The Emergency (India)

The Emergency in India denotes the 21-month period between June 25, 1975 and March 21, 1977 when President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, upon advice by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a State of Emergency in India under Article 352 of the Constitution of India, effectively bestowing on her the power to rule by decree, suspending elections and civil liberties. It is one of the most controversial periods in the history of independent India. During the Emergency, many opposition leaders were jailed, freedom of press was suspended and powers of the judiciary were curtailed.

Background
The Emergency was rooted in deep-seated political conflicts and wide popular disenchantment with the Government.

Opponents had long made allegations that Indira Gandhi's party, Congress, had practised electoral fraud to win the 1971 elections. The Gandhian socialist Jaya Prakash Narayan had been agitating in Bihar for a change in provincial government, and increasingly sought to direct popular action against the Central Government through satyagrahas.

Narayan and his supporters sought to unify students, peasants, and labour organisations in a 'Total Revolution' to nonviolently transform Indian society. Gandhi's party was defeated in Gujarat by a coalition of parties calling itself the Janata Party (People's Party), and even faced an all-party, no-confidence motion in Parliament.

The Allahabad conviction
Raj Narain, who had just previously been defeated in the parliamentary election at the Raebareli constituency by Indira Gandhi, lodged cases alleging election fraud and the use of state machinery for election purposes against Mrs. Gandhi in the Allahabad High Court. On June 12 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of that court found the Prime Minister guilty on the charge of misuse of government machinery for her election campaign. The court declared her election "null and void" and unseated her from the Lok Sabha. The court also banned her from contesting in any election for an additional six years. Some serious charges such as bribing voters and election malpractices were dropped and she was held guilty on comparatively less important charges such as building of dais by state police and provision of electricity by the state electricity department and height of the dais from which she addressed the campaign rally. Some of these charges were in reality an essential part for the Prime Minister's security protocol. In addition, she was held responsible for misusing the government machinery as a government employee, Mr. Yashpal Kapoor, started campaigning for her before his resignation from government service was accepted. Because the court unseated her on comparatively lesser charges, while being acquitted on more serious charges, The Times of India described it as "firing the Prime Minister for a traffic ticket." Strikes by labour and trade unions, student unions and government unions swept across the country. Protests led by Narayan and Morarji Desai flooded the streets of Delhi close to the Parliament building and the Prime Minister's residence.

Declaration of Emergency
President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a State of Emergency upon the advice of the Prime Minister on 26 June 1975. In her own words, Indira brought democracy "to a grinding halt." As the constitution requires, Gandhi advised and President Ahmed approved the continuation of Emergency every six months until her decision to hold elections in 1977.

The emergency administration
Elections for the Parliament and state governments were postponed. Invoking article 352 of the Indian Constitution, Indira granted herself extraordinary powers and launched a massive crackdown on civil liberties and political opposition. The Government cited threats to national security, as a recent war with Pakistan had just been concluded. It claimed that the strikes and protests had paralysed the government and hurt the economy of the country greatly. Indira herself had the right to appeal to the Supreme Court of India and had no legal obligation to resign until then. In face of massive political opposition, desertion and disorder across the country and the party, Indira stuck to the advice of a few close party loyalists and her younger son Sanjay Gandhi, who had become a close political advisor.

The Government used police forces across the country to arrest thousands of protestors and strike leaders. J.P. Narayan, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Jivatram Kripalani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani and other protest leaders were immediately arrested. Organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and opposition political parties were banned. Innumerable number of Communist leaders and masses were arrested.

Indira attempted to re-write the nation's laws with the help of the Parliament, where the Congress controlled over a two-thirds majority. She convinced the President to issue "extraordinary laws" that by-passed parliament altogether, allowing her to rule by decree. She constructed a 20-point economic program to increase agricultural and industrial production, improve public services and fight poverty and illiteracy. She had little trouble in getting amendments to the constitution passed that exonerated her from any culpability in her election fraud case, declaring President's Rule in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu where anti-Indira parties ruled (state legislatures were thereby dissolved and suspended indefinitely), and jailing thousands of opponents. The Defence of India Act and the MISA were amended in July 1975.

One of the causes of the Emergency era was that the Supreme Court of India ordered that, although the Constitution is subject to amendment (as used by Indira), changes that are ultra vires to its basic structure cannot be made by the Parliament of India.

During the emergency, the 20-Point programme promised to liquidate the existing debts of landless labourers, small farmers and rural artisans and extend alternate credit to them, abolish bonded labour, implement the existing agricultural land ceiling laws, provide house sites to landless labourers and weaker sections, revise upwards minimum wages of agricultural labour, provide special help to the handloom industry, bring down the prices, prevent tax evasion and smuggling, increase production, streamline distribution of essential commodities, increase the limit of income tax exemption to Rs 8000, and to liberalise investment procedures. Some progress was made, with some quick results in reduction of prices and the free availability of essential commodities.

Elections of 1977
See Also: Janata Party, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Morarji Desai

On January 23, 1977, Indira Gandhi called for elections to be held in March and released all political prisoners. Emergency officially ended on March 23 of that year.

It is suggested that official intelligence sources told the Prime Minister that her administration was popular across the country. It has also been known that Indira feared that Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw, then Chief of Army Staff threatened to depose her if she did not immediately call elections, even though Maneckshaw denied any intentions in a later interview to The Times of India.

Janata movement's campaign warned Indians that the elections might be their last chance to choose between democracy and dictatorship. In the elections, held in February, Indira and Sanjay both lost their Lok Sabha seats, as did most of their loyal followers. Many Congress Party loyalists deserted Indira. The Congress was reduced to just 153 seats, 92 of which were from four of the southern states. The Janata Party's 295 seats (of a total 542) gave it only a slim majority, but opposition candidates together represented more than two-thirds of the Lok Sabha. Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India.

The Tribunal
The efforts of the Janata administration to try government officials and Congress politicians for Emergency-era abuses and crimes were largely unsuccessful due to a disorganised, overly-complex and politically-motivated process of litigation. Although special tribunals were organised and scores of senior Congress Party and government officials arrested and charged, including Indira and Sanjay Gandhi, police were unable to submit sufficient evidence for most cases, and only a few low-level officials were convicted of any abuses.

The people lost interest in the hearings owing to their continuous fumbling and complex nature, and the economic and social needs of the country grew more important to them. An impression was created that corruption and political subversion stalled the process of justice.

Timeline

 * June 25, 1975: Emergency declared, censorship imposed and opposition leaders arrested.
 * August 5, 1975: MISA bill approved by the parliament.
 * September 26, 1975: Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Indian Constitution placing election of Prime Minister beyond the scrutiny of judiciary approved
 * January 9, 1976: The government suspends seven freedoms guaranteed by Article 19 of the Constitution of India.
 * February 4, 1976: Lok Sabha's life extended by one year.
 * November 2, 1976: Lok Sabha passes Forty-second amendment of the Indian Constitution Bill making India socialist secular republic and laying down fundamental duties of citizens
 * January 18, 1977: The President dissolves Lok Sabha
 * March 21, 1977: Emergency promulgated on June 25, 1975 withdrawn.
 * March 22, 1977: Janata Party gains absolute majority.

The Debate over its Legacy
Indira's emergency rule lasted 21 months, and its legacy remains intensely controversial.

Support for Indira's Decisions
The Emergency was endorsed by Vinoba Bhave (who called it Anushasan parva or Time for discipline) and Mother Teresa. Pioneer industrialist J. R. D. Tata, and writer Khushwant Singh were among the other prominent supporters. Some have argued that India badly needed economic recovery after the 1971 Indo-Pak war had strained the exchequer. Indira's 20-point economic program increased agricultural production, manufacturing activity, exports and foreign reserves. The national economy achieved high levels of growth and investment, and as strikes were non-existent, productivity increased rapidly. Communal Hindu-Muslim riots, which had re-surfaced in the 1960s and 70s, virtually ceased, and initially the government seemed to be working with vigour. Police in cities had sweeping powers to destroy gang and syndicate structure

Charges against the Government
Criticism and accusations of the Emergency-era may be grouped as:
 * Wanton detention of innocent people by police without charge or notification of families.
 * Abuse and torture of detainees and political prisoners.
 * Use of public and private media institutions, like the national television network Doordarshan, for propaganda.
 * Forced vasectomy of thousands of men under the infamous family planning initiative. Indira's son, Sanjay Gandhi, was blamed for this abusive and forcible treatment of people.
 * Arbitrary destruction of the slum and low-income housing in the Turkman Gate and Jama Masjid area of old Delhi.

The Emergency years were the biggest challenge to India's commitment to democracy, which proved vulnerable to the manipulation of powerful leaders and large parliamentary majorities.

In Fiction
The plot of the Indian film Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi revolves around the period during which the Indira Gandhi government declared a state of emergency. The film, directed by Sudhir Mishra, also tries to portray the growth of the Naxalite movement during the emergency era.

The book A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry takes place during the Emergency and highlights some of the abuses that occurred during that period.

The book Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie has the protagonist Saleem Sinai in India during the Emergency. His home in a low income area called the "magician's ghetto" is destroyed as part of the national beautification program.

The Hindi novel Katra Bi Aarzoo written by Rahi Masoom Raza deals with people in a small village who are greatly affected by the state of emergency.

Anand Patwardhan made a film named Prisoners of Conscience in 1978 on political prisoners in The Emergency.