Indira Gandhi’s — Emergency of 1970

Major occurrences of the 1970s following which Indira Gandhi declared the Emergency

The railways’ protest

As Bihar was burning in agitations, the country was paralyzed by a railways strike led by socialist leader George Fernandes. Lasting for three weeks, in May 1974, the strike resulted in the halt of the movement of goods and people.

Guha, in his book, notes that as many as a million railway men participated in the movement. “There were militant demonstrations in many towns and cities- in several places, the army was called out to maintain the peace.

Gandhi’s government came down heavily on the protesters. Thousands of employees were arrested and their families were driven out of their quarters.

The Raj Narain verdict

The opposition parties, trade unions and students had occupied the streets in protest against Indira Gandhi’s government, a new threat emerged before her in the form of a petition filed in the Allahabad High Court by socialist leader Raj Narain who had lost out to Gandhi in Raebareli parliamentary elections of 1971. The petition accused the prime minister of having won the elections through corrupt practices. It alleged that she spent more money than was allowed and further that her campaign was carried out by government officials.

On March 19, 1975, Gandhi became the first Indian prime minister to testify in court.

On June 12, 1975, Justice Sinha read out the judgment in the Allahabad High Court declaring Gandhi’s election to Parliament as null and void, Indira Gandhi was given a span of 20 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

On June 24, the Supreme Court put a conditional stay on the High Court order: Gandhi could attend Parliament, but would not be allowed to vote unless the court pronounced on her appeal.

The judgments gave the impetus to the JP movement, convincing them of their demand for the resignation of the prime minister. Further, by now even senior members of the Congress party were of the opinion that her resignation would be favorable to the party. However, Gandhi firmly held on to the prime ministerial position with the conviction that she alone could lead the country in the state that it was in.

A day after the Supreme Court judgment, an ordinance was drafted declaring a state of internal emergency and the President signed on it immediately. In her letter to the President requesting the declaration of Emergency, Gandhi wrote,

“Information has reached us that indicate imminent danger to the security of India.”

In an interview with journalist Jonathan Dimbleby in 1978, when Gandhi was asked the precise nature of the danger to Indian security that drove her to declare a state of emergency, she promptly replied,

“it was obvious, isn’t it? The whole subcontinent had been destabilized.”

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