A dark chapter in Indian democracy
In the year 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared an Emergency throughout the country.
For the next 2 years, the Fundamental Rights of the people were suspended. Several opposition leaders were jailed.
This part of history is considered a black mark tarnishing Indian democracy.
Why was it done? And why is it considered so terrifying?
You may be surprised to know, 1975 was not the first time an Emergency was declared in India.
Before this, during the 1962 Indo-China war, and during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war as well an Emergency was declared.
The emergency declared in 1975 was different from the other two because it wasn't due to war or any one reason.
There were multiple events and 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 nationalised.
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. Obviously, you wouldn't be happy with the decision.
Several businessmen like J.R.D. Tata, investors, and shareholders opposed the decision of nationalisation.
On 18th July 1969, the government decided to pass it through an Ordinance.
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.
The Ordinance was drafted in a hurry, and almost overnight, it was signed by the President before the Parliament session began.
This showed how important this policy was considered by Indira Gandhi for the welfare of the country.
One of the shareholders of Central Bank of India, R.C. Cooper, approached the Supreme Court regarding this decision.
The Supreme Court declared that the law enacted by the government was discriminating against the 14 banks which were nationalized.
The Court ruled that it was very unfair to the shareholders, and so the Ordinance gets rejected by the Court.
This marked the beginning of the battles between the Indira Gandhi government and the Judiciary.
What do you think, in a democracy, in our country who is more powerful between the Legislative and the Judiciary?
Or in your opinion, who should be more powerful?
This doesn't have a simple answer, because throughout history, both have tried to overpower each other.
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.
This amendment reversed the Supreme Court's decision.
Another conflict arose regarding the Privy Purse.
Privy Purse used to be a payment given to the royal families of the Princely States in India.
This practice continued because when the government united all the Princely States to form India in 1947, a condition was laid down that their ruling families would be given a payment by the Indian government.
Indira Gandhi did not like these payments, so her government introduced a Bill to abolish Privy Purse.
The Bill to abolish Privy Purse couldn't be passed in the Rajya Sabha.
The government came up with a new technique - they issued a proclamation that the Princely States would cease to be recognised as such.
This meant that there would be no more ruling families in the country, so Privy Purse would not be needed.
Once again the matter reached the Supreme Court, which declared this proclamation null and void.
In response to the Supreme Court's decision, the Indira Gandhi government added another Constitutional Amendment.
This amendment clearly stated that the Privy Purse would be abolished for the ruling families.
The judgement of the Court was thus reversed through legislative means.
This happened in 1971 and was another example of the ongoing power struggle between the government and the judiciary.
The royal families were obviously quite angered by this decision.
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 Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan).
He contested elections from Gurgaon but couldn't even get 5% of the votes.
Another royal family, Vijaya Raje Scindia and her son Madhavrao Scindia contested elections and won the 1971 elections.
1971 was the year when Indira Gandhi won the elections again and became a very dominant Prime Minister.
Under her, centralization of power was evident.
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.
Similar accusations are being levied on Prime Minister Narendra Modi nowadays regarding the selection of BJP Chief Ministers.
1971 was also the year when the India-Pakistan war took place, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.
While India was victorious in the war, it had a terrible impact on the Indian economy.
Inflation rose dramatically and the prices of essential commodities increased rapidly.
The war effort had drained the country's resources, leading to economic challenges.
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 even worse than at the central level.
This widespread corruption would soon lead to public outrage and protests.
In 1974, the Chief Minister of Gujarat was Chimanbhai Patel.
A major scam involving him surfaced, and people started calling him 'Chiman Chor' (Chiman Thief) in Gujarat.
People came out on the roads to protest. Students protested, buses were burned, shops were looted, and police were attacked.
This was known as the Navnirman Movement - a strong demand to dissolve the state government.
One year prior to the Gujarat protests, in 1973, there was a terrible international oil crisis.
Due to this crisis, by 1974, crude oil prices went up by 300%.
Once again, the common people were affected with devastating inflation and price rise.
The combination of economic challenges and political corruption created a volatile situation in the country.
In the same year, a movement similar to the one in Gujarat began in Bihar by students.
It was led by J.P. Narayan, a respected freedom fighter and social leader.
Non-violent protests were held against the corruption of the Congress government.
The movement demanded the dissolution of the Bihar government, similar to what had happened in Gujarat.
Another leader, George Fernandes, carried out a 3-day-long railway strike.
The strike demanded better working conditions and better salary for the railway workers.
More than 1.7 million workers protested, making it the largest industrial strike in the world at the time.
A year passed, but Indira Gandhi did not soften her stance.
Unlike in Gujarat where she dissolved the state government due to pressure, she didn't do so in Bihar.
In fact, she claimed that the movements were trying to end democracy.
She called them 'Foreign-funded anti-national movements,' but the protests continued.
By 1975, India was facing multiple crises simultaneously:
The country was in a state of turmoil, creating a perfect storm that would lead to drastic measures.
In March 1975, Indira Gandhi received another shock from the Allahabad High Court.
For the previous 2 years, there was an ongoing case against Indira Gandhi in the Allahabad High Court.
The case alleged electoral malpractices during her 1971 election campaign.
The verdict would have significant implications for her political career and the future of the country.
On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices.
The court declared her election to the Lok Sabha null and void.
She was barred from holding any elected post for six years.
This verdict created a constitutional crisis and increased pressure on Indira Gandhi to resign.
Instead of resigning, Indira Gandhi decided to appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court granted a conditional stay, allowing her to remain as Prime Minister but without voting rights in Parliament.
Opposition parties launched a nationwide movement demanding her resignation.
Massive protests were organized across the country, creating a political crisis.
On June 25, 1975, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a state of internal emergency upon the advice of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The official reason given was "internal disturbance" that threatened India's security.
This marked the beginning of a 21-month period during which:
This period remains one of the most controversial chapters in India's democratic history.