The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) keeps harping on the National Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975, as per its convenience. In the just constituted 18th Lok Sabha (House of the People), Speaker Om Birla, going out of his duty, got a Resolution passed condemning the Emergency when it was not a part of the House business agenda. On July 12, 2024, the Modi government issued a Gazette Notification declaring June 25 as the Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas (The Day to mourn the murder of the Constitution). These are the divertive tactics to buttress its own record of undermining Constitutional democracy and stiffing the independent institutions during the past 10 years of its authoritarian regime under an 'undeclared emergency.'

How could there be Samvidhaan Hatya when the Emergency was proclaimed under Article 352(1) of the Constitution? The article reads: "If the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India or of any part of the territory thereof is threatened, whether by war or external aggression or internal disturbance, he may, by Proclamation, make a declaration to that effect." The National Emergency under this Article was proclaimed by invoking the provision of 'internal disturbance' due to the nationwide civil unrest and hostile, belligerent campaign carried against Indira Gandhi by the opposition led by Jayaprakash Narayan, who gave an open call to the Army and the Police to rebel against her government and not to carry the government orders at the Ramlila Maidan, Delhi, on June 25, 1975.

The Proclamation of Emergency issued on June 25, 1975, reads: "In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 352 of the Constitution, I Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, President of India, declare that a grave emergency exists, whereby the security of India is threatened by internal disturbance." As Indira Gandhi said in her broadcast to the nation, the Emergency was "a painful necessity" for protection of the security of India. It may be noted here that American investigative journalist Seymour M Hersh, in his book The Price of Power, alleges that Morarji Desai had worked as a paid agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) while serving the Indian government.

The following excerpts from the broadcast of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 26, 1975, give the background leading to the declaration of the Emergency:

"The President has proclaimed an emergency. This is nothing to panic about. I am sure you are all conscious of the deep and widespread conspiracy which has been brewing ever since I began introducing certain progressive measures of benefit to the common man and woman of India… It has sought to negate the very functioning of democracy. Duly elected governments have not been allowed to function, and in some cases, force has been used to compel members to resign in order to dissolve lawfully elected assemblies. Agitations have surcharged the atmosphere, leading to violent incidents. The whole country was shocked at the brutal murder of my Cabinet colleague, Mr LN Mishra. We also deeply deplore the dastardly attack on the Chief Justice of India. Certain powers have gone to the length of inciting our armed forces to mutiny and our police to rebel... The forces of disintegration are in full play, and communal passions are being aroused, threatening our unity. All manner of false allegations have been hurled at me. The Indian people have known me since my childhood. All my life has been in the service of our people. This is not a personal matter. It is not important whether I remain Prime Minister or not. However, the institution of the Prime Minister is important, and the political attempt to denigrate it is not in the interest of democracy or of the nation. We have watched these developments with utmost patience for long. Now we learn of new programs challenging law and order throughout the country with a view to disrupt normal functioning. How can any government worth the name stand by and allow the country's stability to be imperilled? The actions of a few are endangering the rights of the vast majority. Any situation which weakens the capacity of the national government to act decisively inside the country is bound to encourage dangers from outside. It is our paramount duty to safeguard unity and stability. The nation's integrity demands firm action."

During the Emergency, the fundamental rights of the citizens stood suspended, as provided in Article 359 of the Constitution. So, whatever power the Indira Gandhi government exercised during the Emergency was according to the constitutional provisions. Whether the Emergency was justified or not could be a matter of debate. It is interesting to note that the words "internal disturbance" in Article 352(1) were replaced by the words "armed rebellion" by the Janata Government of Moraji Desai through the Constitution (Forty-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978. The article relating to the Emergency was not abrogated. Therefore, nothing prevents a future government from declaring an Emergency in the country or a part of the territory of India by invoking Article 352(1), depending on the situation, as may be perceived by the government.

In my articles Remembering Indira Gandhi, Who Dismantled Pakistan (October 31, 2020) and The Ill-conceived Verdict That Led to the Emergency (August 26, 2023), I have briefly explained the background leading to the Emergency. This piece continues that effort to provide the true picture of the Emergency. It is historically unfair to call Indira Gandhi a 'dictator' and periodically admonish her for the Emergency declared nearly 50 years ago, by deliberating and ignoring the circumstances that led to the Emergency in the first place. She lifted the press censorship, released the political detainees from jail, held free and fair elections, and revoked the Emergency. She and her party lost the elections. And, if we blame her for the Emergency and accuse her of curbing the civil and political rights of the people, we should also give her credit for revoking the Emergency and restoring the fundamental rights after 18 months. How could then anyone take credit for ending the Emergency?

The Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) supported the Emergency of 1975. The Modi government conveniently tries to suppress the fact that its ideological parental organisation – the RSS - supported the Emergency. The RSS and its flock in the BJP have no locus standi to make noises about the Emergency. Its own leaders grovelled before the Congress dispensation to win reprieves from jail terms and have the ban lifted on their organisation. Every year on the anniversary of the Emergency, the RSS and its foot soldiers, especially those in its political wing, the BJP, go to town to denounce the Emergency. It boasts of the "sacrifices" made by it and its political front, the Jana Sangh, ancestor of the BJP, during the Emergency.

The RSS Chief Balasaheb Deoras wrote three letters from jail to Indira Gandhi. In a letter written on August 22, 1975, from Yerawada Central Jail in Pune, he said he had heard her Independence Day speech "with rapt attention" over the radio and had found it "well balanced" and requested her to lift the ban on the RSS. And receiving no reply, he wrote another letter on November 10, 1975, congratulating her for the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court verdict that validated her election, and again requested her to "set free thousands of RSS workers and remove the restrictions on the Sangh. If done so, power of selfless work on the part of lakhs of RSS volunteers will be utilised for the national upliftment" (India Today, November 14 2014). He sought an appointment to meet Indira Gandhi, which never materialised.

The Sangh Parivar projects itself as the saviour of India's democracy during the Emergency, but historical records show that many RSS leaders volunteered to support Indira Gandhi's decision to impose the Emergency in exchange for release from jail. The article "The Emergency and the Sangh Parivar's tacit support to Indira Gandhi" by Shivasundar, an activist and freelance journalist, In The News Minute (June 25, 2023), is very revealing. The following inferences are drawn from his piece:

Those 18 months of Emergency pale into insignificance compared to Modi's rule. It is evident that over the past ten years, there has been a terrifying erosion of media freedom, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and the right to dissent in the country. The activities of the RSS, Jana Sangh, and their affiliate organisations and their role in the political protests led to the declaration of a state of Emergency. Once the Emergency was imposed, leaders of the RSS and Jana Sangh made secret agreements supporting the Emergency with Indira Gandhi, whom they called a dictator. The BJP and the Sangh Parivar have been attempting to hide the pages of this very embarrassing history and their opportunistic anti-people activities of the time.

However, the historical records and the writings of their own leaders prove how the Sangh's leaders covertly supported the Emergency. In fact, not only did they try to reach a compromise with Indira Gandhi, but they also wrote surrender letters from jail, following in the footsteps of their icon, VD Savarkar. Vajpayee spent most of those 18 months in his house on parole, for which he gave an undertaking stating that he would not oppose the Emergency. In an article titled "The Unlearnt Lessons of Emergency," published in The Hindu on June 13, 2000, Subramanian Swamy revealed how several RSS and Jana Sangh leaders held covert talks with Indira Gandhi. And within a few days of being jailed, Vajpayee came to an agreement with Indira Gandhi. He gave an undertaking that if he was released on parole, he would not participate in activities against the government.

Indira Gandhi ignored Deoras' second letter, too. She was scheduled to visit Vinobha Bhave's ashram towards the end of February when Deoras wrote a third letter on February 24, 1976, begging Bhave — who held some influence over Indira Gandhi — to intervene in favour of the RSS and persuade her to lift the ban. If this happened, he assured, "a condition will prevail as to enable the volunteers of the Sangh to participate in the planned programme of action relating to the country's progress and prosperity under the leadership of the Prime Minister."

This was the true face of the RSS during the Emergency. The RSS and the Jana Sangh were trying to secure their release from jail by giving undertakings. As an extension of this, the Uttar Pradesh Jana Sangh announced total support for the Indira Gandhi government on June 25, 1976 – the first anniversary of the Emergency - and pledged not to participate in any anti-government activities. As many as 34 leaders of the Jana Sangh in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh joined the Congress. All this culminated in the RSS reaching an agreement with the government and deciding to sign a surrender document at the end of January 1977. However, since Indira Gandhi withdrew the Emergency before that, the necessity of actually signing the surrender document did not arise. As Bernard Shaw said: "truth is stranger than fiction."