Satya Pal Jain : It has been 50 years since the Emergency was imposed in the country on 25 June 1975, but the memories of those dark days are still fresh in the mind. During that period, the movement of Shri Jai Prakash Narayan was at its peak. On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha, a Judge of Allahabad High Court, set aside the 1971 Lok Sabha election of Smt. Indira Gandhi. Due to this, the demand for her resignation was continuously gaining ground, but instead of resigning, Smt. Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency in the country on the night of 25-26 June, 1975.
On the morning of 26th June, all opposition leaders, including Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Shri Lal Krishna Advani, Shri Morarji Bhai Desai, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Chaudhary Devi Lal, etc. etc. were arrested and put behind the bars under MISA.
Dictatorship and autocracy only look at its own interests. Ideology etc. has no importance for them. Proving this, Mrs. Indira Gandhi jailed not only the opposition leaders but also the senior leaders of her own party, including the late Chandrashekhar and Sh. Krishan Kant. A large number of innocent people those who were jailed lost their jobs, businesses were shut down and many families were on the verge of starving. But inspite of that everybody fought against emergency it bravely.
I was only 23 years of age at that time and was the General Secretary of the Punjab University Students Council and the President of the Punjab and Chandigarh Students Committee in the movement led by late Jai Prakash Narayan. On July 13, 1975, when I went to take admission in the Law Department of Punjab University, I was not given admission despite being in the merit list. On the contrary, when I came out of the room after giving the interview, I was arrested. A false case was registered against me that I organized a very big student rally outside the Law Department on that day and said that we will overthrow the Indira Gandhi government. In the month of December, the then Judicial Magistrate Mr. Hans Raj Nagara discharged me from the case and ordered my release.
After that, I did “Satyagraha” in Punjab University on 27 January, 1976 and offered myself for arrest. I was arrested and in the night, I was taken to the police line in Sector 29 and was tortured by tying thin copper wires to the fingers of my right hand and giving electric shocks. For a moment, it seemed that this night might be the last night of my life. But with the grace of God, I survived.
During that time, all fundamental rights were suspended and instead of bringing political prisoners from jail to court, Judges were ordered to go to the jail and hold court in the Jails itself. The police and the government had become completely autocratic and would put anyone in jail anytime, anywhere and by making a false case. Bail for all such prisoners was legally banned.
About 6 months after imposition of emergency, RSS, opposition leaders, Jan Sangh and all non-Congress organizations started a movement against emergency in which thousands of people challenged the dictatorship of the country’s Prime Minister by offering themselves for arrests.
Those dark days were really very-very dark. Relatives, friends, all were scared of meeting us. There was an atmosphere of fear and terror everywhere. Radio was censored due to which people could get some information only by listening to BBC news secretly. The whole country had become like an open prison where there was an atmosphere of terror, cruelty and dictatorship. Every person was afraid of the police. At one point it seemed that democracy would never return in the country and the dictatorship of Mrs. Indira Gandhi would continue forever. Many times in jail, we used to think whether we would be able to come out of jail alive or not.
When Mrs. Indira called a session of Parliament to pass the Emergency Bill, it was the first and last occasion in Indian Parliamentary History that all the opposition benches in Parliament were vacant, only the MPs of the parties supporting the government in the Emergency Bill were present in the House. It was also perhaps for the first time that PM Mrs. Gandhi recommended the imposition of Emergency to the President without the approval of the Cabinet, which the then President Late Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed accepted; which otherwise was a unconstitutional proposal. The Cabinet was informed about it only the next morning.
But Mrs. Indira Gandhi, full of arrogance with power, suddenly thought in January, 1977 that now since no party or leader would be able to stand against her, decided to hold elections with the aim of giving another blow to the movement against the Emergency, pressure from foreign countries and the Opposition. But as soon as the elections were announced, the people’s patience broke down and people openly rallied against Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
The slogan given by Shri Jayaprakash Narayan, “Every vote cast for Congress will prove to be a handcuff and a shackle for feet” worked like a panacea. Indira ji and Congress lost the election badly.
The Emergency was lifted from the country only after the crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha election in 1977. When Smt. Indira Gandhi went to the then President Shri B.D. Jati with her resignation after losing the Lok Sabha election, Shri Jati advised her to withdraw the Emergency before resigning, otherwise the new government could use the laws made by her during same emergency against Smt. Indira Gandhi. On this, on the recommendation of Smt. Indira Gandhi, the President lifted the Emergency even before the formation of the new government.
Even today, the mind trembles remembering those days, but the people of India have enough will power and the democracy of India is so strong that it can come out of all sorts of any big crisis. Today is the day for the whole country to take a vow that Govt. will come and go but no dictator would be able to even think of, what to talk of imposing emergency it take such other similar steps, with a view to thwart and overthrow the Constitution of India and the Democracy.
(Satya Pal Jain ,Ex-MP & Additional Solicitor General of India)
