Janata Party - Emergency

Emergency

On June 26, 1975, the President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, accepted Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's recommendation to declare a state of national emergency. Indira argued that the political and civil disorder constituted a threat to national security. A state of emergency enabled the central government to issue executive decrees without requiring the consent of Parliament. Elections were postponed and public gatherings, rallies and strikes were banned. Curfews were imposed and police forces were empowered to make warrantless searches, seizures and arrests. Indira's government imposed "President's rule" in the states of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, dismissing the governments controlled by opposition political parties. The central government also imposed censorship on radio, television and newspapers. Across the country, police forces arrested thousands of opposition political activists, as well as leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan, Jivatram Kripalani, Morarji Desai, Raj Narain, Charan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and others. Opposition political organisations such as the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were banned and their leaders arrested. Only the Communist Party of India supported the state of emergency. Due to the advancing age and failing health, Narayan was released from prison, but remained prohibited from political activity.

During the Emergency, Indira Gandhi implemented a 20-point program of economic reforms that resulted in greater economic growth, aided by the absence of strikes and trade union conflicts. Encouraged by these positive signs and distorted and biased information from her party supporters, Indira called elections for May 1977. However, the emergency era had been widely unpopular. The most controversial issue was the 42nd amendment to the Constitution of India, which deprived citizens of direct access to the Supreme Court, except when violation of the fundamental rights resulted from Union law. The Parliament was given unrestrained power to amend any parts of the Constitution. The Supreme Court was given exclusive jurisdiction as regards determination of the constitutional validity of laws passed by the Union government. It restricted the power of the courts to issue stay orders or injunctions. Almost all parts of the Constitution saw changes through this amendment. The clampdown on civil liberties and allegations of widespread abuse of human rights by police had angered the public. Indira Gandhi was believed to be under the influence of a clique of politicians led by her youngest son, Sanjay Gandhi, who had become notorious for using his influence in the government and the Congress (R) for alleged corrupt activities. Sanjay Gandhi had masterminded the Union government's unpopular campaign of family planning, which had allegedly involved forcible sterilization of young men by government officials. Sanjay Gandhi had also instigated the demolition of slums in the Jama Masjid area of New Delhi, the national capital, which left thousands of people, mostly Muslims, homeless. Indian labourers, urban workers, teachers and government employees were also disenchanted by wage freezes and the curtailing of trade union activities and rights.