44 years ago, in 1975, India saw its darkest phase when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared emergency across the country.
The emergency was issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352(1) of the Constitution and lasted 21 long months beginning 25th June 1975 and going on until 21st March 1977. Here are some facts from the emergency period.
1974: A student agitation by the Bihar Chatra Sangharsh Samiti received the support of Gandhian socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, referred to as JP, against the Bihar government.
Meanwhile, in Patna, JP called for “total revolution,” asking students, peasants, and labour unions to non-violently transform Indian society. He also demanded the dissolution of the state government, but this was not accepted by Centre.
Another significant movement was the Nav Nirman movement in Gujarat, between December 1973 and March 1974.
Raj Narain filed cases of election fraud and use of state machinery for election in the Allahabad High Court. He had been defeated in the 1971 parliamentary election by Indira Gandhi.
This was for the first time that a Prime Minister was cross-examined in the Court.
Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty and declared her election null and void and unseated her from her seat in the Lok Sabha.
Indira Gandhi challenged Allahabad High Court’s decision in the Apex Court.
Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, on 24 June 1975, upheld the High Court judgement and ordered all privileges Gandhi received as an MP be stopped, and that she be debarred from voting.
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Politics and Nation
The darkest phase in Indira’s tenure as PM
Updated: 31 Oct 2019, 12:10 PM IST
Emergency!BCCL1/8Emergency!
44 years ago, in 1975, India saw its darkest phase when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared emergency across the country.
The emergency was issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352(1) of the Constitution and lasted 21 long months beginning 25th June 1975 and going on until 21st March 1977. Here are some facts from the emergency period.
The catalystsBCCL2/8The catalysts
1974: A student agitation by the Bihar Chatra Sangharsh Samiti received the support of Gandhian socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, referred to as JP, against the Bihar government.
Meanwhile, in Patna, JP called for “total revolution,” asking students, peasants, and labour unions to non-violently transform Indian society. He also demanded the dissolution of the state government, but this was not accepted by Centre.
Another significant movement was the Nav Nirman movement in Gujarat, between December 1973 and March 1974.
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The case that shook IndiaAgencies3/8The case that shook India
Raj Narain filed cases of election fraud and use of state machinery for election in the Allahabad High Court. He had been defeated in the 1971 parliamentary election by Indira Gandhi.
This was for the first time that a Prime Minister was cross-examined in the Court.
Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty and declared her election null and void and unseated her from her seat in the Lok Sabha.
Raj Narain (center)
Debarring IndiraAgencies4/8Debarring Indira
Indira Gandhi challenged Allahabad High Court’s decision in the Apex Court.
Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, on 24 June 1975, upheld the High Court judgement and ordered all privileges Gandhi received as an MP be stopped, and that she be debarred from voting.
Internal disturbanceAgencies5/8Internal disturbance
The goal of the 21-month-long Emergency in the country was to control “internal disturbance”.
Indira Gandhi justified her steps in terms of national interest, primarily based on three grounds.
India’s security and democracy, rapid economic development and upliftment of the underprivileged and intervention of powers from abroad which could destabilise and weaken India.
The Gandhi Government laid out some rules for the journalists across the country and they were told about “guidelines” to follow.
All the newspapers in the country were asked to take permission before publishing any anything by the Press Advisor.
The Gandhi Government laid out some rules for the journalists across the country and they were told about “guidelines” to follow.
All the newspapers in the country were asked to take permission before publishing any anything by the Press Advisor.
Human rights violations
Several other human rights violations were reported from the time, including a forced mass-sterilization campaign spearheaded by Sanjay Gandhi, the Prime Minister’s son.
The Emergency is one of the most controversial periods of independent India’s history.
The months preceding the declaration of the Emergency were fraught with economic troubles — growing unemployment, rampant inflation and scarcity of food. The dismal condition of the Indian economy was accompanied by widespread riots and protests in several parts of the country. Interestingly, the hitherto simmering borders of the country were rather quiet in the years preceding the Emergency. “As if to compensate, there was now trouble in the heartland, in parts of the country which, for reasons of history, politics, tradition, and language, had long considered themselves integral parts of the Republic of India,” writes historian Ramachandra Guha in his book, ‘India after Gandhi.’ The trouble began in Gujarat, spread to Bihar and from there to several other parts of Northern India. While the streets were raging against Gandhi’s governance, another challenge came to the doorstep of the prime minister in the form of a petition filed in the Allahabad High Court.
Eduindex News 