New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has said that democratic rights were curtailed during the Emergency, but the restrictions were imposed constitutionally. Looking back at the period from the perspective of her mother-in-law, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, she said the latter was struggling to cope with rapidly deteriorating circumstances, including widespread organised unrest.
In an interview published in The Hindu on Saturday ahead of the launch of her book, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Sonia Gandhi said hindsight allowed people to view the events in better perspective. She also pointed out that Indira Gandhi had later publicly expressed regret and apologised for excesses committed during the Emergency.
Asked about Sanjay Gandhi’s name becoming synonymous with the Emergency and whether the excesses could have been avoided had Indira Gandhi listened to her elder son Rajiv and others, Sonia Gandhi said there were several people influencing the then prime minister.
“It was not only Sanjay, though in the public mind he is often seen as synonymous with the Emergency. There was a lot of pressure from some of her senior colleagues, and I think there were very few people around her like Rajiv who had a different point of view,” she said.
“I think eventually my mother-in-law began to understand the situation through her own wisdom and took actions to remedy it,” she added.
Sonia Gandhi said she came to understand the gravity of what had happened only after the Emergency.
“It was only after the Emergency that I came to know the true gravity of what had been happening. Yes, democratic rights had been curtailed, and there was a suspension of habeas corpus, but it was done constitutionally,” the former Congress chief said.
She said that, looking back at the period from Indira Gandhi’s perspective, she could see the challenges the then prime minister was facing.
“Yet, when I take myself back to that period and try to see it from Mrs Gandhi’s point of view, I see her struggling to cope with the rapidly deteriorating prevailing circumstances: violent protests, government offices and public transport set on fire, widespread organised unrest and even a call for the bureaucracy and armed forces to disobey orders,” she said.
“Hindsight allows us to put things better in perspective,” Sonia Gandhi said.
She also pointed out that Indira Gandhi eventually recognised the situation and called for fresh elections in 1977.
“And you know very well that she herself later publicly expressed regret and apologised for excesses during the Emergency,” the former Congress chief said.
The Emergency was imposed by then prime minister Indira Gandhi just before midnight on June 25, 1975. President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed issued the proclamation on her recommendation, which was subsequently ratified by the Union Cabinet.
On January 18, 1977, Indira Gandhi announced fresh elections and the release of political prisoners. In the Lok Sabha elections held in March that year, Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi were defeated.
The Emergency officially came to an end on March 21, 1977.
The BJP has strongly criticised the Congress over the Emergency, describing it as a “murder of democracy”. The Narendra Modi government has been observing June 25 as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas to mark what it calls a “dark phase” in Indian democracy.