42 years ago on this day, Indira Gandhi declared a state of national emergency in India, one of the darkest periods since Independence. Imposed for a period of 21 months, every right guaranteed by the Constitution was abandoned. Citizens were arrested without reason and freedom of the masses was a foreign concept. While a lot of issues led to Mrs. Gandhi’s decision, the tipping point came when Raj Narain declared Mrs.Gandhi’s win was fraudulent, thereby declaring the entire election process as null and void. Despite every major event during the Emergency being documented, there are still quite a few facts one does not know about the scariest times in our country’s history.
1. The political revolution
With over 1,40,000 people being imprisoned all over the country without cause or reason, it became extremely difficult for the opposition to be heard. Before becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav was a 26 year old student. He saw the dismal state of affairs in the country and knew steep measures had to be taken. Lalu Prasad Yadav convinced Gandhian leader Jay Prakash Narayan to come out of retirement and to lead the country to bring about “total revolution” against the government of the time.
2. The military’s apathy
During the Emergency, people assumed the Indian Army was as actively involved as the Congress Party. According to several stories during this time, the Chief of Army Staff, General T.N. Raina shared a good rapport with the then Prime Minister, Mrs. Gandhi. The situation was so bad, he refused to let the Army help those in severe need, thereby not making things better for the country. In fact, when the Congress held a massive rally, it was reported the Army refused to help with the water requirements. It was said that while Mrs. Gandhi was declared a “dictator,” the Army acted on its own accord, taking no directions even from the prime minister of the Country.
3. The world of disguises
According to several reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a 25 year old BJP supporter during the Emergency. He used to disguise himself as a Sikh ferryman to transport key leaders like George Fernandes and others to safe houses. Interestingly, Fernandes himself was in disguise at the time. He changed his appearance so many times, he could escape several arrest warrants issued on his name. Fernandes only came out of hiding when he realised he was in danger of losing his seat in the Parliament.
4. “The ice cream buddy”
Sanjay Gandhi’s aide, Rukhsana Sultana, was one of the most disliked members of the Congress Party. Rukhsana called herself Sanjay’s “Ice Cream Buddy” and was his point of contact with the creme de la creme of Delhi’s Muslim society. Furthermore, she was paid a sum of Rs. 84, 000 for convincing 8,000 people to carry out vasectomies as part of the “family planning” initiative of the government at the time.
There were several things which went wrong during the Emergency period in India. While India as a country took a long time to recover, it came out stronger and better on the other side!
