Fishermen told All India Radio that they were catching more fish because Indira Gandhi had imposed Emergency. A commentator informed we had won a test match because of the 20-Point Programme
This day brings back memories of the dark phase of Indian democracy. It was on June 25, 1975, that Indira Gandhi declared a state of Emergency to bulldoze the looming hatred against her among the Indian public for corruption and blatant violation of all norms of decency mentioned in rule books. The Allahabad High Court judgement unseating her from Parliament and banning her from contesting elections hastened the suspension of civil liberties. Though Emergency is remembered for the excesses associated with it, which claimed many innocent lives, there was a lighter side to the authoritarian rule of Indira Gandhi. The Indian public always took recourse to the anecdotes in circulation irrespective of the stringent censorship rule imposed by the regime.
Press freedom was choked, civil rights were suspended and all prominent Opposition leaders were jailed under the pretext of ‘saving democracy’. Most of these leaders were arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act and put behind bars for the next 24 months. Though the Government had enforced Press censorship, people in Kerala gave a new name to MISA. According to a Mallu joke in circulation during the dark days, the acronym stood for Makane, India Swantham Aakkoo (Malayalam for ‘Son, make India your own’). The Malayalees who had a dry sense of humour, saw MISA as a political weapon given by Indira Gandhi to her dear son Sanjay to muzzle any kind of opposition to his prime ministerial ambitions.
Eminent writer Madhu Purnima Kishwar had approached the Union Government under the RTI Act to know the contents in the Time Capsule buried in the Red Fort premises in New Delhi by the Indira Gandhi administration on August 15, 1973. The Time Capsule contained a high-tech system in which the 1947 to 1972 history of India has been inscribed for future generation. The contents were prepared by the historians of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Ms Kishwar has been told that the contents are not available and the Government has no information about the Time Capsule.
But, immediately after the change of Government in New Delhi in 1977, the Morarji Desai regime had dug out the Time Capsule and made public some of the important contents. It was reported by all national dailies that the Time Capsule contents portrayed the Gandhi-Nehru family as the sole owners of the country.
Misuse of the official media by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency earned notoriety all over the world. All India Radio, which broadcast news only about Indira Gandhi’s ‘good deeds’, earned the nickname, ‘All Indira Radio’. The voice of the Opposition was silenced by the echelons sitting in Akashwani Bhavan. All programmes were in praise of Indira Gandhi, her family members and the Emergency. The Farm and Home programme (equivalent to the Krishi Darshan programme telecast by Doordarshan) was a butt of jokes. Every day, from 6.50 pm to 7.20pm, the AIR stations of Kerala had the Farm and Home programme. They were all interview-based items. The AIR staff would tour small towns and villages and interview farmers, fishermen, labourers, housewives and students.
The interviews had the same pattern. The interviewer will begin by greeting the interviewee. Question: Hello, what is your nameIJ Answer: Babukuttan. Qn: Hello Babukuttan, what do you do for a livingIJ Ans: I am a fisherman. Qn: Oh, that’s fine. How is lifeIJ Ans: life is fine now. Qn: Why nowIJ How was it in the pastIJ Ans: In the past it was very difficult. Qn: Why BabukuttanIJ Ans: Because there was no Emergency during those days. Qn: Oh, so you like EmergencyIJ Ans : Very Much. Qn: Why do you like EmergencyIJ Ans: Because it is only after the declaration of Emergency that I began getting big fish from the sea.
If you still doubt the authenticity of the above-mentioned interviews broadcast by All India Radio, here is another instance of sycophancy beamed by the official media. The third cricket Test between India and West Indies was played at Port of Spain between April 7 and April 12, 1976. The Windies set a target of 406 runs for India to win the match. Till then, no team had scored more than 400 runs in the last innings to win a match. But India, thanks to centuries scored by SM Gavaskar and GR Viswanath and brilliant batting by Mohinder Amarnath (85,) crossed the magic and difficult to achieve figure on the last day of the match. Immediately after India scored the winning run, Ravi Chaturvedi, the commentator, declared that India won the match only because of the 20- Point Programme declared by Indira Gandhi and son Sanjay Gandhi!
But the AIR staff was not bereft of humour. It could be funny, even though unintentionally. Immediately following the news bulletin which announced the defeats of Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi from Rae Bareilly and Amethi constituencies respectively, the announcer played a Mohammed Rafi song, Savere wali gaadi se chale jaayenge!