Indira and Emergency: Morality of a Dictatorship

An error of the past often actually becomes a legacy.

This is the dilemma the Congress leaders are confronted with today after they have been accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – in last four years - of pursuing sectarian and communal politics – often crushing the democratic principles of the world’s largest democracy, that is India. Mr Modi is given to his image of a ‘decisive’ leader and a tough task master. Thus in more ways than one – his government in last four years has been called “authoritarian and even anti-minorities”.

But BJP leaders in contrast took to social networking sites, addressing press conferences and writing blogs in last few days lambasting the alleged “dictatorial traits” of the Congress party, ironically that fought for India’s freedom under peace apostle Mahatma Gandhi.  The principal reason being: in 1975 the Congress leader Indira Gandhi (grand mother of present Congress president Rahul Gandhi) had clamped Emergency in the country suspending fundamental rights of citizens and restricted the powers of Indian Parliament and also the courts. The opposition leaders were put behind bars across the country.

The 21 month Emergency or authoritarian rule was imposed in the country from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977. The move had authorized Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to rule by decree and had allowed elections to be suspended and civil liberties including press freedom to be curbed. In his blog posted on Facebook senior federal Minister Arun Jaitley refers to the episode wherein three senior judges of the Supreme Court Justice Shelat, Justice Grover and Justice Hegde were "superseded" and Justice A.N. Ray was appointed Chief Justice of India. 

"The court was now packed with Government preferred judges. A dangerous thesis was propagated by  Law Minister H.R. Gokhale that judiciary must follow the social philosophy of the Government and judges must be appointed on the basis of their social philosophy," Jaitley wrote. He has also compared Indira Gandhi with German dictator Adolf Hitler.

Paradoxically, during last four leaders Modi’s regime used to be often compared with that of Hitler – especially for its anti-Muslim and anti-Christian slants and controversies like ban on beef eating or lynching of people for cow slaughter. Other BJP leaders too went around the town slamming the Congress party and questioning its “democratic credentials”. 

"In 1975 on this day, democracy was murdered by the Congress party merely to meet political ends and to continue in power," BJP chief Amit Shah tweeted.

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Critics of politics in general sense often complain that the ‘politics’ encourages and promotes the art of ‘self-interest’. But one irony about politics is that it often comes back to haunt the political class. This is the Congress predicament. The Emergency debate may not help BJP in getting some additional votes, but it was satisfactory that the saffron party dominated headlines for two days and the Congress was put on defensive.

it also a fact of the matter that after 1971, the liberator of Bangladesh - Indira Gandhi could not handle the ‘success’ and grew suspicious about everything. 

BJP leader Arun Jaitley says in fact Emergency was promulgated in India only to curtail opposition parties protest seeking Indira Gandhi’s resignation after she was unseated by a court ruling in a election malpractice litigation by the Allahabad High Court.

"It was a phoney emergency on account of proclaimed policy that Indira Gandhi was indispensable to India and all contrarian voices had to be crushed,” said Mr Jaitley.

Echoing similar sentiment, a senior journalist P R Rajamoni said: “Indira Gandhi started believing “everyone was whispering and conspiring” against her.

Suddenly due to her arrogance, she could not communicate with people.

 “And once Emergency was imposed and Sheikh Mujibar Rahaman and his family members were killed in Bangladesh on August 15, 1975, she felt there was a “plot” against her and her children too,” he said.

In the context of her politics vis-a-vis minorities, it ought to be pointed out that her Emergency rule was immensely unpopular with Muslims as the regime forced forcible family planning for Muslim men. Most of the crusade is said to have been the handiwork of Indira’s son Sanjay Gandhi. 

About Christians too, there goes a tale that she once declined to meet a Catholic leader after she found that the Christian leader was representing only about 2000 voters.

In that sense, it can be acidly remarked that Indira Gandhi was a “people’s leader” as long as these people would be voting for her. She was extremely populist and could manage to strike balance practically with all sections of voters. In Assam, reportedly, her party’s electoral policy in 1970s was “to win over Alis (Muslims) and Coolis (tea garden workers)”.

Similarly, she won over Muslims, Yadavs (backward classes) and even Brahmins in country’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.

In fact, with regard Muslims – she was so much concerned about public appreciation that she pushed for Urdu promotion among Muslims in Kerala and West Bengal – the two states where Muslims prefer to use their respective mother tongues.

May not be religious, but she was extremely superstitious. However, by 1970s and 1980s, she developed a good working rapport with communists even as she was said to have been instrumental in dismissal of Marxist regime headed by veteran communist E. M. S. Namboodiripad in 1960s.

Anti Emergency hero: George Fernandes

However, Indira Gandhi’s admirers and other associates on different occasions have maintained that her ability to make the ‘tough choice’ had always come handy. In the context of betrayal, she faced after 1977 defeat, Jayakar wrote in the book that Indira Gandhi herself described the situation well when she had said: “Sorrow comes in like a circle”.

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