Human Rights Violations in a State of Emergency

The Indian Emergency and the Woman Behind the Chaos

The P. Rajan case

On the morning of the 29th of February 1976, P. Rajan, an engineering student in his final year of studies, was arrested by policemen who were outside his dormitory waiting for him. Rajan was a student of the Chathamangalam Regional Engineering College in Calicut, a major city in Kerala, a state in southern India. He was reportedly arrested under accusations of being a Naxalite1, a movement which was then gaining momentum with the young men and women of Kerala. His father, Professor T.V. Eachara Varier was informed of the incident by the principal of the engineering college and immediately began his battle against the State to have his son produced in a court of law by means of a habeas corpus petition2. It was later revealed to Professor Varier that Rajan had died in police custody, presumably after having been tortured at the two different prisons where he had been detained.3 The Rajan case shook up Kerala's politics in an unprecedented way and made the world notice what exactly was going on in India.

An introduction to the Emergency

Between 1975 and 1977, a 21 month-long state of emergency was declared in India. This period is noted by many historians and political commentators as one of the more dark times in the history of post-colonial India. During these two years, all fundamental rights that had been embodied in the Constitution of India had been revoked and chaos ensued. Over the course of the Emergency, at least 140,000 people had been arrested. Of these, many were abused, tortured and killed in police custody. From a human rights perspective, therefore, this is a particularly dark time in independent India's history. Understanding the reasons for the abuse Rajan and many others like him faced requires some delving into the political history of independent India, particularly the history concerning those at the helm of the country. In this essay, I will reflect on the links between politics and human rights violations. In particular, I shall examine the political motivations behind the declaration of one of the darkest events in independent India's history.

On June 26, 1975, the then-President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, declared a state of National Emergency on account of a threat to national security due to internal disturbance. The government explained further; prices were skyrocketing and food was getting out of reach for millions of citizens. Government servants remained disinterested in their work, there was a complete lack of discipline everywhere, with a breakdown of law and order throughout India.4 His official declaration of the emergency was as follows:

In the exercise of the powers conferred by Clause I Article 352 5 of the Constitution, I, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, President of India, by this proclamation declare that a grace emergency exists whereby the security of India is threatened by internal disturbances.6

President Ahmed had declared Emergency following the counsel of the then-Prime Minister

of India, Indira Gandhi.

The leader behind the Emergency

Indira Gandhi was the daughter of the first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the granddaughter of a prominent leader of the Congress Party7 when it was still in its infancy.8 Both Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi held the position of president of the Congress party. After Nehru's successor, Lal Bahadur Shastri's death in 1966, the time came to choose a new Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi was chosen for the position.

Soon after having been elected, Gandhi confronted the Congress leadership on a number of issues, such as nationalization of banks (which Gandhi was for) and nominations of Congress members for Presidentship. These disagreements between Gandhi and the party leaders led to what is now known as the 1969 split of the Congress.9 Gandhi then became dependent on support from some of the opposition parties, as the government was now a minority in parliament. After the 1971 war with Pakistan10, even opposition parties acknowledged that she was a "supreme leader", some even comparing her to a goddess.11 Respect for Gandhi increased dramatically both in the eyes of her contemporaries overseas as well as in the eyes of her people. She emerged as a capable leader, one who appeared to be following well in the footsteps of her father and grandfather. This period of time is considered by many to be the pinnacle of Indira Gandhi's political career.12

Gandhi's decline in 1975 and the lead-up to the Emergency

India was not faring well from an economic standpoint after 1973. High oil prices (due to the Israel-Arab War of 1973) caused a remarkable rise in inflation rates. Those who held Gandhi in such high esteem only two or three years before now started to become restless and were quick to find fault with her. Moreover, in 1974, there were added economic problems, political disturbances, agitations and strikes. One particular instance of unrest was a student movement against corruption that was encouraged by an Indian activist, Jayaprakash Narayan. This protest was instigated by a lack of initiative from their Prime Minister and other leaders. Although Indira Gandhi appeared to have made a lot of radical promises in the Congress's manifesto, these promises had not been delivered and there was little inclination shown to implement them.13

Agitation in the northern-Indian state of Gujarat led Indira Gandhi to sack the state government (which was run primarily by her party), after which Gujarat was under President's Rule for over a year.14 P.N. Dhar remarks in his book: "Those years were among the most challenging in the governance of India."15 Although she had her colleagues' favor, Indira Gandhi was once again quickly falling out of favor with her opposition as well as the nation.

State elections in the state of Gujarat had been continuously postponed on varying pretexts each time since 1974, possibly in order to maintain President's Rule. Morarji Desai, Gandhi's ex-colleague, held an indefinite fast in protest of the postponement of the elections. On his side were some of the top leaders in the country, including Jayaprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee16.17 Seeing this, the Central Government eventually yielded and in June 1975, the Gujarati state elections were held. However, before any results could be announced and the victorious party could be declared, an event so shocking occurred that the highly-anticipated Gujarat state elections were now thrown into the background.

One of the most significant