in that in order to derail the functioning of the government, senior leaders of the opposition and the Lok Sangharsh Samiti were to surround the Prime Minister’s house and not allow anyone to enter or leave the premises. That was not all. They even intended to paralyze the functioning of railways, courts, and government offices. 

Declaration of Emergency in India

The Implementation

Indira Gandhi knew that if such agitation happens, the whole country would become a boiling pot of chaos. Years after the incident, a close friend of the Prime Minister stated that if the decision of the court would have been in her favor, she would have battled the opposition openly. She was against the Emergency but she was convinced that plans were being hatched to destroy her.

Finally, on the advice of Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Indira Gandhi accepted the idea of implementing the Emergency in India. Sanjay Gandhi was on the same page. Siddhartha Shankar Ray and Indira Gandhi met President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed the same evening and explained the situation. The President agreed and a written order was sent to him for his signature. The decision was taken without any interaction with the cabinet. Around midnight, the President signed the document and the Emergency officially came into effect in India.

The Functioning

The orders to arrest selected leaders of the opposition were sent to the Chief Ministers of different states. Senior leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee were arrested.

It was initially decided that the courts and press would not function the next morning. The decision was taken without Indira Gandhi’s consent and probably by Sanjay Gandhi. When Indira Gandhi got the news, she was shocked. An action was taken swiftly. The next morning the High Courts remained open, but only the Statesman and Hindustan Times got published due to the Emergency restrictions.

As part of the Emergency, the press was censored, fundamental rights were restricted, and draconian laws were implemented. Whoever did not obey the orders was sidelined. Even the cabinet ministers were not spared.

It is said that due to the Emergency, the law and order were maintained, no riots took place, the prices went down, there was cleanliness around, and every government official attended the office.

Resolution

The resolution seeking a proclamation of emergency was passed in Parliament on 21^st July 1975 considering Congress had the majority. The western press published about the Emergency that greatly affected the Indians abroad. Even the foreign governments were in shock as they had seen India as the prime example of democracy.

The decision-making rested in the hands of the PM, Chief Ministers (CMs) of States, and District Magistrates (DMs). There was a mockery of power as DMs used corrupt police officers and government officials to get the tasks done. They did not care about anything except keeping their jobs. A sense of sycophancy had sunk in.

Programs Launched

During the period, two separate programs were launched. One was the beautification of the cities, tree planting, and demolition of encroachments in the urban cities; the other one was family planning in rural areas.

Another major action that was taken during the Emergency in India was getting rid of the international media and its reporters. As a result, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had to shut down. The reporters of the Guardian, etc. were asked to leave. Any other information to be printed or telecasted was pre-checked by the pre-censorship board which led to the shutting down of many magazine corporations. There was no controversial news that was allowed. It was all clean and pro-government.

All these things led to the people (including the Prime Minister) getting cut off from the real world and the real issues.

Indira Gandhi’s 20-Point Programme

On 1^st July 1975, Indira Gandhi laid out her 20-point program for the Emergency in India. It was based on socio-economic reforms. Following are the high-level points that were considered:

• Scaling down the prices of essential commodities and streamlining their production
• Checks on Government expenditures
• Implementing proper laws for agricultural lands and their distribution
• Making bonding labor illegal
• Working on debts of peasants, laborers, etc.
• Reviewing minimum agricultural wages
• Adding more land for irrigation and implementing policies for underground water
• Increasing power production
• Improving the handloom sector
• Implementing policies for vacant land
• Better evaluation of taxes and organizing trials for the offenders
• Laws to seize the smugglers’ properties
• Easing investment procedures and acting against the misuse of import licenses
• New schemes for industries and worker associations
• National permit schemes for road transport
• Income tax exemption of Rupees 8000 for the middle-class
• Policies to control essential commodities in hostels
• Books and stationery at controlled prices
• Schemes to increase employment, especially for the weaker sections

Indira Gandhi made sure that these points were implemented in each state. This helped the common people, especially the poor sections greatly in the initial months of its implementation.

Death of Sheikh Mujib-ur Rehman and other plots against Indira Gandhi during the Emergency in India

The killing of Sheikh Mujib-ur Rehman (President of Bangladesh) in August 1975 came as a shock for Indira Gandhi. It was not just an assassination but also a cold-blooded murder of his family.

But, why did it shook her?

Sheikh Mujib-ur Rehman was the founding father of Bangladesh, someone whom Indira Gandhi helped to achieve freedom by fighting a war against Pakistan in 1971. Also, as per the intelligence reports by R&AW (India’s Intelligence Agency for external threats), there was a revolt brewing within the Bangladesh defense forces against Sheikh. Indira Gandhi sent the chief of RAW to Bangladesh to apprise Sheikh Mujib-ur Rehman about the possible threat, but he never took it seriously.

The Prime Minister became paranoid after his death. Considering the situation in the country, she lost trust in everyone except her family. Thoughts of being assassinated clouded her. But she was more worried about her family. She had an intuition that anti-social elements would harm her family just like they did to Mujib-ur Rehman and his family.

As per the chief of R&AW, Indira Gandhi was right in being paranoid. There were reports that plots were hatched against her and plans were brewing to create terror among the people. The motive was simple. Remove Indira!

The Revelation

In a stunning revelation in the book The Baroda Dynamite, the possibility of Indira Gandhi’s assassination was pointed out. The idea was later dropped and replaced by possible sabotage. The plan was to destroy Mogul Sarai, a major junction in the Indian railways. The attack though was not successful. If it would have been, most of the railway traffic in the country would have been affected.

Another secret news that reached Indira Gandhi was that George Fernandes, the President of the Railways Workers’ Association was planning to assassinate her. He was ultimately arrested before any damage was done.

Sanjay Gandhi’s 5-Point Programme & Mass Sterilizations

With all the tension brewing at one end, Sanjay Gandhi was planning something else simultaneously. In 1976, during the Emergency, he came up with a 5-Point Programme. This was structured around family planning, a ban on dowry, ending casteism, tree planting, and the policy of “Each One Teach One”. 

Sanjay Gandhi was influential but lacked the maturity that was required to implement such a program. He had leaders, bureaucrats, and students at his disposal who obeyed his orders. He made sure that his 5-Point Programme was implemented properly. Though the programme was pro-people, it was not implemented and looked after in the way it should have been. 

The Sterilization Program

The most talked-about point in the program was family planning which included a drive for mass sterilization for population control. Sanjay Gandhi ordered bureaucrats and political leaders to make sure that sterilization targets are reached. Thus, they did not care about apprising the population and educating them about the benefits of sterilization. This created panic in the public. The people felt threatened by the way the drive was carried out.

The targets that were set in the 1st year i.e. 1975-76 were raised manifolds in the 2nd year i.e. 1976-77. For example, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, a target of 175,000 sterilizations was set for the year 1975-76 which was raised to 1.5 million for the next year. This created havoc. The leaders of the drive did everything they could to reach the target even when there were limited resources. People were sterilized forcefully. There was no concern for any type of infection or wrong operation procedures which even proved fatal for a few.

The people started protesting against the government, but they were suppressed by brute force. A government figure states that 2300+ people died due to the wrong procedure, infections, and firing in demonstrations. It was much later that the concerned news reached Indira Gandhi who gave immediate orders to the states to withdraw the drive, but the orders were never implemented due to unknown reasons.

The Elections and Upliftment of Emergency in India

The bright side of the Emergency was that a few things stabilized. There were no price hikes, there were hardly any crimes, all the criminals and smugglers were put behind the bars, any unwanted revolt was suppressed immediately, and foreign exchange reserves were high. Close aides of Indira Gandhi wanted her to uplift the Emergency but she didn’t seem interested at that time.

In the November Session of 1976, the Lok Sabha was extended by a year. The national elections that were to be held in the same year were now to be held in early 1978. Indira Gandhi consulted the RAW chief to let her know the consequences if the opposition was to be released and elections were to be held immediately. She had lost the trust in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and thought that it has been breached by her opposition. The R&AW chief advised her to release the opposition and call for fresh elections after 6 months.

Sanjay Gandhi agreed with the R&AW chief. He wanted her mother to call off the Emergency, release the opposition, and initiate fresh next elections after a year. Indira considered none.

Announcement of Elections and the Loss

In January of 1977, she announced that elections would be held in March, of the same year. And, she released the opposition leaders but kept a partial Emergency in place.

On 20^th March 1977, the results were declared but Indira Gandhi lost the elections. Consequently, the Emergency was the major factor in the defeat of Congress. On 21^st March 1977, the Emergency was uplifted and Morarji Desai was sworn in as the next Prime Minister of India. 

The Emergency left a black mark on Indian democracy. It was the cursed time when the opposition in a democracy was locked behind bars, fundamental rights were restricted, the press was censored, and courts had limited powers. People felt threatened and lost trust in the government. There was minimal interaction between the people and the government leading to frustration and the creation of anti-government factions. Injustice had become a part of the system.

It was like India was under a dictatorship.