Author: Jagruti Yadav, a student at Sharda University Greater Noida
ABSTRACT
There were a lot of reasons behind the declaration of Internal Emergency in 1975. Apparently, there were many causes for this period to be called a ‘black spot’ in history for Indian democracy. This article is an informative one describing the most possible origin of the declaration. It will discuss the root causes for the Emergency and also about its impact on the democratic system. The objective of this article is to inform the public about the black spot in history and for the common citizens to learn and become aware about the real causes behind the incident. This period was not only a hard time for India but also came with a trauma that was experienced by the future generations as well. The article will tell why this emergency period is considered so terrifying and harrowing. Indira Gandhi’s words on radio while declaring this emergency said that the President has declared emergency and this is nothing to worry about. Seemingly, the upcoming months the public was in danger and India was going to lose its democratic status. No one knew that the upcoming two years were going to be recorded as the darkest spot in Indian Democratic history.
INTRODUCTION
25th June 1975 was the date when all hell came upon the citizens of India in the scorching heat of June in the form of an Internal Emergency. At this point the political situation of the country was in pieces, the economic crisis had no ends visible, the civil uproar was also too high in the country. There were many unbearable and uncontrollable incidents going on all around the land.
This was the day when the darkest phase of the Indian Democracy started with a declaration of Internal Emergency by our then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Evidently, it might be surprising to know that this one was not the first emergency declared in India. The first time was during Indo-China war which started from 26 October, 1962 till 21st November 1962. Allegedly, the situation was caused as the security of India was being threatened by External Aggression. Later India also experienced a national emergency situation during the Indo-Pak war in 1971 from 3rd December to 17th December.
But this time the emergency was not an outcome of any war rather it was an effect of a series of events. The 1975 emergency was not a period when people used to demand their freedom by sloganeering rather was a period when the public had actually lost all their freedom including their fundamental rights. The order even bestowed upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree and allowing civil rights to be suspended alongside the elections being cancelled. According to the government the main motive of this emergency was to maintain a stable and peaceful environment.
CAUSES
The sequence of events leading to the declaration actually began from 1969.
- Nationalization of Private Banks: This was the time when the Congress Party was in power and the fourth five year plan was being implemented. According to this plan the Congress party had decided to nationalize 14 private banks of the country depicting a socialist mindset and motive. It meant that the government would take the ownership of those private companies in order to make it reachable to aggrieved parts of the society. The justification from the government was that this was the only way to force banks to open their branches catering to India’s vast rural population. With this socialist mindset the government thought that the country would not be benefitted if profit making was the only motive of the companies. As expected many businessmen like J.R.D. Tata, G.D. Birla, K.N. Raj and many other investors and shareholders advised against this nationalization. On 18th July 1969 it was decided that this will be passed through ordinance but the government soon realized that the Parliament session was soon going to be held on 21st July and that the President is going to leave his office on 20th. Indira Gandhi’s desperateness was clearly visible when the ordinance was passed almost overnight and signed by the President on 19th itself.
The shareholders of these banks were definitely not happy with this decision. There was a bank named Central Bank of India and of its shareholder were Rustom C. Cooper who seeked help from the Supreme Court. There he gets a small relief and the court declares that this law is discriminatory against the 14 banks and is unfair for the shareholders and hence the ordinance is rejected by the court.
This point was the beginning of the battle between the legislative and the judiciary.
As the Supreme Court rejected the ordinance the govt. brings out a new amendment which was the 25th amendment. This amendment reversed the decision of the Supreme Court.
- Concept of Privy Purse: According to this concept the royal families of princely states were given some amount of money as compensation for uniting all the princely states to form India. The government did not like these payments so they decided to remove them and proposed a bill in the parliament. This bill was rejected in Rajya Sabha hence the government tried a different technique. They proclaimed that from now on the royal families will not be recognized in the country. Again this discussion went up to the Supreme Court and it declared this proclamation as null and void. Again, as an answer to the court’s decision the Indira Gandhi government brought a new amendment in which it was clearly stated that the concept of privy purse has been completely removed by the government.
Now comes the year of 1971 when Indira Gandhi again wins the elections and this time she becomes a very dominant leader of the country with instances of clearly visible centralization of power.
- Economic Crisis: 1971 was also the year when India was going through a War with Pakistan. The war had a very bad impact on the Indian Economy. Inflation increased and the prices of essential commodities skyrocketed. In 1973 a huge oil crisis is seen all over the world because of which the crude oil prices increase by 300% till 1974.
- Corruption Allegations: at the same time the government was facing corruption allegations. Indira Gandhi’s personal Principal Secretary P.N. Haksar pointed out the existence of corruption within the party. The state governments had an even worse state of corruption. In 1974, the Chief Minister of Gujarat was Chimanbhai Patel whose one of the biggest scam came in the public’s eye. He was even called as Chiman Chor (thief). People came out on the roads and protested, students protested, buses were burnt, shops were robbed, and even the police was attacked. This movement came to be known as Navnirman Movement with a strong demand to dissolve the state government listening to which Indira Gandhi dissolved the government. In the same year a similar movement is seen in Bihar by students which was headed by J.P. Narayan. Non-violent protests happen against the corruption and it is demanded for the government to be dissolved.
Also George Fernandes also start a Railway Strike in 1974 for three days with a demand of better working conditions and better salary. More than 17 lakh Indian Railway workers protest which was one of the largest industrial strike of that time. “Poora rashan, Poora kaam, Nahi toh hoga chakka jaam”, “Janta ka dil bol raha hai, Indira ka singhasan dol raha hai”. These were some of the slogans which were chanted at that time. A year passes by but Indira Gandhi did not soften rather called these movements foreign funded and anti-national.
- Election Malpractice: In March 1975 Indira Gandhi gets another shock from the Allahabad High Court. The thing was that for the past 2 years there was an ongoing case against Indira Gandhi in Allahabad High Court this case was filed by a socialist election candidate Raj Narain. He had contested against Indira Gandhi in 1971 from Raebareli. Raj Narain had directly accused Indira Gandhi that she won her seat in the election using unfair means and that she manipulated the ballots. 14 crimes were reported against Indira Gandhi at that time but she was convicted only for 2 crimes out of these. The first crime was to use UP Government to build a huge stage to give her speech. The second was that her election agent Yashpal Kapoor was still a government employee at the time of the elections. Because of these two crimes the court declared the Lok Sabha seat of Indira Gandhi null and void and she was removed from the Lok Sabha. Indira Gandhi appealed in the Supreme Court. Morarji Desai said that a do-or-die movement was beginning against Congress. The high court’s decision came on 12th June 1974 and on 24th June Indira Gandhi’s appeal was heard in Supreme Court and the judges said that all her privileges can be withdrawn and that she may not vote or contest in elections for the next 6 years. But she could remain as a Prime Minister till the next hearing. After this statement of the court the opposition’s protest increased and many supporters of Indira Gandhi came on roads to protest. J.P. Narayan also started a protest against her. He asked the students to protest, the public to deny the Police and the police and armed forces to refuse the orders of the government. This was a kind of Civil Disobedience.
EMERGENCY DECLARATION AND ITS EFFECT
This was the point when the situation and India’s condition was on its highest state of being worse and was becoming even worse. The Article 352 of the Indian Constitution states that the President of India can declare an Emergency if India’s security is threatened by war or external aggression or internal disturbance.
The situation of India was more like an internal rebellion. On 25th June 1975, Indira Gandhi consulted her ministers and sends a note to the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed requesting that he declare an Emergency in the country. And it was declared.
Within a few hours several opposition leaders were arrested including Morarji Desai, JP Narayan, LK Advani and Charan Singh. The government cuts the power supply to the newspaper offices in Delhi that night in order to refrain them from printing any news about these arrests. The next morning, it was announced on the radio by Indira Gandhi that an internal emergency has been declared and there is no need of being frightened by this.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion there were a lot of reasons leading to this Emergency but the main cause was the high court judgment and inciting slogans in JP Narayan’s slogans. These were the trigger points for this emergency.
The next two years are said to be the darkest period in Indian Democracy. People’s fundamental rights are suspended and the ones who continued the protest were arrested. More than 1 lakh innocent people were arrested. Many opposition leaders and activists go underground during this time and the elections get delayed.
Several organizations like RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami were banned. Several communist leaders were also arrested. Even the Congress leaders who were standing against the Emergency were forced to resign from the party position and they were also arrested.
On 21st March 1977 the emergency was finally called off and elections are held. Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi, both lose their seats and Janta Party came to power for the first time. This was the first time that a party other than congress formed a government in India.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How long was the Emergency?
The third Emergency of 1975 started from 25th June 1975 to 21st March 1977 and lasted for about two years.
- Why was the emergency imposed?
The Emergency was imposed by Indira Gandhi due the internal disturbance and rebellion going on in the country. The motive was to maintain peace in the country.
- What triggered the emergency?
The Allahabad High Court’s decision restricting Indira Gandhi to contest in elections and declaring her seat null and void and ongoing protests against the government were the trigger points of the emergency.
