THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRATIC ORDER
Background to Emergency
The split in the Congress had sharpened the divisions between Indira Gandhi and her opponents. The Congress alleged that the Court was a conservative institution and an obstacle in the way of implementing pro-poor welfare programmes as it had declared many initiatives of the government to be violative of the Constitution. The parties opposed to the Congress felt that politics was becoming too personalised.
The Bangladesh crisis had put a heavy strain on India’s economy. Different factors such as immigration from Bangladesh, War with Pakistan, discontinuance of aid by USA and rise in oil prices were responsible. In order to reduce expenditure the government froze the salaries of its employees. Monsoons failed in 1972-1973 which resulted in a sharp decline in agricultural productivity.
Other factors
Due to this situation, students’ unrests became more pronounced in this period and opposition parties were able to organise popular protests effectively. Marxist groups who did not believe in parliamentary politics, had taken to arms and insurgent techniques for the overthrow of the established political system.
Gujarat and Bihar Movements
Students’ protests in 1974, led to the imposition of President’s rule in Gujarat which was a Congress ruled state. After an indefinite hunger strike by Morarji Desai, fresh election had to be held in which the Congress was defeated. In Bihar also there were many students’ protests, which were later joined by Jai Prakash Narayan on the condition that the movement will remain non-violent and will not limit itself to Bihar.
In 1975, JP led a peoples’ march to the Parliament. This was one of the largest political rallies ever held in the capital. Many non-Congress opposition parties like the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the Congress (O), the Bharatiya Lok Dal, the Socialist Party supported him.
Alongside the agitation led by Jayaprakash Narayan, the employees of the Railways gave a call for a nationwide strike which ended after 20 days. Both the Gujarat and Bihar movements were seen as protests against the leadership of Indira Gandhi.
Conflict with Judiciary
This period witnessed a long drawn conflict between the Parliament and the judiciary. Three constitutional issues had emerged: Can the Parliament abridge fundamental rights Can the Parliament curtail the right to property by making an amendment Can Parliament amend the Constitution to abridge Fundamental Rights for giving effect to Directive Principles
This culminated in the famous Kesavananda Bharati Case in April 1973, in which the Court gave a decision that there are some basic features of the Constitution and the Parliament cannot amend these features.
Soon after this judgement, in 1973, the government set aside the seniority of three judges and appointed Justice A. N. Ray as the Chief Justice of India. Later on 12 June, 1975, the High Court of Allahabad , declared Indira Gandhi’s election invalid on the ground that she had used the services of government servants in her election campaign. This order was stayed by the Supreme court on 24 June, 1975.
Crisis and Response
The opposition political parties led by Jayaprakash Narayan pressed for Indira Gandhi’s resignation and organised a massive demonstration in Delhi’s Ramlila grounds on 25 June 1975.
He asked the army, the police and government employees not to obey “illegal and immoral orders” which threatened to bring the activities of the government to a standstill.
On 25 June 1975, the government declared that there was a threat of internal disturbances and therefore, it invoked Article 352 of the Constitution under which it declared a nationwide emergency.
Effects of Emergency
Once an emergency is proclaimed, the federal distribution of powers remains practically suspended and all the powers are concentrated in the hands of the union government. The government also gets the power to curtail or restrict all or any of the Fundamental Rights during the emergency.
On the night of 25 June 1975, the Prime Minister recommended the imposition of Emergency to President and the Cabinet was informed about it at a special meeting in the morning on 26 June.
Consequences of Emergency
This brought the agitation to an abrupt stop, strikes were banned, and many opposition leaders were put in jail.
The government suspended the freedom of the Press and the newspapers were asked to get prior approval for all material to be published.
Many journalists were arrested for writing against the Emergency and many underground newsletters and leaflets were published to bypass censorship.
Most importantly, various Fundamental Rights of citizens stood suspended, including the right of citizens to move the Court for restoring their Fundamental Rights.
The government made extensive use of preventive detention, under which, people can be arrested and detained on the apprehension that they may commit an offence.
Under preventive detention, the government claimed that it was not necessary to inform the arrested persons of the reasons and grounds of their arrest.
In April 1976, the constitution bench of the Supreme Court accepted the government’s plea and thus during Emergency the government could take away the citizen’s right to life and liberty.
Under the 42nd amendment many changes were made in the constitution. For example: the duration of legislatures was extended from five to six years.
Shah Commission of Inquiry
In May 1977, the Janata Party government appointed a Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice J.C. Shah, retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India. The mandate of the commission was to inquire “into several aspects of allegations of abuse of authority, excesses and malpractices committed and action taken in the wake of the Emergency.
Controversies regarding Emergency:
Was the Emergency necessary:
The government argued that in a democracy, the opposition parties must allow the elected ruling party to govern according to its policies.
Frequent recourse to agitations, protests and collective action are not good for democracy which leads to instability and distracts the administration from its routine task of ensuring development.
Some other parties, like the CPI, also believed that there was an international conspiracy against the unity of India and thus, restrictions were necessary. Aer the Emergency, the CPI felt that its assessment was mistaken.
The critics argue that in a democracy, people had the right to publicly protest against the government. Those who were arrested were never tried for any anti-national activity. They say that the Home Ministry, also did not express any concern about the law and order situation in the country and the government had enough routine powers to deal with it. The critics say that the Government misused a constitutional provision meant for saving the country to save itself.
What happened during emergency:
The government announced a twenty point programme which included land reforms, land redistribution, review of agricultural wages, workers’ participation in management, eradication of bonded labour, etc.
In the early months, people were happy that agitations came to an end, discipline was enforced on the government employees and expected effective implementation of the welfare programmes.
Critics argue that most promises remained unfulfilled and they question the use of preventive detention on such a large scale. Severe restrictions were put on the press, sometimes without proper legal sanctions.
There are allegations regarding the exercise of governmental power by people(For example Sanjay Gandhi) who held no official position.
Apart from these, torture and custodial deaths, arbitrary relocation of poor people, and compulsory sterilisation of many people also took place. These instances show what happens when the normal democratic process is suspended.
Lessons of the Emergency
One lesson of Emergency is that it is extremely difficult to do away with democracy in India. It brought out some ambiguities regarding the Emergency provision in the Constitution that have been rectified since.
Now, ‘internal’ Emergency can be proclaimed only on the grounds of armed rebellion after a written advice by the Council of Ministers to the President.
The Emergency made everyone more aware of the value of civil liberties. Many civil liberties organisations came up after this experience.
Issues after Emergency
After the emergency, some issues still persist like : There is a tension between routine functioning of a democratic government and the continuous political protests by parties and groups.
According to the Shah Commission Report, the administration and the police became vulnerable to political pressures. This problem did not vanish aer the Emergency.
Politics after Emergency
Lok Sabha Elections, 1977
After the release of activists and leaders from jails, elections were held in March 1977. Many opposition parties and some leaders within the Congress came together and formed a new party called the Janata Party under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan. The Janata Party made this election into a referendum on the Emergency with their slogan of Save Democracy.
For the first time since Independence, the Congress party was defeated in the Lok Sabha elections. Janata party and its allies won 330 out of 542 seats and the Congress lost in every constituency in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and the Punjab. But it virtually swept through the southern States.
The reason is that the excesses of emergency were mostly felt in the northern states such as the forced relocations and the forced sterilisations.
Apart from it the middle castes from north India were beginning to move away from the Congress and the Janata party became a platform.
Janata Government
After the election, there was stiff competition among three leaders for the post of Prime MinisterMorarji Desai, Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram. The critics of the Janata party felt that it lacked direction, leadership, and a common programme. The Janata Party government could not bring about a fundamental change in policies pursued by the Congress.
Legacy
Before 1969, the Congress was seen as an umbrella party which accommodated leaders and workers of different ideological dispensations and viewpoints. This character changed to a party working on the basis of sharp social and ideological divisions and the appeal of one leader. The issue of welfare of the backward castes also began to dominate politics since 1977 and after the elections, the Mandal Commission was appointed by the Janata Party government at the centre. The Emergency can be described as a period of constitutional crisis because it had its origins in the constitutional battle over the jurisdiction of the Parliament and the judiciary. It was also a period of political crisis as the party in power had an absolute majority and yet, its leadership decided to suspend the democratic process. Another critical issue that emerged during this period was the role and extent of mass protests in a parliamentary democracy.
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