In the five decades since Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency on June 25, 1975, by citing “internal disturbances”, numerous books have been written about what is often described as one of the darkest periods of contemporary Indian history. Sugata Srinivasaraju’s book, , therefore, is quite remarkable in that the author has found a subject that had hitherto remained relatively unexplored. That is, the resistance mounted by a largely young group of Indians based in the US against the draconian move.
They launched Indians For Democracy (IFD) in the US, which worked tirelessly to oppose the Emergency from distant shores. Many among this group were in the US for higher studies, but this did not deter them from fighting for the cause of democracy, even if it meant that their academic pursuits suffered a setback.
These students, however, weren’t the only driving force behind IFD. It had some leading members of the Indian diaspora as well, among them P. K. Mehta, who taught civil engineering at the University of California in Berkeley; Shrikumar Poddar, who had made his money running a magazine subscription business, and D. C. Agarwal, an IIT engineer.
Through rigorous research and a deep dive into archival material, which gets slightly tedious at times, the book traces the challenging journey of this tenacious group as it puts up resistance to the Emergency on foreign soil. It also includes personal interviews and conversations with the main protagonists of this “conscience network”.
Members of the IFD had begun to coalesce even before the imposition of the Emergency, as its lead protagonists saw the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan-led movement gathering momentum in India. For the Indians abroad, this group saw in this “scope to shape the reconciliation and reform process at home”. Along with the work of IFD, the author has also seamlessly woven the story into the narrative of JP Narayan, who was then spearheading the movement against Indira Gandhi.
Indeed, one of the main protagonists of IFD, Anand Kumar, came from a family that had been involved in the freedom struggle, had links to Narayan, and was eventually drawn into his movement while still a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Other leading protagonists of the IFD neither came from political families nor had any political affiliations.
Kumar was in the US to pursue his PhD in Sociology when he was drawn into the resistance movement. Consequently, his government scholarship was canceled after he was accused by an Indian diplomat of “anti-national activities”—a term that has gained tremendous currency under the present Modi government for those critical of its actions. His scholarship was restored only after Indira Gandhi’s party was defeated in the 1977 parliamentary polls.
Indeed, it’s noteworthy that the IFD managed to eschew any political affiliation despite attempts by both the left and the right wing to have it within their influence. The IFD “remained steadfast to Gandhian methods and ideals”, notes Srinivasaraju. Rather, the group’s ideological commitment was to oppose an authoritarian regime and see democratic processes restored in India, for which they organised protests and lobbied hard in the US. They also published a fortnightly newsletter, Indian Opinion.
Predictably, their activism didn’t go down well with the Indian government or its top diplomatic representative in the US, ambassador T. N. Kaul. An entire chapter has been devoted to Kaul, who doesn’t come out smelling of roses. In an interview given to the US media, Kaul was dismissive about the IFD, describing its members as “a misguided bunch of a few young people” who were “dabbling with armchair ideas of democracy”.
IFD, on its part, was not averse to using the services of those belonging to political outfits or with other political leanings as part of its resistance. So, as the book reveals, it was the IFD that organised a marathon tour of Jan Sangh MP Subramaniam Swamy in the US. However, Swamy’s attempts to have IFD grow close to the RSS did not meet with success as its members followed a Gandhian path and “firmly resisted this wooing”.
IFD members were also in touch with legal stalwart Ram Jethmalani, who reached out to Poddar once he reached the US. Leila Fernandes, wife of Socialist leader George Fernandes, too had found her way to the US, fearing imprisonment after her husband disappeared shortly after the Emergency was declared. She too became part of IFD and reached out to trade unions in the US. Once Fernandes was traced and put behind bars, IFD supported her with a telegram campaign urging Indira Gandhi to be fair in his treatment.
Many other interesting stories and anecdotes emerge, populated by characters and their lives during the Emergency. Given the humongous amount of research that has gone into the writing, it’s not an easy read for the casual reader. Nevertheless, it’s a significant addition to the tumultuous days of the Emergency, which have been forgotten by many over the years.
