Emergency should be remembered for the manner in which people resisted it, says Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Speaking at the Mysuru Literature Festival here on Saturday, Mr. Gandhi remarked that the Emergency was a nasty affair and nobody could deny it.
Recalling that even Rajiv Gandhi had admitted in the Parliament that the Emergency should not have been imposed, he said that it was important to remember the people who resisted it and went to jail in the process.
'I do not think it is necessary to run down Indira Gandhi and others, and on its 50th anniversary, it is important to remember those who had the courage to resist the Emergency and fight it, rather than hurl abuses or throw stones posthumously at those who started it,' he added.
Mr. Gandhi was replying to a question posed by the moderator during a session, and said during the Emergency people were going to jail and were unaware whether they would be released again and it is that courage that should be remembered.
He said that forces of authoritarianism were all over the world, and ordinary people need guts to resist or fight it. On the issue of freedom of speech, Mr. Gandhi said that although it is given formally, it can be subverted in reality. The curbs to freedom of speech is not through a law, but through inducing fear in the ambience of the day, he added.
On India's future in times of a politically charged environment, Mr. Gandhi expressed optimism and explained his point of view with two recent sporting moments.
He recalled how athlete Neeraj Chopra's mother, after an international sporting event, graciously acknowledged that his son's Pakistani rival Arshad Nadeem had also performed admirably well and was like a son to her.
Similarly, when Indian chess prodigy D. Gukesh defeated a top Chinese player, the former humbly referred to his opponent as the 'true champion', Mr. Gandhi mentioned.
'If two Indians can speak with such respect and generosity about a Pakistani and a Chinese competitor,' he said, 'there is hope.'
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