The State of Emergency, 1975

The State Of
Emergency, 1975
-Urvashi Sharma
WHAT IS EMERGENCY?
Emergency is defined as a situation, which is not normal, a situation which calls for
urgent remedial action.
The Constitution of India, envisages three types of emergencies-
1. National Emergency (Article 352)

2. President’s Rule and State Emergency (Article 356)
3. Financial Emergency (Article 360)
First Time:
On the ground of external aggression

from Chinese side on October 26, 1962
and continued in force until January 10,
1968.
Second Time:
On the ground of external aggression

from Pakistan side on December 3, 1971.
Third Time:
On the ground of internal disturbance

on June 25,1975 and Continued till
March 21, 1977.
The Black Chapter: Emergency, 1975
46 years ago, in 1975, India saw its darkest phase since Independence when then Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi called for an emergency to be declared across the country.
WHAT WERE THE EVENTS BEFORE THE EMERGENCY THAT LED TO INDIRA GANDHI TO DECLARE A SUDDEN
EMERGENCY IN INDIA?
➢ In 1972 & 73, consequent monsoon failure affected the availability food and fuel prices in India.
Large-scale unemployment and economic contraction resulted in industrial strife and strike waves in
various parts of the country, culminating in the May 1974 - All India Railway Strike led by George
Fernandes in 1974 was severely suppressed by the government.
➢ To make matters worse, students led protests in Gujarat and Bihar. They played a pivotal role
in galvanizing a nation-wide opinion against the Indian National Congress and the then Prime
Minister, Indira Gandhi.
The government claimed that the strikes and protests paralysed the country and hurt the
economy. Indira Gandhi’s loyalists and advisors advised her to impose an internal
emergency in order to deal with the massive political opposition, desertion and disorder
against her and the party.
➢ Electoral Fraud: Allegation of electoral fraud against then PM Indira Gandhi, Raj
Narain lodges case of election fraud and misuse of state machinery for election purpose
against Indira Gandhi.
Gandhian socialist Jayprakash Narayan, agitating in Bihar for a change in provincial
government, increasingly seeking to direct popular action against the Central
Government through satyagrahas.
12 June 1975, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of Allahabad High Court finds PM guilty.
-declares her election as null and unseated from Lok Sabha.

-banned her from contesting any election for an additional six years.
DEMOCRACY BROUGHT “TO A GRINDING HALT”
➢ Prime Minister Indira Gandhi recommended to the President Fakhruddin Ali
Ahmed to proclaim a state of Emergency in the country. The Emergency was
declared without warning on the midnight of 25th June and the country woke up
to the death of democracy. After midnight, power supply to all major newspaper
offices were disconnected. Power was restored only two to three days later after the
censorship apparatus was set up.
➢ A large number of opposition leaders, workers were arrested early morning on the
26th of June. At 7:00 AM on the 26th of June, Indira Gandhi went on air on the
All India Radio to declare to the people that a state of emergency had been
imposed in the country.
➢ Indira Gandhi had also consulted some special advisors, including the then
Law Minister, H.R. Gokhale, and West Bengal Chief Minister, Siddharth
Shankar Ray, before proclaiming a state of emergency in the country. In a space
of 21 months, over 1 lakh people were put in jail, without trial during
Emergency. Thousands of media persons were jailed, and the judiciary was
silenced.
➢ During the emergency, civil liberties were severely restrained. The freedom of
the press was strictly curtailed and anything published had to pass the
Information and Broadcasting ministry.
➢ There were many instances of human rights violations in India. Curfews were
imposed and the police detained people without trial.
IMPACT ON SOCIETY
➢ The impact of Emergency was seen all across the country. Most of then Prime
Minister, Indira Gandhi’s political opponents, were imprisoned. In the days that
followed, civil liberties were suspended; the media was censored and amendments
were brought that threatened to alter the basic character of the Constitution.
Draconian laws like the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) were
strengthened.
➢ Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, and George
Fernandes were arrested and sent to jail under MISA. Chandrashekhar, Indira
Gandhi’s own party colleague and a member of the Congress Working Committee
was also arrested and put in jail for speaking his mind.
➢ The Government suspended the right to move to court for the enforcement of
Fundamental Rights. The arrested leaders were not allowed to meet anyone,
including their family members. When the emergency was in force, Indira
Gandhi’s government assumed dictatorial powers and crushed all dissent.
➢ The fundamental rights of people were crushed, tortured and inhuman

treatment meted out towards dissenting citizens became a common
occurrence. Indira Gandhi even amended the Representation of the People Act
and two other laws in a retrospective manner to ensure that the Supreme Court
had no other option but to overturn the Allahabad High Court verdict on the
trial of Raj Narain. It was Raj Narain who had challenged the election of Indira
Gandhi in the Allahabad High Court.
IMPACT ON MEDIA
In the period of the Emergency, even the media was one of the greatest sufferers. All possible
bans were imposed on the media.With freedom of speech being suspended as a fundamental
right, the printing presses were raided and for the next two days, the newspapers went out of
circulation.
Strict censoring rules were imposed on the press, and no unfavourable opinion against her
administration was allowed to be published. Simultaneously, a code of conduct was announced
for the press. Many newspaper editors were arrested for writing anti-government articles. Singer
Kishore Kumar was banned by All India Radio after he refused to support the youth Congress.
The Indian media was informed not to pay heed to the rumours. All the newspapers in the
country were asked to take permission before publishing any piece by the Chief Press Advisor, a
position that was created to censor the news.
Arrest and Threats on Media
Journalist Kuldip Nayar was arrested by the police for protesting against the emergency with other
scribes in Delhi. The Opposition leaders were also fighting the same cause across the country. One of
them was a veteran Bharatiya Janata Party, the then Janata Party leader LK Advani, who spent months
in jail during the Emergency.
Most of the mainstream media newspapers and magazines were under the wrath of Emergency. The
scissors of censors cut through big publishers like Himmat, Janata, Frontier, Sadhana, Swarajya
among many others. Some were threatened to be thrown out of publications and others were put in
jail. The Indian Express and the Statesman were first ones to protest through their editions. Mark
Tully, the voice of BBC, was also withdrawn by the channel.
According to the Home Ministry, in May of 1976, almost 7,000 journalists and media personnel were
arrested.
Advani’s words ring in the ears of every Indian after the Emergency was lifted. He addressed the media
and said: “You were asked only to bend, but you crawled.”
THE LESSONS EMERGENCY 1975, BEHOLDS
It is important to remember the lessons of the emergency as it holds lessons for all of
us. The most important being that if we are not vigilant, then our fundamental rights
can be snatched away from us by a dictatorial government. As the saying goes,
“Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom”. Emergency came in one single swoop
when Indira Gandhi had introduced it. But there can be small emergencies all the time
take place in the country by autocratic governments.
Forty-five years have passed since the day she made that mistake. But the lessons of
that episode retain their pertinence, now more than ever, as we witness a different kind
of change in our society, not imposed overnight but creeping up slowly, forming a
stranglehold even as we watch.

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The State Of

1. National Emergency (Article 352)

On the ground of external aggression

On the ground of external aggression

On the ground of internal disturbance

-declares her election as null and unseated from Lok Sabha.

➢ The fundamental rights of people were crushed, tortured and inhuman

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