Reflections on 40 years after Emergency

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Reflections on 40 years after Emergency

Post by ramana »

Please post your thoughts and collect all news you can find to document all that was wrong with Emergency. And try to educate the society.

We need to take a vow "never again!"

Meanwhile doctored testimony/white washing/water hosing from R.K. Dhawan

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 997_1.html


Indira was relieved she lost '77 election: Dhawan :rotfl:


IANS | New Delhi
June 23, 2015

Then prime minister Indira Gandhi seemed visibly relieved when she was told that she had lost the 1977 general election, her former aide R.K. Dhawan has said.

Dhawan, who in June 1975 was Indira Gandhi's trusted private secretary, also told India Today Television that the person who should be blamed for the Emergency rule is then West Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray.

In his first and so far only comprehensive TV interview on the Emergency, Dhawan has revealed the full inside story of that turbulent period when thousands of opposition leaders and activists were jailed and democratic rights were curbed.

Dhawan said that Indira Gandhi called the 1977 Lok Sabha election after being told by the Intelligence Bureau that she would win up to 340 seats in the Lok Sabha. Her principal secretary P.N. Dhar gave her the report. :mrgreen:

Cabinet minister Jagjivan Ram's break with Indira Gandhi came as a surprise. It made her realize the election campaign would be difficult but she didn't think she would lose.

Dhawan said it was he who broke the news to Indira Gandhi that she -- and the Congress party -- had lost the 1977 election.

She was then having dinner. According to Dhawan, relief broke out over her face and she said she would now have time for herself and the family.

{G.K> Reddy in Hindu reported the day after the election results were announced that she ordered an armored brigade to move to Delhi from Agra(?). It was later denied. The magnitude of loss was so much she had to accept the defeat. Again it was the rural folk who defeated her. Not the urbane, urban folks. And AP gave her 39 out of 42 seats!!!! Her daughter-in-law rewarded them with a Radcliffian division.}


Dhawan says Indira Gandhi never accepted that her younger son Sanjay Gandhi, widely blamed for the excesses of the Emergency, was in any way to blame for her electoral defeat.

He said it was Ray, then chief minister of Bengal, who was "the architect" of the Emergency that lasted from June 1975 to March 1977, when the Janata Party dislodged the Congress nationally.

He said that as early as on January 8, 1975, Ray wrote to Indira Gandhi suggesting an Emergency style "drastic action".

And in June 1975, after the Allahabad High Court ruled against Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha, Ray forcefully pushed for an Emergency
.

{Even though its called Emergency, it shows it was a Constitutional coup by Indira Gandhi.}


Dhawan revealed that Indira Gandhi's first response on hearing the high court ruling striking down her election was to quit. She dictated a letter of resignation.

It was typed but it was never signed. This is because her cabinet came to see her and insisted that she must not resign, he said. :rotfl:

Dhawan added that her elder son Rajiv Gandhi - then a pilot with Indian Airlines - and his wife Sonia had no reservations about the Emergency. The story that they did was not true.

And Sanjay Gandhi's wife Maneka Gandhi, now with the Bharatiya Janata Party, was fully aware of everything her husband did during the Emergency, including the mass sterilization and slum clearance.

She cannot plead ignorance or innocence now, he said.

According to Dhawan, power went to Sanjay Gandhi's head because Congress chief ministers encouraged him to exercise power.
What was his role in the Emergency?

After the elections, R.K. Dhawan was known to be a big mover and fixer during the Emergency. Never paid the price.
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Re: Reflections on 40 years after Emergency

Post by svinayak »

New generation does not care about this.
The older generation was socially engineered with this event by foreign powers.

Indians should not fall into this trap
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Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

25th June, 1975 was the darkest day in Indian history. Emergency was declared by President Fakrudin Ahmed and bestowed complete authority and rule by decree to Congress(I) PM Indira Gandhi.

What does that mean? In a nutshell, Smt. Indira Gandhi became the great dictator.

Constitution was suspended. And all civil liberties were suspended. That is,

You can be jailed without charge and trial and without notification to families.
Means, if I write a contrary opinion - I will be taken off the streets and jailed and possibly even killed! Yes, all the political class was arrested. Morarji Desai, Vajpayee, Advani, ... the list goes on. Approximately 1 lakh people were political prisoners. Abuse and torture was common.

Other abuses and tortures were carried out., including forced sterilization. Removal from homes. Banning of publications including any articles or stories or material which was deemed even remotely critical.

So why this thread now?

The counter is - where were you on 1975? 70% of India today was born after 1975. 100% of Indians are affected by it. Even now. This thread will collect all articles related to Emergency., including the abuses and tortures carried out in Emergency. Personal anecdotes are welcome.

If somebody can locate and put the Shah Commission report - that will be coupe'de grace.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

Article by Minhaz Merchant.

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/emergency ... /4540.html
What was the media like then compared to the media today? Advani famously said – and repeated in his series of recent interviews – that when Mrs Indira Gandhi asked “the media to bend, it crawled.”

Things are very different today. Parts of the media still bend, often without being asked. A few honourable exceptions remain independent and professional. But the nexus between politicians and journalists is now a fact of life.
The Emergency was not an abstract event that left most people untouched. More than one lakh were jailed, including MPs, journalists and activists. Nearly the entire opposition was imprisoned. Those incarcerated included Advani, Vajpayee, Morarji Desai, Chandra Shekhar and a young Arun Jaitley. Even university students were targeted. On my return from New York and well before I joined The Times of India as a trainee reporter, I received a visit at home from the local police. Two plainclothes officers from the CID visited my home at 7am with a neat file of my articles published on the editorial page of various dailies. When they discovered I was still at university and not a subversive violating the Emergency’s censorship laws, they left silently.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

Twitter:
Minhaz Merchant retweeted
Chitra Subramaniam ‏@chitraSD 8h8 hours ago
Where are the questions on forced sterilisations, disappearances, murders - what is wrong with us in the media? #India #Emergency
Vande Mataram ‏@UnSubtleDesi 5h5 hours ago
On 12/06/75 election petition agnst IG was allowed. Hw corrupt IG imposed #Emergency for her unending thirst for powr
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And back to article:

http://www.dailyo.in/politics/emergency ... /4545.html
June 25, 1975 revealed that the democracy most Indians were proud of could be shackled. It may be difficult for today's generation to even comprehend how dangerously close India had come to losing it for good. The cult of the "Great Leader" (Indira Gandhi) was reinforced by the more odious one of the "Little Great Leader" (her son Sanjay), who institutionalised state thuggery in politics, making no attempt to cloak his contempt of intellect and naked admiration for raw muscle.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by SwamyG »

President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Was Wary of the Emergency
NEW DELHI:The Wikileaks cables on the Emergency gives a detailed picture of how the US dealt with India during those difficult years. On August 24, 1975, Indira Gandhi drove to Roosevelt house, the official residence of the US Ambassador, for dinner. In a cable sent on August 30, Saxbe noted that with Indira Gandhi in the lead, the government of India has made a number of favourable gestures towards the United States over the past month. “Officials tell us the word has come down to be responsive in dealing with the USA.”

“She interviews to ‘Meet the Press’ and ‘Saturday Review’ in attempts to reach what she knows is a critical audience. If her performances were inept, it was not for lack of effort or intention. Sanjay Gandhi’s lengthy interview describing his anti-Communist, pro-free enterprise views could possibly be seen as reinforcing this effort, although the haste with which the interview was modified and downplayed leaves us bemused,” the US cable said. Saxbe pointed out the US’ dilemma over the blow-hot blow-cold relationship between the two countries and further noted, “At times like this we see ourselves playing the Daisy game—she loves us; she loves us not. In this case we see the trend as favorable. The signals from the Government of India are more positive than negative, but we need not yet fear that the Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) will hug us to death.”

Ambassador Saxbe noted that whatever steps Indira Gandhi took to repair Indo-US relationship were tentative and subject to instant reversal.

“If she is probing for a response, we are not sure what she is seeking. She will certainly be careful not to jeopardise her relations with the Soviets... We doubt the Prime Minister perceives substantial economic concessions to be gained from improved relations. She does not often think in such terms, but it may be her advisors have stressed the desirability of US investment and trade in selected areas,” he wrote in his cable. This suggests he did not think much of Indira’s economic instincts.

SENSELESS CENSORS

The cables reveal the US decided to go along with censorship guidelines on the Indian press by preventing US correspondents from using Embassy facilities and suspended all official briefings. Saxbe’s cable on June 27, a day after the Emergency was declared, says, “We are avoiding contacts with leaders of opposition parties and exercising caution in regard to our associations with Congress party members unfriendly to Mrs Gandhi.”

“We are restricting our briefing of the American press to deep back grounding on facts and avoiding analysis and predictions with absolutely no attribution or indication of American sources.”

“We do not intend to make embassy facilities available to American Correspondents in order to avoid Censorship,” the US cable said further adding that US government sponsored programmes were being rationalised to ensure they can successfully take place. We are similarly restricting travel by embassy Political and economic officers outside of New Delhi and the consular cities,” the cable added.

On July 2, 1975, Joseph J Sisco, Kissinger’s Chief Deputy Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs wrote a memo to his boss for approval which was later sent to the US embassy in New Delhi. Sisco said gratuitous US government criticism of Mrs Gandhi’s action might provide “psychic pleasure, but would obviously be deeply resented by her.”

PREZ’S CONCERNS

The US thought President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed felt Indira and Sanjay Gandhi were pushing too hard on the political and constitutional system. A US cable dated August 6, 1976, said “Fakhruddin does seem to be uncomfortable with some of Mrs Gandhi’s actions and certainly with those of her son (we have heard much more reliably that Fakhruddin is seriously concerned over some of the government’s Family Planning moves).” The cable suggests that Indira had asked him to replace Vice-President Jatti for not praising the Emergency, which he refused.

A third version attributes a pique to a request by Sanjay Gandhi that he provide a statement for the opening issue of his new magazine Surya, a request the President allegedly turned down as inappropriate and unusual. Sanjay is said to have responded with unkind words and about the President, which were reported to him, led to his complaining to Mrs Gandhi and ultimately to the PM’s offer of an apology on behalf of her son.”

REVOLVING DOOR

A week before the Emergency was clamped, a US cable dated June, 16, 1975 quoted sources that West Bengal Chief Minister S S Ray may replace Mrs Gandhi as PM in case the Supreme Court turned down her stay request in the Allahabad High Court.

“Jagjivan Ram is arguing that while his support for Mrs Gandhi... is total, he would not feel bound to back her candidate if she resigned,” the cable added.

A cable dated August 26, 1975, said “Ray, D K Barooah and Rajni Patel... Mrs Gandhi has consulted or entrusted assignments to these three politicians since the Emergency... in the ‘Inner Circle’, each is in the ‘revolving door’ section. Mrs Gandhi has used them for their political advice, ideological balance or for fund raising”.

“According to a source privy to the working of the ‘Inner circle’, Ray has begun to see less of the Prime Minister. Barooah still sees her whenever he wishes, but she does not “let her hair down” with him.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by SwamyG »

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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

The book to read:

Coomi Kapoor's "The Emergency: A Personal History".

Publisher Penguin UK, 2015
ISBN 9352141199, 9789352141197
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

SwamyG - muchas gracias.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by A_Gupta »

The Indian Express of that time was truly courageous. A main source of revenue for newspapers at that time was government advertising, which the government suspended for this newspaper. Kudo to Ramnath Goenka, he continued bringing out the newspaper regardless. I do not recall, but today we are told that the newspaper would have blank spaces wherever the censor interfered, unlike most other papers that would try to hide the fact that a censor had cut stuff from their story.

We - me, my classmates were somewhat politically conscious. Back in 1970-71, we made the first graders, some grades below us, in our school stand in a line during recess and yell repeatedly the equivalent of "Yahya Khan is a dog". I don't recall any conversations about the Emergency, but even though far away from Delhi I remember the feeling of being in a grim situation during the Emergency.

I was a kid at that time. A very fond memory is when the elections after the Emergency happened. The singer Kishore Kumar was banned from All India Radio for not kowtowing to Mrs. Gandhi. As the election returns rolled in and one by one the Congress stalwarts were behind in the count and began losing, tentatively at first, and then non-stop, interrupted only by announcements of poll results, the radio station played Kishore Kumar songs. I was "awake" all night till sunrise. My body was "asleep" in an easy chair, I don't think I could have moved a finger, completely out of my conscious control; but my mind was awake and fully alert. And jubilant. I have not been quite able to ever reproduce that experience.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by abhischekcc »

The story of emergency started in 1971, during the Indo-Pak war, and IG defiance of US power when creating BD by carving pakistan like a turkey.

The Anglo Americans were furious that a third world country, which barely manages to feed itself is dependent on the west (their impression) would humiliate the imperious westerners by breaking apart their ally.

The sedition against IG started soon thereafter. Sensing the threat, IG tested the nuclear bomb 1974. US-UK realizing that no proxy of theirs would fight India now, decided to intensify the anti-IG movement inside the country. Hence the Allahabad court order in 1975. They found a bunch of Kejriwal's to oppose her in the streets. In order to counter this, IG imposed emergency. There really was a "foreign hand" involved. But because IG's corruption had cratered her own credibility with the masses, her plaintive bleating was pointless.

Everybody blames IG for being heavy handed in imposing emergency, lusting for power, etc - and all these points are correct. However, do note what the imperialists were doing at that time.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

My political life was glorious.

As a school going kid I did not remember the year, but elections were declared after Emergency. One of the teacher (was Gujju) informed rather happily that election will be held shortly. That was followed by a loud cheer. And some of us improptu got up and started shouting "Ek do Indira Gandhi ko fek do" (one-two throw out Indira Gandhi) and we walked out triumphantly with lots of rythmic clapping and cheer. In the corridor we were joined with kids from other class. Now thinking about it they were older, but I was at the head of it. Maybe me being young and all that might have helped.

At the end of the corridor, we ran into our Principal. She was red, livid with anger and started whacking the kids around. Some were quickly dispersed, some were crying like babies holding their cheeks or arms or bottoms. Teachers were shouting across each other. The rest scooped up and sent home. The situation went from terrifying to eerily silent in matter of minutes.

News like that travel fast. At home I got a strong thrashing. You see I am still not sure whether my mother was protecting me from police or my father. Anyway plans were drawn up for my father and me to be away. Thankfully that did not happen.

My political carrier ended with a sound thrashing. It was glorious for the few hours it lasted.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

abhischekcc wrote: Everybody blames IG for being heavy handed in imposing emergency, lusting for power, etc - and all these points are correct. However, do note what the imperialists were doing at that time.
Abhishek'ji., can you also check the Mujibir angle?

And ever wonder instead of going after the imperialists, why did IG go after her own?
Last edited by disha on 24 Jun 2015 08:01, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by niran »

@ABCC
the court found IG guilty of using GOVT. affsars as her election agents saar, which is what that still happens. nationalising coal mines thus rendering a million plus investers/bussinessmen pennyless and paving the way for the biggest corrupting in whole of the world through Coal India LTD. nationalising banks another million plus pennyless and paving the way for the most efficient banking system in whole world so efficient that after 6 decades more than half of Indian populations never had visited a bank 9the implications is a 1000 thousand long so will digress) it took a PM to force people to open bank account with enticements and the same establishments opened a billion account a month. unemployment was highest just before emergency, food was short; you cannot imagine the irony of shortage of food grains in India where just Ganges plains have the ability to feed the world 5 times over. all these was due to IG and her congress doings in place of identifying and tackling she imposed emergency on the premise of 80,000 people were flag waving and chanting anti IG slogans

the point you posted is what INC netas like Digvijay says to justify emergency.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by SwamyG »

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Shameful role of the Indian Supreme Court: Rajinder Sachar.
http://kafila.org/2013/07/14/the-shamef ... er-sachar/
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

Here are some more areas where the brutality of IG shines through.

Navnirman Movement
Lawrence Fernandes
Snehlatha Reddy

Each of the above deserves some research.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by SwamyG »

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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by abhischekcc »

I am not justifying the emergency :) Just pointing out that there were more wheels inside the wheels.

disha ji, are you talking about the Mujibur Rehman assassination?
He was murdered by IG just on the eve of making an anti-India speech. At the time of his murder, he was no longer pro-India. He was killed so that his pro-India legacy would become cast in stone :mrgreen:

(BD was going to become anti-India one way or another.)
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

^^ From SwamyG's link:
It is not that there was no resistance to the Emergency. Thousands went to jail, including former central ministers, chief ministers, governors, lawyers, legislators and a few brave journalists. Many human rights activists went underground but there is a limit to which unarmed people can fight an intolerant and a near fascist state which India had become those days. Complete fear had enveloped the country. And all this because rule of law had completely been eliminated by the Supreme Court Ruling in ADM Jabalpur case (April 1976), which overruled the view of nine High Courts that the legality of detaining order passed by the governments could still be examined – in fact in some cases the High Courts had ordered release of detenues. Had this view been upheld, emergency would have collapsed. But to our shame the Supreme Court by a majority of 4 judges against one honourable exception (Khanna J.) laid down a proposition of law, which for ever will remain a hall mark of shame:
“In view of the Presidential Order dated June 27, 1975 no person has any locus standi to move any writ petition under Article 226 before a High Court for habeas corpus or any other writ or order or direction to challenge the legality of an order of detention on the round that the order is not under or in compliance with the Act or is illegal or is vitiated by mala fides factual or legal or is based on extraneous considerations"
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by abhischekcc »

disha ji,

A point I remember that I would like to narate to you - from the Ayatollah revolution in Iran.

US govt, through the US Navy, brought about the downfall of the Shah. They had created assets among the Iranian defence officers to do so. Ayatollah, when he came to power, had all these officers killed, even though they had brought him to power. Why did he go after 'his own' and not the US? Because that is what was within his grasp.


Similarly, IG going after 'her own' - perhaps they were not 'her own'.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

abhischekcc wrote:I am not justifying the emergency :) Just pointing out that there were more wheels inside the wheels.

disha ji, are you talking about the Mujibur Rehman assassination?
He was murdered by IG just on the eve of making an anti-India speech. At the time of his murder, he was no longer pro-India. He was killed so that his pro-India legacy would become cast in stone :mrgreen:

(BD was going to become anti-India one way or another.)
There are always wheels-within-wheels. At the end who gained? Indira-Rajiv-Sonia. And who lost? India. Indians are not stupid to identify who is friend and who is enemy. Definitely Indians of that era.

IG may or may not have murdered Mujibur but she did use that as a canard to villify Indians. In the end, she created her worst fears and made it come true. The wheels within wheels are not so cut and dry that they will lead to the outcome we know now.

And interestingly, the Maino-MaunMohan sarkaar was in cahoots with the "imperialists".
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

abhischekcc wrote:
Similarly, IG going after 'her own' - perhaps they were not 'her own'.
It is pathetic that you bring in a nation state of @30 Million population (in 1970s) and compare it with a subcontinent 20x its size (1970). A nation though poor and illiterate is 6x times in GDP of Iran. A nation with a nuclear bomb with a nation which did not even have a working Navy leave alone an aircraft carrier.

And now you have the temerity of saying that the 1+ lakh jailed, several lakhs forcibly sterilized., several scores murdered and raped and brutalized where "not her own" people!

Maybe what you are saying is that IG was not India's own! All the more reason to withdraw Bharat Ratna from her.

Added later: If IG could not manage such a large nation state, maybe she should have stepped down. There were others who did manage it well. Even briefly. All the more reasons why Nehru should not have gotten any term beyond 1955.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by shiv »

disha wrote:
The counter is - where were you on 1975? 70% of India today was born after 1975. 100% of Indians are affected by it. Even now. This thread will collect all articles related to Emergency., including the abuses and tortures carried out in Emergency. Personal anecdotes are welcome.

If somebody can locate and put the Shah Commission report - that will be coupe'de grace.
I was in college, in Pondicherry and completely immature. Emergency did not affect that part of the world a great deal and I was going through some of the most formidable exams and subjects of my life. I only knew that the newspapers were sanitized and all we got was good news. It was not easy to stop admiring Indira Ganghi those days. This was less than 4 years after the Liberation of Bangladesh and a year after Pokhran 1. It was years and years before I really understood what was going on.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by abhischekcc »

A nation of 30 million knew how to treat their enemies and a nation of billion+ still elects a known foreign agent like Kejriwal - don't tell me what is more pathetic.

Indians, specially Indians, need to grow up. This strange affliction for Dharma and its sundry interpretations is what makes us mis-identify our enemies. No doubt IG and the Nehru clan have been negative for India, but it is also true that we have enemies far worse than them.

--------------

MMS and Sonia Maino are agents planted in India by the imperialists - so their loyalties are anyway outside this country.
MMS is traitor, but Sonia is a nationalist (for the imperialist country).
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by svenkat »

Remember a conversation from that period.around 1978.No interest in politics then.But remember the conversation vividly.A distant relative had come from Delhi and he was criticising Mrs IG.All the other mamas were supportive of Mrs IG.Indira won about 150 seats from South.In TN,'we' liked IG more because she had dismissed karunanidhi in 1975.ADMK and Cong were in alliance.

Agree with abhishekji.Those were 'TINA to Congress' times.BJP and Janata(Charan Singh,Vajpayee) were unknown to 'us'.It was Congress all the way as the pan indian nationalist party in South.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by svinayak »

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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by svinayak »

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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by Yagnasri »

I was 7 by 1975. I do not remember much other than Indira losing elections in India but winning in AP. She came to our town> do not remember very well when etc. Our servant maid took me to see her. As she was carrying me, Indira took me into her hands and kissed me. :D I still remember seeing her face very close.

She enjoyed lot of support in our town even during Emergency times as most of the misdeeds are hidden. Life was almost normal for us kids. As per the rumors one lady was treated horribly by police and kept in jail. She was said to be very good looking. Her crime was knowing one of the main leaders of the opposition. This was done to her even when one of the top most congress leaders were closely related to her family. Her father in law begged that congress leader to save his daughter in law, but the congress leader refused. Her husband has gone mad and she committed suicide. There can be no doubt that there are more horrible stories which will never see the light of the day.

In 1980, Congress candidate who is known to no one got more votes and majority than Indira her self.From 1980 she was back in power. So all is forgotten. By then hardly any one cared to know or remembered her misdeeds and people in AP wept on the streets when she died. Best job in controlling minds and thoughts.

When she killed in 1984, I was coming out of the college building and told about it by my friend. By that time I have seen her misdeeds including attack on Golden Temple etc and known her activities during 1975-77 period. I have not felt anything bad when she died. Hardly anyone in my town seem to know about emergency nor they cared about it. In fact many of students in my college itself do not know anything about Emergency.

Information about 1975-77 period was not made known to people by Janata Party which in fact hard little time. Even now on the day of the 40th year anniversary hardly there is any news.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by svinayak »

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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by Sachin »

Just spent some time collating a few press reports and Wiki links about the National Emergency (Adiyanthiravastha in Malayalam) of 1976. In Kerala, it was a CPI led government under C Achutha Menon who was in power. And it is still said that all directives issued by the Congress government at the centre was executed perfectly by the CPI led government in Kerala. K. Karunakaran (from Indian National Congress) was also the Minister of Home during this time period.
The ‘blazing course' of a ‘Naxalite martyr'
This is about 'naxalite' Balakrishnan who when being taken in a police jeep, managed to topple a jerry can of petrol and set the jeep ablaze. He also held onto the Dy.SP sitting in the front seat of the jeep. Both men burnt to death. There was a report about the son's of these two dead men, and how their lives changed entirely during the emergency period. The son of the Dy.SP later joined the police in officer rank, and is now an IPS officer in Kerala state.

Also found a web site dedicated to the 1975 Emergency. http://emergency1975.in/

The most infamous episode in the emergency in Kerala was the "Rajan Case", which has also been milked for maximum political mileage by the communists and the various Maoist sympathiser groups.

PS: The "positive(?)" side of emergency I have heard often was that trains ran on time, government officials reported to work on time and life worked like a clock work.
Yagnasri
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by Yagnasri »

http://indiankanoon.org/doc/1735815/

This is the constitutional history. I am posting judgement links for people to read.

So much for the Supreme Court being savior of democracy.

http://emergency1975.in/

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/a-chi ... 85799.html

http://kafila.org/2013/07/14/the-shamef ... er-sachar/

a.d.m. jabalpur v. shivakant shukla,

Operation portion of the order:

ORDER By majority-

In view of the Presidential order dated 27 June 1975 no person has any locus standi to move any writ petition under Article 226 before a High Court for habeas corpus or any other writ or order or direction to challenge the legality of an, order of detention on the ground that the order is not under or in compliance with the Act or is illegal or is vitiated by malafides factual or legal or is based on extraneous consideration.

2. Section 16A(9) of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act is constitutionally valid;

3. The appeals are accepted. The judgments are set aside;

4. The petitions before the High Courts are now to be disposed of in accordance with the law laid down in these appeals.

S.R.
Yagnasri
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by Yagnasri »

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/a-chi ... 85799.html

Read and think how low we degrade ourselves.
niran
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by niran »

abhischekcc wrote:A nation of 30 million knew how to treat their enemies and a nation of billion+ still elects a known foreign agent like Kejriwal - don't tell me what is more pathetic.
incorrect saar, Dilli had 13 lacs 86 thousand eligible voters during last assembly election and dilli elected kayjari not the nation for better perspective kayjari lost his deposit and came distant 5th outside dilli.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by wig »

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation ... 97955.html
Ray, not Indira, to blame for Emergency: Dhawan
The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi seemed visibly relieved when she was told that she had lost the 1977 General Election, her former aide R.K. Dhawan has said.
Dhawan, who in June 1975 was Indira Gandhi's trusted private secretary, also told India Today Television that the person who should be blamed for the Emergency rule is then West Bengal Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray.
In his first and so far only comprehensive TV interview on the Emergency, Dhawan has revealed the full inside story of that turbulent period when thousands of opposition leaders and activists were jailed and democratic rights were curbed.
Dhawan said that Indira Gandhi called the 1977 Lok Sabha election after being told by the Intelligence Bureau that she would win up to 340 seats in the Lok Sabha. Her principal secretary PN Dhar gave her the report.
Cabinet minister Jagjivan Ram's break with Indira Gandhi came as a surprise. It made her realize the election campaign would be difficult but she didn't think she would lose.
Dhawan said it was he who broke the news to Indira Gandhi that she — and the Congress party — had lost the 1977 election.
She was then having dinner. According to Dhawan, relief broke out over her face and she said she would now have time for herself and the family.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by wig »

Remembering days of Emergency Pathetic was the role of the Press; ‘not a dog barked’
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/commen ... 97739.html
FORTY years may seem to be a long period. But it is not long enough to efface the memory of jungle raj which followed the imposition of the Emergency in 1975. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, mother-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, should have stepped down after the Allahabad High Court disqualified her for using official machinery during the election. The Supreme Court's vacation judge gave her reprieve by pronouncing a stay order.
Still she was not certain about the final outcome. There was reportedly a time, after the judgment, when she thought of stepping down till her exoneration and making Jagjivan Ram or the then UP Chief Minister, Kamlapati Tripathi, the Prime Minister.
But her son, Sanjay Gandhi, who subsequently became an extra-constitutional authority and ran the government, knew her mother's weakness. He, with the help of Bansi Lal, the then Haryana Chief Minister, hired a crowd and paraded her “supporters” outside the Prime Minister's residence. After that Mrs Gandhi was really convinced that people wanted her and only a few disgruntled elements in politics were against her. Hereafter, her dependence on Sanjay Gandhi was absolute.
Sources from her residence revealed that she would talk about politics to Sanjay Gandhi alone and ignored Rajiv Gandhi who, she thought, was apolitical. It is equally true that he too took little interest in politics and excelled himself in flying. He was considered an ace pilot in the Indian Airlines, which was then the only airline running domestic traffic. It is another matter that Mrs Gandhi imposed politics on him and he, in turn, imposed his Prime Ministership on the nation.
Strange as it may sound, the resistance was put up by parochial forces, including the Jana Sangh, which is now the BJP, and the Akali Dal comprising Sikhs. The secular forces, including the Communist Party of India, accepted Mrs Gandhi's autocratic rule without a demur. The Marxists were unhappy but prepared to lie low.
Pathetic was the role of the Press. (There was no electronic media then). It preached valour and values, but a few people and papers showed resistance. Mrs Gandhi’s remark that “not a dog had barked” was authoritative in tone and tenor. Nevertheless, it was a fact that the Press had caved in.
Stung by her remark, I was able to collect as many as 103 journalists (I still have the list) at the Press Club by visiting personally the offices of some newspapers and the two news agencies. Among those present was Girilal Jain, the then Resident Editor of The Times of India. I read out the resolution I had drafted to condemn the Emergency and the imposition of censorship. One journalist mentioned that some editors had been detained. I told the journalists present there to sign the resolution. I said I would forward it to the President, the Prime Minister and the Information Minister under my signature.
Before leaving the Press Club, I took the copy of the resolution along with me lest it should fall into the hands of the police. Hardly had I reached home when Information Minister V.C. Shukla, till then a friend, rang me up and asked if I could drop in at his office. I was shocked to find a different Shukla, authoritative in tone and threatening in posture. He asked me to give him the paper on which the journalists had signed. When I said ‘no’, he warned me that I could be arrested. “You should understand it is a different government, run by Sanjay Gandhi, not Indira Gandhi,” he said.
Still I followed up with a letter to Mrs Gandhi which said: “…Madam, it is always difficult for a newspaperman to decide when he should reveal what... In a free society — and you have repeatedly said after the Emergency that you have faith in such a concept — the Press has a duty to inform the public. This is sometimes an unpleasant task, but it has to be performed because a free society is founded on free information. If the Press were to publish only government handouts or official statements, to which it is reduced today, who will pinpoint lapses, deficiencies, or errors?”
However, when I tried to pick up the threads after I came out of jail following three months' detention, I found to my dismay that journalists were afraid to support me openly. The then Jan Sangh leader, L.K. Advani, was quite correct in his remark: “You (journalists) were asked to bend but you began to crawl!”
If I were to explain the Emergency to today's generation, I would repeat the adage that eternal vigilance is required to defend Press freedom is as much truer today as it was when India won freedom some 70 years ago. Never did anyone expect that a Prime Minister after the High Court's indictment would suspend the Constitution when she should have stepped down voluntarily.
Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri would often advise to his colleagues: “Sit light, not tight”. That is the reason why he resigned as Railway Minister after a big accident at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu. He took moral responsibility for what had happened.
It is difficult to imagine anybody following that precedent today. Yet, India is still looked upon by the world as a country where the value system exists. Parochialism or posh living is not the answer. The country has to go back to what Mahatma Gandhi told the nation: Disparities drove people to desperation.
There is a point in harking back to the days of Independence struggle. All had joined hands to oust the British. I wish the same spirit could be revived to oust poverty. Otherwise, Independence comes to mean a better life only for the haves.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by fanne »

The biggest mistake of emergency was the 42nd amendment. As IG physically killed many people, through this she strangled the atma of Bharat.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by NRao »

We were architects for a 64 complex society. The emmergency allowed us to get unlimited cement and steel for construction........at about 40% of the pre-emmergency cost. We actually refunded money to the society due to the enormous saving

Food too was freely available. No need to produce ration cards.
JwalaMukhi
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by JwalaMukhi »

Hardly was of age, when I could utter few sentences at the time of emergency.
Unfortunately, The constitution, extremely fat book, made of legalese mumbo-jumbo, for most part was not construed and written with aam admi in mind. It was kichidi of legalese borrowed from many other legalese from other fat books from around the world, and written in English. Most of the Indians at the time, had less inclination to take this English, fat book, mumbo-jumbo, and read and comprehend it, because it was designed to be alien to most Indians. I'm unsure, if it is translated into all major Indian languages, so it can reach the masses. Instead, the constitution goads most Indians to learn English, an artificial requirement, and join a select secretive tribal group who can understand "legalese".
Well, most people would hardly know what is that is being suspended when emergency is declared. Henceforth, rightly so, they draw into a cocoon, and see only the effects of emergency. Namely, the state machinery is usurped, to implement the will of a tyrant (could be a benevolent one for some!).

If it cannot be rewritten to be in simplified form, it is hardly the fault of aam admi, who doesn't really care about emergency. As it is most Indians are not "book people". India, that is Bharath existed way before constitution came into existence, and continued when emergency was declared and will continue irrespective of what any "book" says. But it is imperative and extremely urgent, that atleast any "book" is written for common people be atleast accessible and easily understood by one and all.

I posit, more Indians have read Koran, than "Indian constitution", quiet embrassingly, may be Koran is much more easy to understand and reaches the common man/woman.

So emergency was just another passage in the times and tribulations for the aam admi, except for the amplified effects of dictatorship it ushered in.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by Sachin »

Are any of the main stream media or vernacular media running any shows/news series talking about the emergency? I did not find any. There was one Malayalam program (on Asianet News), which clearly omitted the role of the CPI government and dedicated around 5 minutes of time doing a "what-if" analysis on Modi's chance of declaring an emergency :roll:.
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Re: Emergency 40 years and its aftermath.

Post by disha »

I would not expect nanha-mujahids to know about emergency. Since last 40 years., CONgoons have been washing out every bit of information regarding emergency. Further, just like crickets on a summer night, the CONg(I) supporter comes out and whitewashes the remaining.

One of the biggest canard that is heard is that "Trains ran on time". As if trains do not run on time now! Or trains never run on time ever? Funny thing is that the "trains run on time" is purely anecdotal. Just like my anecdotal evidence that in my recent MUM-A'DBAD-MUM-A'DBAD-MUM trips - the A/C train costing 450Rs. each way was on time within a minute of its expected arrival and departure.

As if train running on time is a good thing and hence we should all abide by emergency.

Here is a thought experiment., anybody who expresses a contrary opinion to abuses of emergency will be summarily banned for 3 months. Without any cause. Additionally, from the set that is summarily banned - whenever they rejoin back - they will be ridiculed and abused. And if they speak up - banned again. Something like an emotional torture. And this is to ensure that the thread runs smooth.

Imagine one year down the line I would say - "Ummm the thread ran smoothly"., what would it be like?

Now here is the story of Lawrence Fernandes. Lifting straight from wikipedia.
During the Emergency, he was arrested on 1 May 1976[3] by the Government and brutally tortured[4] and held in illegal custody[5] before being transferred to the Bangalore Central Jail, to extract from him whereabouts of his elder brother George Fernandes. Madhu Dandavate, who was arrested and was in the same jail wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi that he is being inhumanely tortured and may even die.[6] Even Lal Krishna Advani in his book mentions about torture Lawrence had to go through in jail during the Emergency.[7] He was continuously beaten up leading to several fractures all over his body.[5] At the time of his release at end of the Emergency he looked like a live skeleton.[5] He was reduced to a mental and physical wreck in jail[8] and after his release at the end of Emergency he lived many years as a wreck.[3][5]
Why was Lawrence Fernandes arrested? Tortured? Left a wreck for decades?

His brother, George Fernandes., yes the same person

1. Who banned Coca-Cola (and that did give a rise to Indian brands - the famous is Thumbs up)
2. Was one of the best defense minister in ABV government
...

courted arrest so that they can let Lawrence go.

Now it would have been hilarious to say that George Fernandes were imperial stooges or socially engineered if it would have been a different time. Now it is just pathetic.
Lawrence Fernandes was tortured by the police so that he could tell them the whereabouts of his brother George Fernandes. Lawrence was not even in politics yet he was arrested, jailed and beaten up to the extent that even years after he was released he couldn't walk properly, with his legs having ballooned and his limbs smashed beyond repair. I married his brother Michael in 1983 and my doctor told me that she would often find my mother-in-law sitting and weeping in St Mary's Church during the Emergency praying for her three sons. Her sons - George, Michael and Lawrence were all arrested. George had gone underground and was taken in last. Lawrence was tortured and he carried the scars till his death in 2006."

Dona Fernandes, social activist and sister in law of the late Lawrence Fernandes
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/150625/n ... ils-filled

By the time I became an adult, I had some 4 (or 5 fractures) - the worst was a fracture on my Talus bone. Even now sometime when "it" flares up - I limp. It is very painful. Thankfully it was fractured and not crushed. I shudder at the pain lawrence must have borne through to the very end of his life.

I guess it is perfectly okay to crush somebody's bones so that the trains run on time and anybody suspicious of a different political ideology. Sounds just like ISIS to me.
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