The Crisis of Democratic Order (Emergency 1975–77) — Practice

Question 1

What were the immediate causes that led to the declaration of the Emergency in 1975?

Accepted Answer

THREE IMMEDIATE CAUSES OF THE EMERGENCY: (1) JP MOVEMENT: Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) led a mass movement ('Sampoorna Kranti' — Total Revolution) against corruption and misgovernance. He called for Indira Gandhi's resignation and asked the armed forces and police to disobey 'unconstitutional orders.' The movement spread from Bihar and Gujarat to become a nationwide challenge to her authority. (2) RAILWAY STRIKE (1974): Led by George Fernandes, 1.7 million railway workers struck for 20 days, paralysing the economy. The government crushed the strike, but it deepened discontent and strengthened the opposition. (3) ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT JUDGMENT (June 12, 1975): Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices in the 1971 election — using government official Yashpal Kapoor for her campaign and government resources. Her election was declared void; she was disqualified from Parliament for 6 years. The Supreme Court gave only a conditional stay, leaving her in a precarious political position. Rather than resign, Indira Gandhi declared a National Emergency on June 25, 1975, citing 'internal disturbance' under Article 352.

Question 2

Describe what happened during the Emergency (1975–77). What were its major features?

Accepted Answer

FEATURES OF THE EMERGENCY (June 25, 1975 – March 21, 1977): (1) ARRESTS: On the first night (June 25, 1975), the entire opposition leadership was arrested — Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, L.K. Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Chandra Shekhar, and thousands of activists. The legal instrument was MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act), which allowed detention without trial for up to 12 months. The jails were filled with political prisoners. (2) PRESS CENSORSHIP: All major newspapers were required to submit articles for government approval before publication. The Emergency effectively silenced India's free press. The Indian Express and the Statesman protested by running blank editorials. BBC correspondents were expelled. (3) FORCED STERILISATION: Sanjay Gandhi (Indira's son, with no official constitutional position) ran a population control programme that became coercive. Government officials were given sterilisation targets. Slum dwellers and the poor — particularly Muslim men — were rounded up. Estimated 6–8 million sterilisations in 1975–76. People went into hiding. The programme created deep fear and resentment, especially in rural north India. (4) EXTRA-CONSTITUTIONAL POWER: Sanjay Gandhi wielded enormous power without holding any official position. Ministers, bureaucrats, and police answered to him. He also ran a controversial slum demolition programme in Delhi. (5) CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES: Parliament was used to extend the Emergency, amend the Constitution (39th, 41st Amendments), and provide blanket immunity to the government. The 42nd Amendment (1976) — called the 'Mini Constitution' — gave Parliament unlimited powers. OVERALL: 'The Emergency was the darkest chapter in Indian democratic history — the chapter where fundamental rights were suspended, the press was gagged, and India experienced, briefly, what an authoritarian state felt like.'

Question 3

What did the Emergency reveal about Indian democracy — both its weaknesses and its strengths?

Accepted Answer

THE EMERGENCY AS A DIAGNOSTIC OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY: WEAKNESSES REVEALED: (1) CONSTITUTIONAL FRAGILITY: The Emergency was declared under Article 352 with remarkable ease — the President signed it on the advice of a Prime Minister who had just been disqualified from Parliament by a High Court. The constitutional checks on this power were weak. Parliament, the Cabinet, and the judiciary were either bypassed or compliant. (2) PARTY DEMOCRACY ABSENT: The Congress Party had been hollowed out under Indira Gandhi — internal democracy was replaced by personal loyalty. No Congress MP or minister challenged the Emergency declaration. 'A party that had fought for India's freedom could not resist the authoritarianism of its own leader.' (3) PRESS VULNERABILITY: India's press, though vigorously free in normal times, was easily gagged during the Emergency. Only a handful of journalists resisted. L.K. Advani famously said 'they were asked to bend and they crawled.' (4) EXTRA-CONSTITUTIONAL POWER: Sanjay Gandhi's influence showed that India's democratic system could be circumvented by a private citizen with a powerful parent. Unelected individuals could exercise state power without any democratic accountability. (5) FORCED STERILISATION: The willingness of the state apparatus to carry out coercive sterilisation — affecting millions of poor and vulnerable people — revealed the authoritarian potential in a centralised state. STRENGTHS REVEALED: (1) THE BALLOT BOX WORKED: When elections were held in 1977, the Indian voter delivered a clear verdict against the Emergency — despite poverty, illiteracy, and limited access to free information. The 'illiterate Indian voter' proved more committed to democracy than many expected. (2) JUDICIARY: Though the Supreme Court's performance during the Emergency was shameful (the ADM Jabalpur case held that fundamental rights could be suspended during Emergency), individual judges dissented. After the Emergency, the Supreme Court reversed the ADM Jabalpur ruling and strengthened judicial review. (3) CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE OPPOSITION: The underground resistance — Lok Sangharsh Samiti, smuggling of news, George Fernandes's resistance — showed that civil society had democratic instincts that the state could not completely crush. (4) INSTITUTIONAL RESILIENCE: India's Constitution, even with its Emergency provisions, provided a mechanism for restoration. After the Janata government won, the 44th Amendment (1978) tightened Emergency provisions — making it harder to declare or abuse in the future. LESSON: 'The Emergency was India's vaccination against authoritarianism — a painful, dangerous dose, but one that strengthened the democratic immune system.' It exposed the gaps in constitutional design; those gaps were subsequently addressed. The experience created a vigilance about civil liberties and judicial independence that persists today.

Practice — The Crisis of Democratic Order (Emergency 1975–77)

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