Open Forum

New Delhi, 2 July 2025

Emergency Revisited

NOW ‘UNDECLARED’: CONG

By Dhurjati Mukherjee 

The BJP is marking the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, emphasising how power was misused by Late Indira Gandhi for personal interests without considering the broader national interest. Going into top gear, Union Home Minister Amit Shah highlighted Narendra Modi's “nation first” approach. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge launched a counter attack stating that an “undeclared emergency” has prevailed for the past 11 years and claiming that Modi is addressing this issue to divert attention from ‘governance challenges and institutional control’. 

Observing June 25, the BJPsaid the Congress should not divert from the Emergency-era excesses on people and tender an apology. It insisted it’s imperative to discuss the sufferings the then government inflicted on people so that it is never repeated. As against this, critics of the BJP-led NDA government are raising questions about freedom of expression in the country and accusing the government of lacking tolerance and trampling liberty and fraternity.In particular, they allege journalists and student activists are being imprisoned for simply being critical of the government and opposing its policies. 

A recent study undertaken by the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s TrialWatch Initiative in partnership with the National Law University, Delhi and Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute analyzed 624 incidents of criminalisation of journalists in relation to their work from 2012-2022. The dataset breaks down 423 criminal cases against 427 journalists across states and Union Territories of the country. It has been found that reporters in metros were arrested 24 percent of the total incidents but this rises to 58 percent for journalists in small cities/towns and villages. The latter are more vulnerable to arrest and detention as they lack necessary legal support and access to justice. Across the country, police invoked a multitude of offences against journalists and registered large number of cases against them. 

Additionally, recent data from India Hate Lab, an international research centre, witnessed a rise in anti-minority hate speeches by an astonishing 74 percent in 2024, year of the General election. Worse, the crisis of free speech transcends its contamination by hate, it noted. The foundational tenet of regimes endorsing free speech, as was pointed out in a recent talk byone of the country’s foremost intellectuals Pratap Bhanu Mehta, has traditionally been rooted in a milieu of trust between State and citizens. 

While the imposition of Emergency has to be condemned in the strongest possible terms, the Opposition is of the opinion and flogs the BJP’s dislike for civil society. The authoritarian manner of functioning of Modi has been successful in controlling all aspects of governance and administration, it claims. There is no transparency and institutions, vital for a healthy democracy, have been deprived of autonomy. 

A deeper analysis perhaps may reveal that both the Congress and the BJP have misused the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act(FCRA) to target NGOs and civil society, particularly those criticizing environmental and human rights issues. This reflects the government’s fear of an independent scrutiny. The prime minister’s extraordinary and unprecedented act of avoidance of the press exemplifies this concern, it’s argued. Additionally, there have been attacks on the press, with journalists and activists jailed under the UAPA for criticising government policies and highlighting its failures. 

The overall hostility to civil society and independent thought is common worldwide. The BJP, in power in most Indian states, often uses its authority to suppress and crush civil society organisations, which are vocal. It is pertinent to mention here that the French thinker, Alexis de Tocqueville argued that American democracy thrives because of its voluntary organisations, which remains true today, but is under threat. After India's Emergency period ended, democratic culture allowed both critical and constructive voluntary organisations to flourish, benefiting the political system and society. 

Statistics spell out how democracy is increasingly in peril across the globe. The Economist’s recent Global Democracy Index indicates that just 6.6 percent of the world’s total population, residing in 25 out of the 165 countries assessed, enjoyed full democracy in 2024. The first GDI in 2006 had credited 28 countries covering 13 percent of the world population with ‘Full Democracies’. Ten years later in 2016, it reported a sharp decline with 19 countries and just about 4.5 percent of the world population in that category. The Economist distributed its results based on 60 parameters in four categories – ‘full democracies’, ‘flawed democracies’, ‘hybrid systems’ and ‘authoritarian regimes’. Over the last two decades, much less than one-fifth of the world’s countries have been described as fully democratic. Despite the dilution of its content, democracy is still in circulation in the public discourse of political leaders though they may be practicing ‘hybrid systems’ or ‘flamed democracies’. 

Some political analysts have observed that of all the prime ministers India has had since independence, Indira Gandhi and Modi have been the two instinctively authoritarian. Both tried to undermine institutions through autocratic means and ensured a committed bureaucracy and also, to an extent, a committed judiciary. These prime ministers,it is alleged, would not allow federalism to flourish, and both used the office of the governor to weaken elected governments. However, despite her dictatorial ways, Indira Gandhi upheld the plural idea of India enshrined in the Constitution, wherein citizenship is not defined in terms of language, religion or ethnicity.   

In fact, in the present times, the poison of religious bigotry has pervaded society and brought enmity, jealousy and hatred among communities. This resulted in hate speech among political leaders and the steady loosening of bondage among communities. This bigotry is increasing day by day with the tacit support of political leaders, who are only interested in reaping electoral advantage. Political analysts and sociologists rightly point out and, if unchecked, this may not just destroy democratic plurality but also the social fabric of the country.---INFA 

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)