Fifty years ago, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court set aside the election of Indira Gandhi as null and void. She got a stay from the Supreme Court. It allowed her to attend the Lok Sabha, but not vote. An emergency was declared at midnight on June 25, 1975. Later, the constitution was shredded and lay in tatters, a subject greatly dealt with in Our Constitution: Distortions Done By Smt. Indira Gandhi During Emergency by Dr HV Hande.
The Emergency affected the lives of ordinary people. Take Snehalata Reddy in the deep south, for instance, who was picked up on political suspicion and thrown into the Bangalore Central Jail in May 1976 without charges. As an actress, she knew people from all walks of life—writers, painters, magicians, and above all, many young people. However, it was her friendship with George Fernandes that changed things. “The mere fact that she was a friend led to tragic consequences. Overnight, her beautiful world collapsed, and a nightmare of fear and uncertainty began. Her daughter, Nandana, was held for questioning on two occasions, and the family was kept under surveillance,” Hande writes.
On April 27, 1975, Snehalata and her husband Pattabhi Rama Reddy were supposed to travel to Madras to procure lights for a film shoot. That afternoon, at around 4 pm, their daughter Nandana was taken from her home for questioning for the third time. She returned only at 7 pm, with no explanation of where she had been, leaving the family frantic with worry. Despite this, the couple left for Madras at 9 pm, leaving their son behind. “At midnight, there was a knock on the door and a loud call, ‘Telegram.’ [Son] Konarak opened the door and was immediately seized by both arms, while a horde of policemen rushed into the house. On finding that the family had left for Madras, they dragged him off to the police station. Most of the policemen stayed back to ransack the house, endlessly questioning Snehalata’s 84-year-old father and the servants. At 6 am the next morning, the police finally left.”
In Madras, the first news the Reddys heard was that their long-time friend, Appa Rao, and his daughter had been arrested. They tried to telephone Bangalore, but their phone lines were cut. They returned to Bangalore, where they were taken straight to Carlton House, where Snehalata and her husband were held. Konarak’s whereabouts were still unknown. “Snehalata and Pattabhi were in a state of exhaustion… All that night, they were kept seated in a room, the only explanation from the guard on duty being, ‘Saibru ega bartare (the officer is coming now).’” But nobody came that night.
“Eventually, Snehalata and her husband were taken into separate rooms for questioning. The strategy of attrition, intentional or accidental, had its effect. Before a word could be spoken, or a question asked, Snehalata herself said, ‘Bring my son, release my husband, promise not to harass my daughter, and I’ll tell you everything I know.’ Till this time, nothing could be held against the Reddys, except their known friendship with a political refugee. The family was allowed to bring her bedding, clothes and food. She was treated as a political detainee, with visits from the family permitted.”
On the evening of May 7, 1975, Pattabhi arrived with dinner to find Carlton House locked and empty. Assuming Snehalata had been taken for questioning, they waited, but by midnight there was still no sign of her. They returned home. The next morning, they were told she may have been jailed. Snehalata was falsely informed she would be released and asked to pack, but was instead taken to a magistrate’s court, ordered into detention, and denied any real chance to inform her family.
“Meanwhile, papers were signed, and orders passed. Snehalata was taken back to Carlton House.” Finally, Snehalata was ferreted away to the Bangalore Central jail.
Worse was in store for Gayatri Devi, who had been one of the vice presidents of the Swatantra Party. Her only cardinal sin was that she happened to be in the Opposition. So was the Rajmata of Gwalior, a vice president of the Jan Sangh. Suddenly, without any provocation whatsoever, they were arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and locked away in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
The rest of the opposition stalwarts, like “Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Piloo Mody and Somnath Chatterjee, were all imprisoned, through the misuse of that notorious weapon known as MISA.
The Rajya Sabha adopted the 38th Constitutional Bill the following day by 164 votes with none against. This was ratified by the State Assemblies of 15 States. Thereafter, Presidential assent was obtained in a single day.”
At this point, tampering was done with the constitution of India, which had been so carefully crafted brick by brick by our founders. Fortunately, these tweaks were later reversed by governments that came to power.
In essence, the book explores the dark days of the Emergency, and it is the tweaking of the constitution that is worth a read. The sinister way in which the articles brought by the founding fathers, headed by Dr BR Ambedkar, might as well have been abandoned in a lust for power.