'Emergency' Takeaways

EVEN before a holier-than-thou Narendra Modi government declared June 25 as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' to mark the imposition of the Emergency by the Indira Gandhi government on that day in 1975, there has been total unanimity that it was a rotten enterprise.
If there were any differences among scholars and partisans, these were to do with what was the dark side and what were the darker aspects of the Emergency. It is mostly agreed upon that the dark side included the suspension of fundamental rights, press censorship, the arrest of Opposition leaders, etc., whereas the darker side had to club the extraconstitutional power exercised by Sanjay Gandhi and his goonish aides. As it happens in all political debates over history, the villains are easily identified as are the heroes.
But even after nearly 50 years, we are nowhere near any understanding of the nature of the breakdown of normal politics that led to that midnight denouement on June 25, 1975.
It is helpful to keep in mind that the "JP Movement" was the first instance of mass mobilisation aimed at a regime change. Prior to the 1974-75 invocation of street power, the Indian State had faced only limited mass agitation. Early in the life of free India, there was the Vishal Andhra agitation; then the demand for bifurcation of Bombay between Gujarat and Maharashtra; and, later, the anti-Hindi agitation in south India. Each of these mass eruptions could be successfully dealt with because each was based on a clear-cut demand that could be conceded. The JP Movement, on the other hand, was expressly seeking a "total revolution".
Esta historia es de la edición October 01, 2024 de Outlook.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 01, 2024 de Outlook.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
The Art of Leaving
Saying goodbye to the public arena is no easy call to make

Mortar Memory
Along the quiet stretches near the border and the Line of Control in Jammu, a fragile calm once held sway, until the sudden thunder of heavy mortar shells since May 7 shattered it

Borders on the Boil
Whether it is Pakistan, China, Bangladesh or Myanmar, the unfinished business of history haunts the region every day

Neighbourhood 'Frisk' Policy
India needs to relook at Bangladesh as it partners with China to rebuild World War II air bases

Fields of Nowhere
MYAJLAR is one of the last towns on the Jaisalmer border, which, at 464 km, is one of the longest that India shares with Pakistan.

Brittle, Bitter Borders
In the marshlands of the Rann of Kutch, where the border is invisible yet hotly contested, belongingness becomes tentative

Red Fade
Since the regime change, something has been changing in Chhattisgarh. With top Maoist leaders killed, the remaining are insisting on a ceasefire or peace talks. The state must make the most of the situation

Sir Creek and Adam's Bridge
With the recent military standoff between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that claimed the lives of 26 people, the Indo-Pak border region with its long history of tensions is once again in the limelight.

Lines Drawn in Blood
In villages caught between two nations, memory and fear shape everyday life. The land is under floodlights, children are sent away in silence, and home is a place one must keep returning to

Maps and Minds
Maps have divided transnational ethnic groups Nagas, Zos, Bhutias, Bengalis and Nepalis, among others, but the Naga or the Zo mind does not accept the boundaries on government maps