A generation of activists in their formative years faced Emergency onslaught head-on

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

When the Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975 the CPI(M) leadership, at first, viewed it as a draconian measure to permanently enforce an authoritarian set-up. It was felt that parliamentary democracy would remain truncated for a long period of time. However, after the first few weeks, it became clear that the Emergency was a manoeuvre resorted to by a beleaguered Indira Gandhi to outwit and thwart the opposition. PREMIUM Students of JNU demonstrating and demanding for the removal of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as the Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (HT Archives)
Soon after the big 'Garibi Hatao' victory in the Lok Sabha elections of 1971, popular discontent grew due to the failure of the government to fulfil the promises made during the elections. The JP movement and the historic railway strike of 1974 marked the growing opposition. The Allahabad high court judgment disqualifying Indira Gandhi's election was the catalyst for this extraordinary anti-democratic step to somehow survive in power. This move for petty political gain could be fought by mobilising the people in defence of democracy.
When Emergency was declared, I happened to be the President of the Students Federation of India (SFI). I was also a CPI(M) cadre and a doctoral student at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The SFI, which was founded in late 1970, had in a few years emerged as a militant student organisation active in the fight for students' rights and against the increasing authoritarianism of the Indira regime. As such, it came under attack during the Emergency. Nine of the key office bearers and leaders of the organisation were arrested and detained under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) across the country. Another 60 cadres were detained under MISA over time. Hundreds of student activists were arrested under the Defence of India Rules (DIR). In such a situation, I was instructed by the party to function underground to avoid any possible arrest. My first responsibility was to ensure the minimum organisational functioning of the SFI at the all India level.
In Delhi, the authorities launched an attack on JNU students and the Students' Union. On the night of July 7, hundreds of armed police raided the hostels in the campus and took away scores of students for interrogation to the police station. Ten of them were detained while the rest were let off. The JNU campus stood out for organising resistance to the Emergency under the leadership of the Students' Union. The police were searching for the President of the Union, DP Tripathi, to arrest him. A dramatic incident occurred when the police in plain clothes led by the notorious DIG, (PS) Bhinder, entered the campus and kidnapped an SFI activist, Prabir Purkayastha, mistaking him for DP Tripathi. In order to cover up their mistake Purkayastha was put in jail under MISA for the rest of the Emergency. The campus saw a three-day strike by students against the expulsion of a student union leader.
All around the country students of different persuasions unitedly organised protest activities. I was able to visit different states in order to keep the organisation afloat and many places to conduct covert activities. For the opposition, Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu was a hospitable place to organise meetings and discussions because the then DMK government under chief minister Karunanidhi was opposed to the Emergency. However, that sanctuary did not last long. The DMK government was dismissed by the Centre in January 1976.
The Emergency, though it lasted only 21 months, was also a period which was eventful in my personal life. I got married to Brinda, a fellow CPI(M) cadre. Since we were both functioning in a semi-underground manner, a marriage function was held quietly in a comrade's house. She went by the name of Rita, while I was Sudhir. A painful event was the death of my mother who had single-handedly brought me up facing many odds. She passed away at the age of 54. She had been separated from me when I went underground. Fortunately, she was able to live with us for the last four months of her life after we got married and rented a small flat.
For a generation of activists who were in their politically formative years, the experience of the Emergency was enlightening. It taught us about the fragility of democracy and democratic institutions and the need not to take democratic rights for granted. At the same time, working amongst people, particularly students, gave us the confidence that it is ultimately the people who would come out in defence of their hard won rights.
Quite a few of the leaders of the SFI who were active in that period and experienced repression during the emergency went on later to become part of the top leadership of the CPI(M). Manik Sarkar, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Sitaram Yechury and MA Baby were among them. Many of the 'Emergency generation' of student and youth leaders of the JP movement and other opposition parties also emerged as top leaders of their parties.
Looking back fifty years later, one can see the Emergency as the first major onslaught on the democratic system of the country. This drastic action was preceded by a series of smaller actions from the 1950s which whittled down democratic rights and civil liberties.
However, it is a mistake, as many do, to compare the present situation in the country with the Emergency of yore. The past decade is often termed as an 'undeclared Emergency'. This is a misnomer. The present onslaught on democracy and the constitutional principles is much more insidious and has brought about an institutionalised authoritarianism. The 1975 Emergency gambit seems a pale shadow in comparison to the full-fledged authoritarianism that we are experiencing today.