Emergency was a 'nasty affair': Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Speaking on 'A Name Inherited, a Voice Earned: Walking the Delicate Path between Legacy and Self' at the 9th edition of the Mysuru Literature Festival 2025 here on Saturday, Gandhi said Rajiv Gandhi had the courage to openly acknowledge his disapproval of the Emergency, something a few in his position would have dared.
'He said in Parliament that the Emergency should not have happened. I choose to remember the Emergency not only for what it was, but for the way it was resisted by people with tremendous guts. I don't see the need to simply condemn everything Indira Gandhi did. What stands out is the silent, brave resistance across the country, people going to jail without fanfare. My brothers — Rajmohan and Ramaswamy -- attended a meeting at Raj Ghat with special permission.
When Kriplani rose to address the gathering, the police raided it, arresting everyone present, even those with no connection to the meeting, and put them in jail. My brothers were among those arrested but were released by evening on Indira Gandhi's orders, knowing their detention would have international repercussions,' he said.
He praised the extraordinary courage of those who opposed the Emergency. 'The Emergency can happen again, anywhere in the world. We need that same guts everywhere to speak out against authoritarianism and supremacism,' he said.
Gandhi also shared that three people who profoundly shaped his thinking and world view were classical singer M S Subbulakshmi, independence activist Jayaprakash Narayan, and his grandfather C Rajagopalachari.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
7 hours ago
- India Today
All efforts went in vain: Mallikarjun Kharge on Karnataka Chief Minister snub
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said he was not given his due by the party high command after the 1999 Karnataka Assembly polls, when SM Krishna was chosen for the state's top post, despite joining the party four months that his hopes of rising to the top office in the state suffered a setback, Kharge said he worked tirelessly as the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader for five years, but all his efforts went in ]became the CLP leader and worked hard to bring the party to power. Eventually, our government did come to power, but SM Krishna, who had joined the party just four months earlier at the time, became the chief minister," the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said at an event in Vijayapura. "All our efforts felt like they went in vain. I had worked tirelessly for five years. He (Krishna) walked in just four months prior and became chief minister," he Congress veteran maintained that there have been many such instances, but it would not be appropriate to talk about all of them at Krishna was the 16th Chief Minister of Karnataka and assumed office in October 1999 after the Congress won 132 of 224 seats in the Assembly served as a minister in the Cabinet of SM Krishna and succeeding Congress chief ministers, until he contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and was appointed as the Union Minister for Labour and Employment. He also served as the Union Minister for Railways and Social Justice and Empowerment for nearly a year AS CONGRESS PRESIDENTKharge became the Congress president after he defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a landslide victory in emerged as the clear winner with 7,987 votes, while Tharoor managed to secure 1,072 in his favour, underlining the fact that he had strong backing from the party high command and supporters. Over 9,000 Congress delegates across India voted to choose their party chief on October his victory, Kharge became the first non-Gandhi family party chief in almost 24 his tenure as the Congress national president, the party won 99 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a nearly 50-seat rise as compared to the 2019 the party lost key Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Maharashtra.- EndsMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Karnataka
Time of India
9 hours ago
- Time of India
‘Insensitivity towards poor': Rahul targets BJP over demolitions in city
New Delhi: Congress functionary Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that hundreds of slum dwellers in Delhi were going through the pain of being rendered homeless with their houses being destroyed by BJP govt, claiming that this "atrocity" exposed the party's "insensitivity" towards the poor and its "arrogance of power". The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha shared a video of his recent visit to Ashok Vihar, where many houses were demolished. "Imagine, how you would feel if the roof over the head of your parents, children or siblings is suddenly taken away — if your entire family is rendered homeless in a single moment? Hundreds of poor families living in the jhuggis are going through this pain today," Gandhi said in his post in Hindi, along with the video, on X. The small houses in which they had settled their entire life were "ruthlessly destroyed" by BJP govt, he alleged. These were not just houses — these were their dreams, their dignity and their means of living, he added. You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi "This atrocity being committed in the name of administration exposes BJP's insensitivity towards the poor and its arrogance of power," Gandhi said. "We stand firmly with these displaced families. This fight is no longer just for homes, it is for justice and humanity — and we will fight on every front," the former Congress chief said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Live Comfortably: 60m2 prefabricated bungalow for the elderly in Arzew Pre Fabricated Homes | Search Ads Search Now Undo Last week, Gandhi had met some families in Ashok Vihar's Jailorwala Bagh and Wazirpur, whose houses were "bulldozed by BJP govt". In the video, Gandhi is seen interacting with the families who were rendered homeless. He assures them of taking up their cause and providing legal assistance. PTI
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
9 hours ago
- Business Standard
The Conscience Network: Fighting the emergency and the US battlefront
The element of equivalence between then and now is probed delicately but bravely by this book which revisits the Emergency and the resistance to it from a new angle Aditi Phadnis Mumbai Listen to This Article The Conscience Network: A Chronicle of Resistance to a Dictatorship Published by Penguin 553 pages ₹1,299 There can be no debate on the Emergency in India. It was a dark time in Indian democracy and politics for which even the Congress has offered an explanation and a qualified apology. But 50 years after the event, the mystifying demand of top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary Dattatreya Hosabale that the words 'socialist' and 'secular' be removed from India's preamble does make you wonder. The 42nd Amendment that introduced the words during the Emergency didn't just amend the Preamble which is non-justiciable
