Three generations of Indians who grew later remained illiterates about the very fact of Emergency and about how Constitution ceased to exist and autocracy was institutionalised by it.

Rahul Gandhi was waving the Constitution of India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was taking oath as member of the 18th Lok Sabha on June 24. Rahul was a five-year six-day baby when his grandmother and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared Emergency 50 years back on the midnight of June 25/26 to smoke out the Constitution, snuff out all freedom and terrify the nation into submission. Here is a snapshot of what happened on and after that blackest day half a century ago.

1975 June 25/26 midnight

On June 25 midnight, Indira tore and binned the very Constitution her grandson Rahul holds out now, arrested all Opposition, even dissenting leaders in her own party, cut off electricity to newspapers to prevent the people from knowing the news of the arrests. Jayaprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Madhu Dandavate, L K Advani and others were arrested under the infamous MISA intended for anti-nationals and anti-socials.

On June 26 morning, she called the cabinet whose approval was mandatory to declare Emergency, informed them that Emergency had been imposed and asked them to ratify it. The terrified and corrupt cabinet succumbed. Thus began the horrendous dictatorship of her family for 21 months till March 1977. In that period, she turned the IAS, IPS, IFS officers into a bunch of slaves, arrested and cut advertisement and made the media other than the Indian Express and the Statesman crawl before her, and terrified judges of the Supreme Court into submission.

The frightful Emergency continued till Indira was shockingly thrown out of power in an anti-climax of an election, which she had called miscalculating she would win. But alas her party lost and so did she and her son Sanjay Gandhi who ran the autocratic government.

Published in New Indian Express on 26th June 2024