Little did we know that the young girl who played hostess to her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, would one day join politics, leave alone declaring an emergency pan India.
Sagarika Gosh's book is rightly titled “Indira Gandhi, India’s most powerful prime minister.” She not
only became the face of Indian politics but the beacon of hope for many of her
supporters. She did make some decisions that harmed more than bolstered growth
in the country and was not only severely criticized for the same but also lost
an election owing to the turmoil created in the country. Nevertheless, she came
back stronger than ever before and once again became the face of the nation and
the hope of the masses.
The thing that resonates with the name “Indira Gandhi”
is the declaration of emergency in 1975. The emergency lasted for a period of 21
months.
“The president has declared Emergency. There is
nothing to panic about” Prime minister, Indira Gandhi told the nation via the
All-India Radio. The statement given by the PM, was contrary to the happenings
in the country. The Democracy of India was reduced to shambles, giving us
substantial reason to panic.
Indira first became the prime minister in 1966, due to
the assassination of Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent. Indira formed the New Congress
Party, dismissing Morarji Desai from the post of the Deputy Prime minister.
Elections were once again declared and Indira’s party
won by a whooping majority of votes. This led to the opposition socialist
leader, Raj Narain, accusing her of a winning the election by violation of the
laws such as spending more than the predetermined sum of money and using
government officials to promote her agendas. She became the first Prime minister
to have been tried at the supreme court of India.
The day before the supreme court was to finalize on
the case, Indira Gandhi with the support of the then President, Ali Ahmed, declared
emergency pan-India., thus safeguarding her position and her party’s reputation.
Reasons given by Indira Gandhi for declaring emergency
The declaration of emergency was based on the
rationale that the country was facing imminent internal and external threat. She
continued to defend her actions by citing that she did so to protect the
country.
In addition to the railway and labor protests, the Protests by Jayaprakash Narayan against the government, drove Indira to finally declare an emergency. Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) inspired by the movements in Gujarat, began instigating students from colleges and schools to boycott classes and take part in rally’s, which resulted in large number of clashes with the police and other executives.
Effect of the Emergency
The emergency saw a suspension of rights and liberties
of the people.
Prominent leaders of the opposition party were put
behind bars. Among those who were arrested, there were some BJP veterans such
as LK Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Jai Prakash Narayan.
No newspapers were allowed to publish anything against
the government.
The general elections were suspended for a period of
two years giving the ruling party sufficient time to exacerbate the state of
disarray.
The emergency pushed the country into an economic depression
with growing unemployment, rampant inflation, and scarcity of food. The months succeeding
the emergency were fraught with economic troubles for India.
The Prime Minister blinded by the love for her son Sanjay Gandhi, went ahead with the concept of mass sterilization to curb the ever-increasing population of India. This was seen as a gross violation of rights and liberties.
The government closed its door to any kind of foreign investment in the country which would have been the light at the end of a long and dark tunnel.
The declaration of emergency in India has been a very controversial
time for the country and is rightly known as the “Dark Phase in India politics.”
It is rightly said that the power of the people is much stronger than the power of the people in power. Indira Gandhi’s cabinet faced a lot of backlash for their actions and were voted out of office soon after the emergency. So bad were the effects of the emergency that the people that once worshipped her, now disowned her. Nothing could alleviate the state that the government had put India in. Thinking of the implications that the emergency had on our country still brings chills to our minds.
Written by - Tushna Choksey
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