The 21-month declaration of Emergency in 1975 brought
unfathomable misery to the nation, the darkest phase in Indian Politics that
has stained the goodwill and reputation of the congress party ever since.
Indira Gandhi’s untimely and opportunistic declaration of
emergency was not in the interest of the people or a retaliation to an internal
threat but was purely directed at saving her position as the prime-minister and
face of her party, the Congress.
Adding to the misery of the nation, her son, Sanjay
Gandhi, a newbie to the overly controversial game of Indian Politics, wanted to make a name for himself by taking on any challenge that came his way.
He saw population explosion to be a major obstacle in the
path of India’s development and became hell bent on introducing any and every
regulation to keep it in check.
To achieve his goal, he introduced or rather forced Mass
Sterilization (NASBANDI) on the people (primarily men) of our nation amidst the
already traumatic period of the emergency.
Why did Sanjay Gandhi announce a mass
sterilization?
Around the same time, Adolf Hitler, had popularized the
concept of mass sterilization, but not to keep population under control. His
plan of action was to keep the spread of venereal or sexual transmitted
diseases under check and mass sterilization would supposedly prevent it from
spreading to the future generation.
Sanjay Gandhi is said to have taken inspiration from this
ridiculous course of action and had it implemented in ways worse than Hitler.
It is said that Sanjay Gandhi amplified the sterilization programme 15 times
more than Hitler had.
Sanjay was bent on leaving yet another mark of the
Gandhi-Nehru clan on the governance of India and saw this as an opportunity to
control the incessant population growth in India which he thought could convert
into laurels for him and possibly lay the foundation of him securing a prime
ministerial position in future.
How was the programme initiated?
Sanjay Gandhi was entrusted with the governance of the
state of Uttar Pradesh amidst the emergency of 1975.
He used the constitutional machinery of the state to
popularize the concept of mass sterilization by way of a telegram.
The telegram was rather vague and only hinted at the dark
phase that India was about to step into. The abrupt release of a telegram fell
like atom bombs dropped onto different constituencies in India.
The telegram explicitly mentioned the monthly targets
that were to be reached at any cost, and failure of achieving the set target
would lead to a reduction or suspension of wages, imprisonment and even a heavy
fine.
The entire constitutional machinery and every resource
was entrusted with the mission of achieving maximum results in a short span of
time. A report of progress was to be telegrammed to Sanjay Gandhi and the chief
ministers of every state which helped them keep track of the efficiency of the
mission.
The mission commenced in Delhi and spread its tentacles
in every state thereafter. They primarily targeted overly populated
Muslim-dominated areas, which was met with further backlash and labelled as a
grossly Anti-Muslim act or a way of establishing Hindu-dominance in India.
Consequences of the Mass Sterilization
The scheme came as a gross violation of right to life and
liberty of every individual.
When predetermined targets were not achieved, policemen
raided villages and smaller towns. They dragged men out of their homes,
threatened the security and safety of people’s homes if they refrained from
getting sterilized.
Fear engulfed India and its citizens. They even feared
stepping out of their homes. Women and Children were threatened by those who
pledged to protect them. There was lawlessness and mayhem all around the
country.
However, this havoc managed to sterilize about 62,00,000
lakh men all over the country, leaving 20,000 fatalities due to wrong operating
procedure.
The Emergency of 1975 along with the forced mass
sterilization programme brought doom upon the nation and was the beginning of
an ill-fate for the congress. The end of the 21-month long emergency also
brought about the end of an arbitrary congress rule in India, until Indira
Gandhi won back the public confidence in 1980.
Sanjay Gandhi, with huge plans of securing fame,
popularity, laurels and even the prime ministerial post, was labelled as the
“Doom and Gloom of the Nation”, for having imposed arbitrary laws and forcing
his will upon the innocent.
This episode was far from keeping Sanjay vigilant and
under control. In 1980, Indira yet again entrusted him with another constituency,
this time of Punjab, which he placed under the mentorship of Jarnail Bindranwale, the driving force that brought India to Mission Blue Star and laid
the foundation of an Anti-Sikh movement pan-India.
Sanjay Gandhi, the privileged son of Indira Gandhi, lost
his life in a dramatic plane crash in 1980, which is allegedly said to have
been staged by his own mother, Indira, as her party could no longer stand the
risk of losing power owing to another liability.
Written By - Tushna Choksey
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