14 Personal Accounts About Emergency 1975 That Summarize The Historic Period

Remember, remember not the Fifth of November but our own gunpowder, treason and plot. We see of no reason why this censored out season should ever be forgot. 

[25th June marks the 42nd Anniversary of Indira Gandhi’s declaration of an internal Emergency. What happened at Turkman Gate? How many countless lives were lost and destroyed by forced sterilisation? Who ultimately was the figurehead running India then?  The deeply censored and scarcely talked about event has been clouded under a veil. Until now.]

Indira Gandhi’s government has been ushered in with an overwhelming majority in 1971. She has won the war against Pakistan in the same year and given birth to Bangladesh.

The “Garibi Hatao” jargon has ushered in an unparalleled wave of popularity with the Indian public, which bolsters her to pursue her socio-economic agenda in full force but few begin to suspect the autocratic tendencies in her rule — the suspension of non-Congress state governments, legislation which might overpower the judiciary and the vindictive superseding of judges.

The rising unemployment and inflation in 1973 made its way into a student’s protest in Gujarat, which ultimately led to a former student protester who spoke to Homegrown to say “Can you imagine that the prices of Samosa triggered the downfall of one of the strongest governments ever formed by men?” 

The alleged corruption of the Gujarat Government gives way to unprecedented protests, topple the government and strike similar protests in Bihar. Gandhian, Jayprakash Narayan, a close family friend of Nehru, is moved by the erupting protests and steps in to protest the autocracy of the Indira Government.

The movement is further bolstered by George Fernandes’ All India Railway Strike in 1974 as all opposition parties rallied behind the anti-Indira wave. But the biggest boost to these protests comes on June 12th, 1975 as Indira Gandhi’s 1971 election is rendered null and void by the Allahabad High Court.

The calls for Indira Gandhi’s resignation increase with Jayprakash Narayan leading the charge with a call for “Total Revolution” and asked the army and police to disregard orders which they feel are “immoral” or “unconstitutional”.

A relief from the Supreme Court on 24th June allows Mrs. Gandhi to retain her Prime Minister-ship with no voting rights in the Parliament. But an Emergency is suddenly proclaimed on 25th June with a call to action for the arrest of all protesting leaders and the imposition of Press Censorship.

The above would be the most common brief description of the Emergency which countless books, articles and political interviews have reproduced countless times. The post-Emergency narrative is littered with academic discussions-between those who supported it, vehemently opposed it or were largely indifferent to it.

But in the midst of the opinions and academia surrounding it, we tend to forget one of the most important aspects of it--the accounts of those who lived through it everyday.

Homegrown presents quick snippets of  varied personal experiences, which summarize what the Emergency represented to different people, one sentence at a time. Some are expected, some are positively strange and some make you wonder if everything you ever thought you knew about the period is wrong but the point to take home over here is, nobody had the same experience.

These narratives are presented from Homegrown’s countless interactions with the generation which survived the Emergency as well as the personal narratives presented in ‘When The Trains Ran On Time’. Then, to end it on the note of the truly puzzling enigma that the Emergency was, we present Khushwant Singh’s closing arguments in ‘Why I Supported The Emergency’.

If no one ever told you what the Emergency was all about, relive it one sentence at a time.