COUNTRY WAS FETTERED IN THE WEE HOURS
Medhavi Sharma, CHANDIGARH – 25TH JUNE, 2021
June 25,2021, signifies the 46th anniversary of the nationwide emergency, officially issued by the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Indian Constitution. The Emergency remained in effect for about 21 months from June 1975 to March 1977 on the recommendation of the Indira Gandhi-led Congress, and this date remains one of the highly debatable chapters in the academic and political circles of the Indian history. Often regarded as the darkest phase of the independent India.
The order vested upon the Prime Minister the power to rule by decree, curtailing the freedom of press and allowing the suspension of elections. The period was marked by unbridled state incarceration, violation of various human rights, government crackdown on civil liberties, stiffing of dissent. With the rationale that there were imminent internal and external threats to the Indian state, there were many more controversial vindications.
On a telephonic interview with Mr. Satyapal Jain, former Chandigarh MP and additional solicitor general of India, exclaims this phase as the horrendous and tragic period of the country. Mr. Jain said, “Emergency was imposed to stamp out the voices of the people against the government, I was 23 years old, and a nominated general secretary for Student guild of Punjab University when the emergency was imposed, I being a Student leader was also arrested and tortured by the police for almost a year, this was the scenario and condition in the whole country. People were being booked under IPC 751, Defense of India rule and MISA” He also added, that India was made an open and torturous jail for this term and it was considered death of democracy.
Another, senior BJP leader Mr. Raghuvir Lal Arora stated that, “Smt. Indira Gandhi was convicted of electoral malpractices and Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha disqualified her from the Parliament and imposed a 6-year ban on her holding any elected post, interestingly the very next day, the Emergency was imposed, booking opposition leaders under MISA and putting them in jail. Even the chief Justice of Supreme Court was changed. Media was censored, no news against the government was allowed to be published. Most of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s senior leaders were arrested. As there was no news being transmitted, we started cyclostyle type of transmission and we used to send it through post mails. The times were utterly horrific and dangerous for the independent India,” he added. “her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi also initiated compulsory sterilization programme to limit population growth, such oppressive measures were taken to curtail the fundamental rights of the people of our country.”
Congress leader and former deputy mayor of Chandigarh, Mr. Balraj Singh, in an interview stated that, “the Emergency was imposed only for the good of people, though it is seen as a dark phase in the history of the nation, but it was a necessary step taken by the then Prime Minister to secure the national security.” He further added that sometimes hard choices are required to be made in order to protect the citizens.
