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Sahil Sharma: What is the story behind the 1975 Emergency in India, which is at the center of controversy in Kangana Ranaut’s film? Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming film, Emergency, is facing controversy after Sikh organizations raised objections, accusing the filmmakers of misrepresenting the Sikh community and distorting historical facts. The actor, who is also a BJP MP, revealed that the Central Board of Film Certification has suspended the movie’s clearance following death threats received by its members.
At the heart of the controversy is the topic of “Emergency.” In this article, we will delve into the historical context and significance of the Emergency period to better understand the issues at play. The year was 1975, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared an Emergency throughout the country. For the next 2 years, the Fundamental Rights of the people got suspended. Several opposition leaders got jailed. And this part of history is considered a black mark tarnishing Indian democracy. But what were the exact reasons for declaring an Emergency? Why was it done? And why is it considered so terrifying?
WATCH The Savera Explainer on Story Behind Emergency 1975 here:
Emergency Not for the ‘first time’
You may be surprised to know , that 1975 was not the first time an Emergency was declared in the country. Before this, during the 1962 Indo-China war, and during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war an Emergency was declared. Although the emergency declared in 1975 was different from the other two. This time was not due to war or any one reason. There were multiple events. There were several sequences of events whose outcome was this 1975 Emergency. This sequence of events actually began in 1969. When the Congress Party was in power and the Fourth Five-Year Plan was being implemented.
In 1969 the Congress Party decided that 14 private banks would be nationalized. It meant that the Government would take ownership of those banks from the private companies.
Imagine that you are an owner of a company,or you have purchased the shares of a company and suddenly the government says that from the next day, the company would belong to the government. All your money would be wiped out. You wouldn’t be happy with the decision. Several businessmen like J.R.D. Tata, investors and shareholders opposed the decision of nationalization.
Indira Gandhi Government Vs Court
On 18th July 1969, the government decided to pass it through an Ordinance. But soon the government realized that the Parliament session was due to begin on 21st July. And the President was due to leave his office on the 20th. So the Ordinance was drafted in a hurry, and almost overnight, it was signed by the President before the Parliament session began. You can see how important this policy was considered by Indira Gandhi for the welfare of the country. The justification from Indira Gandhi was that if the banks would get nationalized, then the banks could reach everywhere in the country, and could provide their services to even the poorest citizens. Something a for-profit company may never do because they think of profits first. Basically, it’s about socialism versus capitalism and their advantages and disadvantages.
The shareholders of the banks weren’t happy with this decision at all. Then, there was a bank called the Central Bank of India. And one of its shareholders was R.C. Cooper. He approached the Supreme Court regarding this decision and he had a small victory in the Supreme Court. The court declared that the law enacted by the government was discriminating against the 14 banks that were nationalized. And that it was very unfair to the shareholders and thus the the ordinance gets rejected by the Court. Here begin the battles of the Indira Gandhi government versus the Courts.
If there is a conflict between the two, Who will win this conflict? It doesn’t have a simple answer. Throughout history, Both have tried to overpower each other. And often, in quite unbelievable ways. When the Supreme Court rejected the Ordinance of the Indira Gandhi government, the government brought in a new amendment to the Constitution the next year. And this amendment, reversed the Supreme Court’s judgment, the Supreme Court’s decision.
A few years later, there was a similar case between the Indira Gandhi government and the Supreme Court. Regarding the Privy Purse.
Abolition of Privy Purse
Privy Purse used to be a payment given to the royal families of the Princely States in India. It was practiced at one point because when the government united all the Princely States to form India in 1947, then a condition was laid down that their ruling families would be given a payment by the Indian government. But Indira Gandhi did not like these payments.
So her government introduced a Bill to abolish the Privy Purse. But this Bill couldn’t be passed in the Rajya Sabha. That’s why the government came up with a new technique. They came out with the proclamation that the Princely States would cease to be recognized as such. It meant that there would be no more ruling families in the country. That’s why a Privy Purse would not be needed. Once again the matter reached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court declared this proclamation null and void. You can guess what happened after this. The Indira Gandhi government added another Constitutional Amendment, that clearly stated that the Privy Purse would be abolished for the ruling families, and the judgment of the Court was thus reversed.
This happened in 1971. An interesting fun fact about this, the royal families were quite angered by this decision then, so they thought to protest against this decision, by running for elections. The Nawab of Pataudi at the time was Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Father of the Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan. He contested elections from Gurgaon, but he couldn’t even get 5% of the votes. On the other hand, another royal family, Vijaya Raje Scindia and her son Madhavrao Scindia contested elections, and they won the 1971 elections.
Beginning of Emergency
These were the events that finally influenced the decision to declare an Emergency. Coming to the year 1971, was the year when Indira Gandhi won the elections again. And this time becomes a very dominant Prime Minister. Under her, centralization of power was evident. And it is said that the Chief Ministers of the various states and the cabinet ministers were being selected by Indira Gandhi based on who was favored by her.
1971 was also the year when the India-Pakistan war took place. It had a terrible impact on the Indian economy. The prices of essential commodities increased rapidly. At the same time, the Congress Party had become so powerful that corruption had crept into it. The Principal Secretary of Indira Gandhi had pointed it out himself. The corruption in the State Governments was worse. In 1974, the Chief Minister of Gujarat was Chimanbhai Patel. A major scam involving him surfaced. People started calling him ‘Chiman Chor’ in Gujrat.
People came out on the roads to protest. Students protested buses were set ablaze and shops were looted. It is known as the Navnirman Movement. This was a strong demand from the people of Gujrat to dissolve the then-state government. Indira Gandhi was left with no other choice, so she dissolved the state government. But, this was only the beginning. One year prior to this, in 1973, there was a terrible international oil crisis. Because of this, by 1974, crude oil prices went up by 300%. Once again, the common people are affected. And a devastating inflation and price rise is seen. In the same year, a movement similar to the one in Gujrat began in Bihar by students. It was led by J.P. Narayan. Non-violent protests were held against the corruption of the Congress government and the dissolution of the Bihar government was demanded.
Another leader, George Fernandes, carried out a 3-day-long railway strike demanding better working conditions and better salaries for the railway workers. More than 1.7 million workers protested and it became the largest industrial strike in the world at the time. A year passed, but Indira Gandhi did not soften and changed her decision. Like she dissolved the Gujarat State Government because of the pressure, she doesn’t do so in Bihar. Constant strikes, devastating inflation, price rise, unending protests, and allegations of corruption. You can imagine the state of the country in 1975.
As if all of these weren’t enough. In March 1975, Indira Gandhi got another shock from the Allahabad High Court. The thing was that for the previous 2 years, There was an ongoing case against Indira Gandhi in the Allahabad High Court. This case was filed by a socialist election candidate Raj Narain. He had contested the elections against Indira Gandhi in 1971. From the same seat of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. Raj Narain was also an Indian Freedom Fighter. But he is more popularly known for this case against Indira Gandhi. Raj Narain accused Indira Gandhi directly that She won her seat in the election using unfair means. 14 crimes were reported against Indira Gandhi. But you will be shocked to know that She was convicted for only 2 of those crimes by the court. The first crime was using the UP Government to build a huge stage to give her speech. The second allegation on Indra Gandhi was that her election agent Yashpal Kapoor was a government employee even at the time of the elections. Because of these 2 crimes, the court declared Indira Gandhi’s Lok Sabha seat as Null and Void. Following the court verdict, Indira Gandhi was removed from the Lok Sabha.
Then the newspaper printed as if the decision of the court had basically unseated the Prime Minister from her seat. because of a traffic ticket violation. They were saying that the crime was insignificant and the consequence of it was disproportionately large. Because this decision was taken by the Allahabad High Court, Indira Gandhi moved the Supreme Court to appeal this judgment. The opposition exploited this opportunity. They took to the roads to demand that the ‘corrupt Prime Minister’ should resign. Moraji Desai said that a do-or-die movement was beginning against Congress. The decision by Allahabad High Court had come on 12th June 1975, and what happened after 24th June, was no less than a filmy drama. On that day, Indira Gandhi’s appeal was heard in the Supreme Court.
And the judges said that all her privileges could be withdrawn. That she may not vote or contest an election for the next 6 years. But she could remain the Prime Minister till the next hearing. After the court’s statement, there was an uproar on the streets. The intensity of the protests of the opposition increased further. Some Congress leaders started protesting in favor of Indira Gandhi. The rallies were taken out against Indira Gandhi, one of those rallies was led by JP Narayan. He urged the students to come out and protest and then told the police and armed forces, the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, that they refuse the orders by the government. This was a kind of civil disobedience. But are you reminded of another word by its description?
Internal Disturbance
If you read Article 352 of the Indian Constitution, it states that an emergency can be declared by the President of India if India’s security is threatened by “war or external aggression or internal disturbance.” This means that in India, an emergency can be declared for 3 reasons. The first reason is if India goes on a war with another country. The second reason is external aggression. If a country attacks India. And the third reason is if there is a rebellion in the country. The last 2 emergencies being declared in India, were based on the reason for war. But for this emergency of 1975 internal disturbance was used as a reason.
On 25th June 1975, Indira Gandhi consulted with some of her ministers and on their advice, sent a written note to the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, requesting that he declare an internal Emergency in the country on the basic of the third reason of internal disturbance. Within a few hours, several opposition leaders were arrested including Moraji Desai, JP Narayan, LK Advani and Charan Singh. The government cut the power supply to the newspaper offices in Delhi that night. The next morning, it was announced on the radio by Indira Gandhi.
High Court judgment declaring Indira Gandhi’s seat to be null and void, and the slogans of JP Narayan, basically became the trigger point because of which the emergency was declared. Or you may say that they become the excuses for Indira Gandhi, to justify declaring an emergency. What happened in the next 2 years is historic in itself. This is known as the Darkest Period of Indian Democracy. The Fundamental Rights of the people were taken away and the people continuing to protest were arrested.
The Darkest Period of Indian Democracy
More than 1 lakh innocent people were arrested. Many opposition leaders and activists go underground during this period. The elections were delayed. Several organizations like RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami were banned. Several communist leaders were arrested. In fact, several congress leaders who were speaking out against the emergency, who were against Indira Gandhi, were made to resign from the party position and they were also arrested.
Another scary thing at the time was the Mass Sterilization Program. Initiated by Indira Gandhi’s son Sanjay Gandhi. To reduce the population of the country, the government sterilized some men forcefully in an unsafe manner. Interestingly, in some people’s opinion, There were some positive changes in the country as well. It is said that during the emergency, the trains were always on time. Everyone was punctual and the businesses ran efficiently. Perhaps a very simple reason for this was that the people living through the emergency had also lived through the years preceding it. There were regular protests, and strikes were common in railways.
So obviously, after the emergency was declared and all the protests and movements were stopped, there were no strikes and the trains were on time. And the industries worked efficiently as well. This is the reason why some industrialists like J.R.D. Tata gave positive comments regarding the emergency.
On 21st March 1977, the emergency finally got called off and elections were held. Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi, both lost their seats and the Janata Party came into power for the first time. This was the first time that a party other than Congress formed a government in India. It’s another story that this government didn’t last long and elections were held again in 1980 and 1980, Indira Gandhi came into power again. But this time around, her economic policies had changed a lot. Perhaps she had learned her lesson and her economics became a bit more right-leaning. More of capitalist-oriented.
