– Dr. Saurabh Malviya
Emergency is called the most controversial and undemocratic period in the history of independent India. 48 years have passed since the Emergency, but every year as soon as the month of June approaches, its memory becomes fresh. Along with this, the role of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in emergency is also remembered. The Sangh strongly opposed the Emergency. Thousands of Sangh workers went to jail and many workers made sacrifices.
It is noteworthy that on June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court ruled that Indira Gandhi had adopted unfair means in the 1971 Lok Sabha elections. The court held him guilty and canceled his election. His opponent was Raj Narayan from Rae Bareli, the constituency of Indira Gandhi. Although Indira Gandhi was declared victorious in the election result. But Raj Narayan, who was defeated in this election, was not satisfied with the election process. He filed a petition against Indira in the Allahabad High Court, accusing her of adopting unfair means to win the election. His allegation was that Indira Gandhi had made improper use of the government machinery to win the election.
On June 25, 1975, the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the Indian Constitution at the behest of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This emergency remained till 21 March 1977. Civil rights were suspended during this time period. Elections at all levels were also postponed. The opponents of power were taken prisoner. The press was also banned. Journalists were also taken prisoner. Vasectomy campaign was carried out under the leadership of Sanjay Gandhi, son of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. It is said that unmarried youths were also forcibly sterilized in this campaign. This created huge anger among the people towards the ruling party.
Manikchandra Vajpayee writes in his book Emergency Struggle Saga- ‘Congress organized a huge rally on June 20, 1975 and in this rally Devkantbarua said-‘Indira teri subah ki jai, teri sham ki jai, teri kaam ki jai’ Hail to your name. During her speech in this public meeting, Indira Gandhi announced that she would not resign from the post of Prime Minister.
Jayaprakash Narayan opposed the Emergency. He called it the ‘darkest period in Indian history’. Manikchandra Vajpayee further writes- ‘Jayaprakash Narayan ji said in front of a huge gathering at Ramlila Maidan on June 25, 1975,’ All the opposing parties should unite for the interest of the country, otherwise dictatorship will be established here and the public will be unhappy. ‘ Lok Sangharsh Samiti’s secretary Nanaji Deshmukh announced with enthusiasm there, ‘After this, meetings will be held in every village demanding the resignation of Indiraji and there will be Satyagraha daily from June 29 in front of the President’s residence.’ The same evening, when thousands of people were returning from the huge public meeting at Ramlila Maidan, it was as if from every dust particle there was a demand that ‘the Prime Minister should resign and follow the tradition of a real republic’.
Due to the emergency, the public was mourning. According to HV Seshadri’s book Kritirup Sangh Darshan, all types of communication system, such as newspapers-magazines, forum, postal service and elected legislatures were stopped. The question was that in this situation, who should organize the mass movement? No one else could have done this except the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Sangh had its own network of shakhas across the country and could play this role. The Sangh has built itself from the very beginning with the technique of people-to-people contact. He never depended on the press or the platform for public contact. Therefore, the effect of stopping the communication media was on other parties, but it did not affect the Sangh at all. Its central decisions at the all-India level reach the village through the levels of province, department, district and tehsil. When the emergency was declared and till the emergency lasted, this communication system of the Sangh worked smoothly. The houses of the union workers proved to be the greatest boon for the fabric of the underground movement and because of this the intelligence officers could not trace the whereabouts of the underground workers.
Sir Sanghchalak Balasaheb Deoras was arrested at Nagpur station on 30th June. Earlier, he had given an appeal that in this extraordinary situation, it is the responsibility of the volunteers not to lose their balance. Continue the union work as per the orders of Sir Karyavah Madhavrao Mulay and the officer appointed by him and build the capacity of the general public to perform their national duty by doing the work of public relations, public awareness and public education as before. The volunteers of the Sangh acted according to his call.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was banned on 4 July 1975, a few days after the declaration of emergency. In the anti-Emergency struggle organized by the Lok Sangharsh Samiti, more than one lakh volunteers performed Satyagraha. Out of a total of one lakh 30 thousand Satyagrahis who did Satyagraha during the Emergency, more than one lakh belonged to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Out of the 30,000 people taken prisoner under MISA, more than 25,000 were volunteers of the Sangh. 100 workers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, mostly in prisons and a few outside, were killed during the Emergency. Pandurang Ksheer Sagar, the head of the All India System of the Sangh was also among them.
The office bearers and workers of the Sangh continued the movement of Jayaprakash Narayan against the ruling party. According to Mohanlal Rustagi’s book Emergency Sangharsh Gatha, before his arrest, Shri Jayaprakash Narayan had entrusted the responsibility to full time worker of ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ Shri Nanaji Deshmukh to run the movement of ‘Lok Sangharsh Samiti’. When Nanaji Deshmukh was arrested, the responsibility of leadership was handed over unanimously to Mr. Sundar Singh Bhandari. To keep the country alert from the situation arising out of the imposition of Emergency and to maintain the morale of the people, the workers of the Sangh were decided for underground work.
The volunteers of the Sangh did satyagraha in protest against the policies of the government. In this episode, on August 9, 1975, Satyagraha was done in Meerut city. On the same day loud crackers were burst at various places in Muzaffarpur. Thereafter, on August 15, 1975, when the Prime Minister moved towards the mike to deliver a speech at the Red Fort, at the same time 50 Satyagrahis raised slogans and distributed pamphlets from among the public. After this, on October 2, Satyagraha was done at the tomb of Mahatma Gandhi in front of the Prime Minister.
On October 28, 1975, when a group of Commonwealth MPs visited Delhi, activists distributed anti-Emergency literature to them. On November 14, 1975, slogans were raised against the Emergency near Nehru’s tomb in front of the Prime Minister. On 24 November 1975, at the All India Teachers’ Conference, Satyagrahis went on stage in front of the Prime Minister and distributed pamphlets and raised slogans against dictatorship. On December 7, 1975, Satyagraha was organized at the tomb of great musician Tansen in Gwalior. On that day the program of Silver Jubilee was organized. On December 12, 1975, in front of the statue of Swami Shraddhanand in Delhi, women under the leadership of Sardar Patel’s daughter Maniben Patel performed satyagraha. Satyagraha was carried out by the workers in the mills of Bombay.
The Congress suffered a lot due to the Emergency. The image of the government started tarnishing in the public and resentment against it increased. In view of this, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi recommended to dissolve the Lok Sabha and hold elections.
Congress was defeated in the elections. Indira Gandhi herself was defeated in the election from her constituency Rae Bareli. The Janata Party got a huge majority. Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister. Thus, for the first time after independence, a non-Congress government was formed. The new central government constituted the Shah Commission to investigate the decisions taken during the Emergency. The Shah Commission in its report expressed concern over the loss of governance by mentioning the incidents that happened during the Emergency.
In fact, the Emergency was harmful to the Congress. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh strongly opposed the Emergency. Due to this, he had to bear the brunt of the wrath of the authorities, but the protests by the Sangh during the Emergency made him famous among the people. In this way the Sangh grew with the victory of democracy.
(The author is a freelance commentator.)
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