Emergency, whether declared or undeclared, is highly dangerous for democracy because the fundamental rights guaranteed to the citizens under article 19 of Indian constitution are automatically suspended as soon as a National Emergency is declared. The government gets the freedom to do whatever it wants without any restraint from the judiciary and the legislature, and it can become dictatorial and repressive.

Imposition of National Emergency in 1975 by the late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi is considered by many as a misuse of emergency provisions given under article 352 (1) of Indian constitution. This article provides for proclamation of Emergency on the grounds of war, external aggression and armed rebellion. While commenting on the political situation under the Modi regime many human rights activists, journalists and political observers hold the view that India has had an undeclared emergency since 2014. 

On 25th June, the 46th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, many articles appeared in the media. Some of them condemned the Emergency and accused the Congress of continuing dictatorial policies, and some others accused the BJP of imposing an undeclared emergency on India. 

Home Minister Amit Saha wrote an article in the Times of India under the title, “Dictatorial mindset led to emergency: But democracy’s roots have deepened, no one will dare meddle in citizens’ fundamental rights in the future”. Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar’s article under the title, “The qualities that led to Emergency are alive and kicking in Congress” was published in The Indian Express. The contents of both articles were more or less the same, and the purpose seemed to be tarnishing the image of the Congress party by presenting it as a party with dictatorial tendencies. 

Because of the allegations of rampant violation of human rights and suppression of dissent by making use of draconian laws and liberal use of investigation agencies to fix the opponents and critics of the Modi government by the BJP at the Centre, there was a concerted effort on the part of the BJP and the Central government to divert the attention of the public by digging out what happened 46 years ago and denigrating the Congress party with the support of the godi media.  

46 years ago Mrs. Indira Gandhi imposed emergency by making use of the constitutional provisions in the backdrop of the Allahabad High Court setting aside her election to the Lok Sabha. During the Emergency opposition leaders and workers were put behind the bars, the press was censured and Parliament and the Judiciary were made subservient to the Executive. A careful analysis of the political situation in India since 2014 vindicates that the aberrations and misuses that happened during the Emergency have also been taking place – much worse- during the Modi regime without a formal declaration. In the words of journalist Anil Jain “the difference is that everything done during the Emergency was in the name of discipline, while today, development and nationalism are the mantras.” 

What is the reason for the Modi regime being characterized as a period of undeclared Emergency? First of all, all democratic institutions: Parliament, Judiciary, Election Commission etc are being undermined in such a way that their revival will become a herculean task. Under the guise of Covid 19, the functioning of the Parliament and the parliamentary committees was grossly restricted. The parliament had only one session- the budget session from January 29 to March 25, 2021- ever since the nationwide lockdown was imposed by PM Modi on March 24, 2020 with four hours notice. The parliament sat only for 24 days during a period of one year. Despite the repeated requests from the opposition parties the Parliament was not convened virtually. 

Because of the brute majority the BJP enjoys in the Lok Sabha and majority in the Rajya Sabha with the support of the friendly opposition parties, bills were passed without sufficient or no discussion. For example, the bill to abrogate article 370 and 35A of the constitution and reorganize Jammu and Kashmir was passed without referring them to the Select Committee or having an in-depth discussion in the parliament. In reality the parliament has become a rubber stamp in the absence of informed discussion and deep study of the issues by Parliamentary Committees or Select Committees. 

The judiciary is the bulwark of democracy, as it has the power to pronounce unconstitutional the laws passed by the parliament, if they are not in consonance with provisions of the constitution and to declare the actions of the executive illegal, if they violate the fundamental rights of citizens. But the response of the judiciary, especially the verdict of the Supreme Court, in many cases in which the Central Government was a stakeholder, appeared to be favouring the government. For example, in the Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case, the Supreme Court handed over the disputed land to the Hindus after accepting that the demolition of the mosque in 1992 and the placing of the idols in 1949 were "serious violations of the law". The court rewarded the serious violators of the law by handing over the entire land to them. 

The Supreme Court did not show any urgency when cases were filed questioning the constitutionality of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act. These cases are still pending with the Supreme Court. 

Regarding the protection of the rights of the citizens from the onslaught of the state the Supreme Court has been often hesitant to take a stand in favour of the falsely accused citizens.  In a recent case, even though the SC did not interfere with the bail granted to the three student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha in the Delhi riots and “conspiracy” case, it adopted a balancing act to keep the executive in good humour, by decreeing that the Delhi High Court decision of June 15, 2021 cannot be quoted as a precedent for other UAPA cases. Many citizens arrested under UAPA, are languishing in the overcrowded and unhygienic Indian prisons risking their lives during the spread of deadly coronavirus. 

Secondly, rampant violation of the democratic rights of the citizens to protest, dissent and criticize the government is another proof of undeclared emergency. Those who protest against the government are branded as anti-nationals, terrorist or urban naxalites. During the second wave of Covid 19 cases were filed under sedition law against those who complained about lack of oxygen in U P.  

There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of citizens arrested under the draconian laws like UAPA, National Security Act (NSA) and Sedition Law since 2014. Many of them are booked because of their criticism of the government. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, there was a whopping 165% rise in the number of UAPA cases since 2016. As per the data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Parliament in March 2020, a total of 1126 cases were registered under UAPA in 2019, a sharp rise from 897 in 2015. As per the 2019 Crime in India Report compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), only 2.2 % of cases registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) between the years 2016 and 2019 ended in convictions by court.

The low rate of conviction in terror related cases is a clear proof that the laws are used to suppress any opposition or criticism of the government. Incarceration of journalists, social activists, academicians, opposition leaders without bail and trial for a long time under the anti-terrorism laws is warning to the people to desist from any protest against the government and its policies. It is equal to Emergency situation. 

Because of the suppression of freedom of speech and dissent, international rating agencies have rated India low on the practice of democracy. India slipped two places to 53rd position in the 2020 Democracy Index's global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). It said the "democratic backsliding" by authorities and "crackdowns" on civil liberties has led to a further decline in the country's ranking. The 2020 report of Freedom House, a US NGO, downgraded India to the category of “partially free” from “free” countries.

The third characteristic of undeclared emergency is the Central agencies targeting opposition leaders. If Indira Gandhi imprisoned opposition leaders during the Emergency, the Modi government is making use of Central agencies like National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax Department to harass and raid opposition leaders. It has not been reported that the investigation agencies raided or questioned any political leader belonging to BJP or its allies, as if they all have become saints overnight. Blatantly partisan functioning of these agencies was seen when CBI arrested TMC politicians accused in Narada case: Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukerjee, Madan Mitra and Soven Chattopadhyay while spared the other two accused, Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari because they had joined the BJP. Mukul Roy later returned to TMC. Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Congress leader from Karnataka D K Shivakumar, Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri were arrested and kept in jail while many others were questioned or raided by the Central agencies. 

The fourth sign of undeclared Emergency is the slavery of the media. Except for a few news channels and newspapers that can be counted on fingers, the whole media has become slavish to the government mainly because a large section of the media is under the control of corporate leaders who are the supporters of the government. The government also uses carrot and stick policy to subjugate the media by arresting journalists who are critical of the government and providing incentives in the form of advertisements to those who support the government. 

The fifth sign is concentration of power in PM Modi and his lieutenant Amit Shah. The council of ministers at the Centre are nowhere in the picture. All crucial decisions are taken by Modi and Amit Shah with the support of a group of loyal bureaucrats. The disastrous mismanagement of the second wave of Covid 19 was the result of concentration of power and failure to dialogue with the states and listen to experts. Devotion to Modi is equated with nationalism and anyone who criticizes Modi is branded as an anti-national. During the

Emergency, the then Congress president Devkant Barua raised the slogan, “Indira is India; India is Indira”. Today, most of the cabinet ministers of PM Modi and the chief ministers of the BJP ruled states unhesitatingly describe Modi as the embodiment of divine power or possessing superhuman abilities. Digvijay Singh, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, was severely criticized by Shivaj Singh Chouhan and other BJP leaders for saying that Modi is a “disaster”. 

One of the reasons for the BJP government becoming autocratic is the absence of strong opposition parties. The Congress which has pan Indian presence refuses to be relevant by solving its leadership crisis and taking leadership to unite the opposition parties. The strongest protest against the anti-democratic policies of the government has come from the civil society and farmers and not the opposition parties.  

Political activist Yogendra Yadav has described the present situation as ‘democracy capture’. According to him, Modi and Amit Shah are using democracy to subvert democracy. The formal procedures of democracy have been used to subvert the substance of democracy. In other words, the external form of democracy is preserved, but the soul of democracy is being killed through brutal suppression of dissent, protests and criticism, and emasculation of democratic institutions which function as watchdogs. That is why the present political scenario in India is characterized as a period of undeclared Emergency.