Contrary to claims that the situation in present-day India is worse than in the days of Emergency, press at the time was throttled and dissenters jailed
In Latin, ‘Ut est rerum omnium magister usus’ means “Experience is the best teacher”. The term was popularised by management gurus with sufficient evidence and proof. This is a phrase attributed to the great Roman General Julius Caesar and finds mention in De Bello Civili, his war memoirs.
A major reason for opposition to war, which is common among the Europeans, could be their shocking experiences from the two World Wars in which millions perished and many more were maimed. There are accounts by authors like Winston Churchill (the former British Prime Minister who had covered the First World War for The Pioneer) about the post-WWII Europe totally devastated. The sights were unbearable and the generation that grew up experiencing the economic hardship and poverty became strong critics of any kind of war. Late MKK Nair, a former bureaucrat, had given first-hand information about England in the aftermath of WWII. Nair, who was undergoing professional training in Plymouth, has written in his autobiography ‘With No Ill-Feeling Against Anybody’ that only kids were eligible for sugar and chocolates: “Since there was severe shortage of power, only limited quantity of water could be heated for bathing as the winter was at its peak.”
When maverick musician TM Krishna (born in 1976) declared in a public function sometime back that there was no freedom of expression or right to speak one’s mind, the media highlighted his speech as if he was disclosing something new. What the musician forgot was that his statement reminded one of the term ‘oxymoron’ as his disclosure was poles apart from the reality. If there is no freedom of speech or right to dissent, would the media highlight the claim as a major report?
The comedy lies in the truth that Krishna and his generation, born in the post-internal Emergency phase, do not know the seriousness of freedom of expression. There was a time when the Indian subcontinent was under the spell of dictatorship as well as despotism. The generation that grew up in that period stood silently when human rights, civil rights and freedom of speech and expression were crushed to powder by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, her younger son Sanjay and a cartel of persons who were members of their court. That was the era when the Prime Minister had the audacity to defend corruption in high places by describing it as “a global phenomenon”.
What led to the declaration of Emergency and suspension of Constitution was a verdict by the Allahabad Bench of the Lucknow High Court on a petition filed by Raj Narain, the socialist leader who had challenged Indira’s election from Rae Bareli in the 1971 general election. Raj Narain, an unusual politician, had alleged that Indira had utilised the services of Yashpal Kapoor, her personal secretary, for campaign-related works. Being a Government servant, Kapoor was not supposed to do Indira’s political bidding. It was gross violation of the Representation of People’s Act, argued lawyer Shanti Bhushan who appeared for Raj Narain.
On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha set aside Indira’s election and disqualified her from contesting any election for six years. Justice Sinha was kind enough to stay his own judgment to enable Indira to appeal in the Supreme Court. By the time of the verdict, there had been widespread resentment against Indira. Members of her ‘kitchen cabinet’ advised her to proclaim Emergency, arrest the Opposition leaders and throw them behind bars. Thankfully, there were no satellite TV channels while All India Radio and Doordarshan had the monopoly over public broadcast. Gandhi declared press censorship which made the newspapers to seek permission from censor officers for publishing news. All India Radio was labelled ‘All Indira Radio’ globally as the world’s largest radio network started airing only the speeches and songs eulogising ‘Madam Indira’. People who now allege that there is no freedom of expression and speech in India should take out some time and read the archived newspaper copies!
There are some political greenhorns who allege that the situation in present-day India is worse than in the days of Emergency. They should not forget that thousands across the country were jailed, assaulted and tortured by the police for criticising Indira. Musicians should focus on raagas and thaalas instead of commenting about freedom of expression. And the fact that such allegations hogged the limelight makes it oxymoronic! It is good to see in newspapers and news channels criticism levelled against the Narendra Modi Government for its omissions and commissions. If there is no freedom of expression, how come these reports and news get published? The sad thing is that while Indira and her men and women bulldozed the media, the Modi regime is ignoring t. The bosses may be under the impression that the best way to insult the critics is to ignore them (it is also true that many of them deserve to be ignored!) But freedom of expression is sacred and it is a sin to spread falsehoods about it.
(The writer is a senior journalist with The Pioneer. The views expressed are personal.)
