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Emergency: India has moved on, but the BJP is stuck with it

Lengthy Disclaimer: The purpose of this piece is not to either justify the Emergency or to defend it. The purpose is not to attack its ‘purpose’. The purpose is placing the facts leading to the Emergency in the right context. The purpose is to tell the young students of Indian politics that we have to see the background in which such a measure was taken. Certain events in history have wide-ranging repercussions, but as time goes, we also need to move on instead of earning cheap political brownie points which the BJP-RSS are indulging into. 

I do not want any acknowledgment for this piece, even from my Liberal friends, because I know nobody, including me, can justify the excesses of the Emergency. I only attempt to bring in some unread facts in the public domain. For this, I have taken the liberty to refer many books on the same topic written by people who were actually in the midst of it. All the views expressed by me here are my personal views and does not reflect the views of any political organization.

Fourty-three long years shall complete, since the declaration of Emergency in India. For those like me who are born in the late 80’s- Emergency had very little importance because we were born, after the death of India’s greatest Prime Minister (in my opinion, everyone is entitled to theirs) was assassinated. Being a student of Indian politics, I often have had debates (both online and offline) on the Emergency. Majority of the arguments against it, either come from the people who have a diametrically opposite ideology and political philosophy than mine, the rest come from people who have not dug deeper into the reasons of imposition of Emergency and are only indoctrinated by superficial trappings. Infact many of my Congress contemporaries too; are more often than not uncomfortable in delving or discussing about Emergency. 

We are in 2018 now. But every year, the BJP devoid of any core developmental issues tries to reignite a malicious politically driven propaganda by panning Emergency and raking up a discourse, in which it gets significant support from the most liberal section of the media as well. I would not blame the media- because they were one of the casualties of the Emergency. 

Yes, for the Congress party too- Excesses of Emergency were definitely a chapter for which it has publically apologized and which it does not want to touch at all. When provoked, every June; by the BJP – the Congress has little to offer except its reiteration that it had already apologized and that Indira Gandhi herself had accepted that it was a mistake, following it up by calling General Elections in 1977, where she faced the wrath of the electorate. They also remind the narrative creators that- Indira Gandhi later came back with a thumping majority, after the Janata party- Janasangh Government collapsed under its own contradictions and people again reposed faith in Indira Gandhi. 

There are a lot of deeper factors and some immediate factors which led Indira Gandhi Government to take such a drastic step. Before coming to that, let me also make it clear that Invocation of Emergency is a Constitutional provision which is explicitly covered in Article 352 of the Indian Constitution. So, one may have their reasons to oppose the Emergency and its excesses- but it has Constitution validity. 

So how the Emergency did came about? There are layers and layers of factors.

I. Disobedience of law in India has always been given a political colour, and rightly so. Since the Independence was won by Gandhian means of Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Satyagraha. And we can still see hues and shades of it all across India even now. Dissent in a Democracy is one of the most powerful tools to keep it intact. But various organizations have time and again taken the law in their own hand to serve their narrow vested interests and disobeyed and disregarded the state, thereby trampling upon its powers and enfeebling it. Before 1947, the protagonists of the National Movement were fighting a Foreign Power. Weakening the state by unlawful means was at the core of their struggle; this was perfectly legitimate because a foreign power is ruling you for 200 years. But post-Independence, these tactics of blackmailing the state by hartals, strikes and even armed rebellion was still regarded as perfectly legitimate, particularly by those who want to usurp power through unconstitutional means. The opposition in the 70’s was determined to usurp power and when it tasted its first success in dislodging a Constitutionally elected Government in Gujarat- they had smelt blood and were hell-bent to replicate that modus operandi throughout the country. Economic distress and Inflation of the people, ravaged by successive wars also played a significant amount of part, as also some big mistakes by the Congress party in the state that further precipitated the situation. 

II. In 1972 India faced an extreme drought. In Gujarat, the situation became worse, followed by a poor kharif crop, thereby resulting in sharp increase in prices of the staple wheat, jowar, bajra and essential commodities. Sensing an opportunity for political gains by exploiting genuine hardship, opposition parties particularly the Congress (o) and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), CPI(M), SP cynically organized ‘Nav Nirman Samiti’ of students. In December 1973, students of L D College of Engineering in Ahmedabad went on a strike to protest against a hike in school fees and mess charges. A month later, students of Gujarat University erupted in protest, demanding the dismissal of the state Government. How can student organizations demand dismissal of an elected state Government having a majority of 140 out of 168, is beyond imagination! They cannot do it without political patronage. 

As the disturbances continued unabated, the Government led by Chimanbhai Patel (who had corruption charges against him too) resigned and President’s rule was imposed on 9 February 1974, but Assembly was not dissolved. 

Now Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) got into the picture, by visiting Ahmedabad two days after the imposition of President’s rule. He complimented the students and actively encouraged them to continue the stir, leading to atleast 95 deaths in the coming days and 933 innocent people getting injured, besides loss of public property. The motive was to create anarchy and disturb the wheels of law by taking law into their own hands. Opposition parties were determined to get the house dissolved, especially because they were miserably thrashed in the state elections in UP and Odisha in February. They needed to retrieve lost ground in Gujarat, where they felt their electoral chances were better. 

Later, Morarji Desai undertook an indefinite fast, starting from 11 March, thereby forcing the Centre to dissolve the Assembly on March 15. 

III. With the success of the ‘Nav Nirman Movement’, the opposition had tasted blood. It became a symbol for similar agitations across India in several states. Nobody shed a tear for the demise of rule of law and the ‘murder of democracy’ by usurping power through unconstitutional means. And JP was particularly enthused by these happenings. Never a realist, always a believer in grand gestures of life, ‘the underground revolutionary’, JP gave a call of ‘Sampurna Kranti’ in Bihar. 

Such a call by any other leader would have easily been dismissed in the Indian political realm. But since JP had this moral, almost Gandhian aura of not accepting Pandit Nehru’s offer for a Cabinet post, after Independence, his call for ‘Total Revolution’ provided a degree of moral credibility resulting in coming together of ideologically opposite political entities like the Left, Right and the Socialists because they found this quick method to usurp power, through this short cut, a much better one. Using extra-Constitutional advocacy, they sought to replicate ‘Nav Nirman Movement’ though- student bodies, Sangharsh Samitis of Dalits and Adivasis and particularly the labour unions. 

IV. In Bihar, when the elected Government almost acceded to the students’ demands, the opposition still pressed for newer demands and dissolution of Assembly. Well sequenced calls of bandhs were organized unleashing widespread violence and disruption. Notwithstanding the violence associated with the bandh, JP gave a call for a gherao of the Assembly and residence of MLA’s, leading himself a procession to the secretariat. But Government did not relent. JP called a conference of opposition parties and by December, Jantata Sarkars and Janata Adalats in villages as organs of parallel governance. 

In fact, On 26 January 1975, rival Republic Day celebrations were held at different places in Bihar. Would any democratically elected Government allow that, is a question which can be left open to the ‘Constitutionalists’ who oppose the basic principle of Emergency! 

Inaugurating an all –India youth conference at Allahabad in June 1974, he said ‘though he himself would not take part in any armed rebellion, he would not restrain revolutionaries from to the gun’ (Times of India | 22 June, 1974). He also said, ‘he had never taken up arms against the state, nor did he want violence, but if the people wanted it from him, he would do that at an appropriate time’ (UNI report | 31 August 1974) It is apparent that, JP had very little faith in gradual reforms which were taking place under the Indira Gandhi Government. We can infer that policies like Green Revolution which made India self-sufficient in food grains, or the Nationalization of Banks- which increased India’s Saving Rate from 12% (1969) to 20% of the GDP (1980) did not cut much ice with the opposition whose one point agenda was ‘Indira Hatao’! 

The PMO made attempts to form a consensus with JP. But JP did not respond, nor did he spell out any concrete manner how he would battle against rising prices or eliminate corruption. He took no note of Government’s package which later brought down inflation. 

V. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was an accomplished Parliamentarian, wrote in a paper which he read at the Bharatiya Jana Sangh’s Conference in Hyderabad in September 1974. – “The established leadership has been using Parliamentary method only as a cover for protecting their evil designs. (sic). The response cannot be confined to the Parliamentary level. … This was has to be fought in the streets… and in all sensitive power centres of the establishment’ 

Thus the opposition was fighting the battle to attain power only on ‘rhetoric’ and slogans like ‘communitarian society’ and ‘party less democracy’ with no vision or alternative policy roadmap for the future. 

VI. Another event which defined the precipitation of Emergency was the Railway Strikes of 1973-74. Apart from the All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) affiliated to the Socialist Party and the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) dominated by the Congress- around 200 big/small separate unions of different categories of railway personnel had cropped up through the efforts of CPI, CPM and the Jan Sangh. The competition of influence was intense. The Government in one such strike surrendered to All India Loco Running Association in August 1973, which gave an impetus to fresh demands from Sangh-Left backed Unions as they tasted their first success. 

Peter Alvares, the moderate leader of the AIRF was replaced by George Fernandes in 1973. Before taking over the leadership, George Fernandes (India’s future Defence Minister) declared openly that ‘he could organize a strike that would bring down the Indira Gandhi Government at any time by paralyzing railway transport to a dead stop’. 

In a speech meant to mobilize railway men for strike he said 

“Realize the strength which you possess. Seven days strike of the Indian Railways- every thermal station of the country would close down. A ten day strike of the Indian Railways- every steel mill in India would close down and the industries of the country would come to a halt for the next 12 months. If once the steel mill furnace is switched off- it takes nine months to refire. A fifteen day strike in Indian Railways- the country would starve” (The Hindu | 30 March 1974) 

The opposition’s main aim was to wreck the economy and paralyse the administration. This is why they pitched their demands so high and displayed little interest in negotiation of their demands. 

It was clear to the Government that the strike was politically motivated and was planned to paralyze the country. With its back to the wall, the Government had to defend the state and assert its right to govern. Indira Gandhi’s Government came down heavily on the protesters. Thousands of employees were arrested and their families were driven out of their quarters. 

VII. There were other important factors for the proclamation of the Emergency. There were some external factors too. The US showered praise on JP and his role in fighting the Indira Gandhi Government in 1974. The Nixon administration wanted to punish her defiance to the US in 1971 and for conducting India’s first Nuclear Test later. The hectic activity of Peter Burleigh, a US consular officer who was constantly in touch with the agitators was proof of the meddling of foreign powers. Intelligence reports of how Nixon’s administration wanted to overthrow Bangabandhu Mujib’s Government in Bangladesh added to more suspicion. 

In an interview with journalist Jonathan Dimbleby in 1978, when Gandhi was asked the precise nature of the danger to Indian security that drove her to declare a state of emergency, she promptly replied, “it was obvious, isn’t it? The whole subcontinent had been destabilized.” 

VIII. The disqualification of Indira Gandhi in the Rae Bareli election through the High Court Judgement of June 12, 1975 came as last straw and precipitated the Emergency. On June 24, the Supreme Court put a conditional stay on the High Court order: Gandhi could attend Parliament, but would not be allowed to vote unless the court pronounced on her appeal. 

IX. The opposition wasted no time in mounting a full-fledged campaign against Indira Gandhi Government. They planned demonstrations outside PM’s residence, gherao of industrialists and businessmen supporting the Prime Minister, gate meetings outside mills, lunch-hour meetings of Central Government employees etc. 

Jan Morcha- a motley group of 10 parties, with Morarjee Desai as Chairman was formed. In a rally in Ramlila Grounds, he asked the army, the police and the Government servants not to obey orders and challenged the Government to try him of treason. He even said encouraged the military to plan a coup and gherao the PM’s residence. 

X. A day after the Supreme Court judgment, an ordinance was drafted declaring a state of internal emergency and the President signed on it immediately. In her letter to the President requesting the declaration of Emergency, Gandhi wrote, “Information has reached us that indicate imminent danger to the security of India.” 

Early next morning, Indira Gandhi announced the declaration of National Emergency.

It is no secret that they were fears of a military coup to overturn a democratically elected Government in India had forced the PM to take this extreme step which, technically was Constitutionally valid. 

It is no secret that the opposition called upon the military, police and government employees to flout “illegal” orders. They urged students to walk out of classes, taxpayers to refuse to pay taxes and factory workers to strike. They also advocated that the Information Minister should be barricaded for allowing All-India Radio to “lie” for the Prime Minister. 

There are many excesses during the Emergency which nobody is condoning. Some were real, some were highly exaggerated. Similar conditions or even worse conditions were created during the Morarjee Desai Government too. But then it did not have a legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary sanction of the Emergency. 

Coming back to 2018, Forty-three long years have passed since Emergency was declared. UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi in an interview already said that her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi had regretted it. Congress party has apologized for it, time and again. 

But we do not know, why the BJP, is hell bent to invoke it every year. Is it because the present Modi Government has nothing to show? 

India has moved on, but the BJP is stuck with the Emergency.

opposition
Hands that work together- A narrative for the Opposition Coalition

Next summers, India will see a New Government at the Centre. It will either chose a monolithic single party Government and reelect an idea that destroys its civilizational values and Constitution or it will elect a motley group of regional parties led by a National party with conflicting ideologies and aspirations that may not be able to provide a masochistic, authoritarian and theocratic leadership but will definitely provide a way out of the conundrum that India is being pushed into. It is a difficult choice for the voter. 

The first time voter which is mesmerized and easily won over by the use of ‘soft power’, aggressive propaganda, emotive ideas and tall promises hasn’t really witnessed past coalition Governments in India, and will have an inherent tendency to go for a ‘Single Party rule’. On the other hand, mature voters who understand what ‘Freedom’ in its true sense means for a country like India may opt for the ‘coalition’. 

Personally, I am all for a strong single National party leadership at the Centre, but in the present circumstances, that option is closed for liberals like me because, I do not want my country to disintegrate through bigotry, hatred and narrow mindedness. A lesser known fact that we tend to forget is that coalition Governments have delivered in the past. We tend to forget that the coalition Government under Dr Manmohan Singh lifted 14 crore people out of poverty and provided the best growth rate ever possible in modern India. We also tend to forget that, it was a minority Government of P V Narasimha Rao that banished the past practices of ‘License Raj’ and undertook the biggest economic reforms that India witnessed in the past century. Yes, some coalition Governments have failed too, but those were the 70’s. 

Those political commentators who create this false equivalence between Indira Gandhi and present day Narendra Modi are living in a fool’s paradise. The Indira Gandhi Government was 11 years old, when due to a variety of socio-political movements the most flawed coalition of India – Janata Party led by Morarji Desai was installed and it crumbled with its own contradictions. On the contrary, Narendra Modi is only a 4 year Prime Minister. His series of self-goals like Demonetisation and Flawed GST, along with widespread mal-governance, cronyism, covered with a sugary outer shell of thousands of crores of propaganda cannot be compared to sound economic and historic measures of Indira Gandhi like the Nationalization of Banks, Ending Privy Purses or the 1971 War. 

The object of this piece was not to make any comparisons between the two, but this has to be strongly underlined and stated. They are simply incomparable. 

During the Plenary Session of the Indian National Congress, its political resolution mentions a very important dimension that might change the face of Indian politics in 2019. 

“Congress will adopt a pragmatic approach for co-operation with all like-minded Parties and evolve a common workable program to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections”

The Karnataka elections happened just after the Congress’ 84th Plenary Session. And the Congress did show a great ‘pragmatic approach’ and immense flexibility to work with ‘like-minded’ JD(S). 

The recent bye-poll results are a copy book illustration of the ‘pragmatic approach’ adopted by the Congress party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Wherever the Congress needed to step back and provide a larger role to the regional ‘like-minded’parties- it conveniently did. Wherever the Congress thought, it should pitch in- it surely did! Politics is all about pragmatism and no better than the Congress party knows this. 

In the same Plenary Session, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, elaborated about the relationship between the People of India and the Congress party. He said- 

“India expects much more from the Congress because it holds us, the Congress party on higher standard than any other organisation…”

Yes, the Congress party is extremely mindful of the fact that people of India will not let our Constitution be sacrificed at the mercy of the RSS-BJP. If the Congress does not use each and every tool left to its disposal to save the ideas, ideals and institutions that our forefathers so painstakingly built and nurtured, it will be failing in its Constitutional duty. Congress will fail the people of India, if it does not give an equal fight to the divisive forces of RSS-BJP. It will fail India, if it does not bring in the ‘like -minded’ regional parties on board to ensure that the coalition provides maximum damage to the theocracy of the BJP. It will fail if it does not provide an alternative agenda of Governance and Development which is Liberal, Progressive and Inclusive. It will fail if lets India plunge into the darkness of economic mismanagement. It will fail India if it does not protect its Farmers from distress, its Weaker Sections from persecution and it’s Working Class from exploitation. 

Kairana can be a template- but it is mainly an electoral template. Panning Narendra Modi cannot be idea. Congress cannot be accused of “Modi Vs All” and ‘Anti-Modi- plank’ alone cannot be an idea that should attract the voters. There has to be a positive idea. 

Congress is the only force which can also provide an ideological template- A definitive narrative. 

Flashback 2004: The UPA and the Left Parties had a ‘Common Minimum Programme’ which was almost entirely implemented from 2004-09. Congress needs to provide a common ideological template to this coalition. The coalition should have something to ‘propagate’. Leaders don’t win elections—the battle of ideas is what matters

So what are the broad ideas which the coalition can find a common ground on and built its campaign around? 

Let me attempt some broad ones- 

1. Preserving social harmony and fighting fundamentalism of all hues and shades.
2. Economic growth – creating jobs- realistic, doable, workable ideas for job creation. 
3. Implementation of the Swaminathan Committee for Farmers in letter and in spirit so that they get their fare prices and farm distress is alleviated. 
4. Education and Healthcare policy reforms- it’s a fairly non-controversial, non-debatable subject and can easily be implemented. The BJP in the past 4 years, has failed our Education system. 
5. Women Empowerment- political, economic, social & legal. Tangible solutions to enhance gender equality. 
6. Protecting Institutions
7. Providing space to regional aspirations within the Indian Union. More say of states in economic policy making. 
8. Judicial Reforms – reducing the pendency of the cases. 
9. Welfare of the Weaker Sections- SC, ST, OBC and Minorities.
o Relaunching the Sub Plans that the BJP abolished.
o Strengthening the SC-SC Act. 
o Enhancing scholarships and welfare measures. 
10. Fast tracking Modernisation of Our Defence Forces- the BJP has totally neglected our External and Internal Security. 
11. Transparency- RTI to be strengthened, Lokpal, Whistleblowers Bill. 
12. Protecting Our Environment. Saving our rivers, coastal areas, wildlife, air and forests. 

These are the 12 suggestive broad ideas that should be the Magna Carta of the coalition. There can be several more additions, but this can be a start. These are all non-controversial ideas and there cannot be any point of contention amongst the regional parties on these 12 ideas. 

Now it is the Congress and the coalition to decide.