Emergency: There was a Bangladesh connection behind Indira’s declaration of emergency, only Sheikh Hasina and her sister were able to survive

New Delhi: On the morning of August 15, 1975, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi began her speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, her close friend of the same age, Pupul Jayakar, was also present in the audience. Pupul Jayakar wanted Indira to announce the withdrawal of the emergency that she had imposed 50 days ago in her speech on August 15, but Indira did not do anything like that. On the intervening night of June 25-26, 1975, Indira imposed an internal emergency in the entire country. Today, let us talk about the circumstances under which Indira imposed the emergency and whether the background to it was the commotion in India’s neighbor Bangladesh. Along with this, we will also know whether any government can impose an emergency today? What are those rules and laws due to which it is not possible to repeat the emergency.

What happened 5 hours before Indira’s Red Fort speech

In senior journalist Sudeep Thakur’s book ‘Ten years: which changed the country’s politics’, it has been said that on August 15, 1975, five hours before Indira Gandhi’s speech to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Bangladesh founder Mujibur Rahman and his/her family were assassinated in Dhaka, 1867 km away from Delhi.

Indira’s friend Mujib’s daughters Hasina and Rehana survived

On the night between 14th and 15th August, some young rebel army officers reached Mujib’s residence with tanks and surrounded it. The rebel army killed a total of 20 people including Mujib, his/her three sons, his/her wife, two daughters-in-law, his/her brother and two servants. Mujibur Rahman’s entire family was wiped out in this massacre. Only his/her two daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana survived, who were outside Bangladesh in Germany at that time. It is a coincidence that recently Sheikh Hasina had come to India on the occasion of 50 years of Emergency.

These 8 people along with Indira had conspired for emergency, know what happened 4 hours before 12 o’clock that night

Mujib had also imposed emergency in the country

Sudeep Thakur explains that Sheikh Mujibur was at the peak of popularity with the formation of Bangladesh. But within just two-three years, his/her rule was surrounded by allegations of corruption and nepotism. he/she himself was accused of dictatorship. Amid heavy opposition, Sheikh Mujibur imposed emergency in Bangladesh on January 25, 1975 and established a single party system. When Pupul Jayakar went to meet her, Indira expressed apprehension that she and her family could also be targeted in a similar way. As Pupul Jayakar wrote quoting Indira, ‘I have ignored the intelligence reports till now, but now I cannot do so.’

When the Prime Minister’s residence turned into a war room

The matter worsened when Indira won the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha elections and her victory was challenged in the Allahabad High Court. Then the court declared Indira’s victory illegal and cancelled her membership. On June 13, 1975, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of Indira Gandhi and the court was requested to stay the entire decision of the Allahabad High Court. On the other hand, the Prime Minister’s residence turned into a ‘war room’ for political battles under the leadership of Sanjay and his/her close associates.

Statements were taken from leaders in favour of Indira

When it became clear that Indira Gandhi would not resign, Sanjay and his/her close associates did two things. First, statements of Congress leaders were issued in favour of Indira. Second, rallies were organised in favour of Indira at various places in the capital. On June 18, 1975, a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party was held and full faith was expressed in Indira Gandhi’s leadership. In this meeting, Congress President Devkant Barua crossed all limits of sycophancy and said – India is Indira, Indira is India.

Emergency, talk of constitution.. PM Modi has not mentioned them like this, this is the lesson of 24

When JP said- Destruction is black and the opposite of intelligence

On that sultry night of 25th and 26th June 1975, something was going to happen in the capital Delhi in the next few hours which was going to change the condition and direction of the country. Around 2 o’clock in the night, a police team knocked at Radhakrishna’s house. The police had come to take JP with them. The police took JP to the police station on Sansad Marg. After reaching the police station, as soon as JP was told that emergency has been imposed in the country and he/she is being arrested, JP suddenly said, “Vinaash kale viprit buddhi”. This is the famous statement which today’s politicians use every now and then. After this, personalities like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh were also arrested.

The Sangh chief had written many letters to Indira

According to Sudeep Thakur, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Anand Marg, Jamaat-e-Islami and the Maoist CPI (ML) were banned after the arrests of prominent leaders across the country. Sangh chief M. D. (Balasaheb) Deoras was also arrested from Nagpur. However, questions were raised about his/her role during the arrest. In fact, Deoras had written several letters to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi while imprisoned in Yerwada Central Jail, Pune. In these letters, he/she had claimed that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was a cultural organization and was not involved in violence.

When the Sangh chief wrote a letter defending JP

Deoras wrote the first letter on 22 August 1975 after listening to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15 August. he/she also defended JP in a letter. Deoras said in his/her letter that it is not right, it is inappropriate to call Jayaprakash Narayan a CIA agent, a partner of the capitalists, a traitor. he/she is also a patriot. Such thoughts have been expressed many times in your speeches.

Can emergency be imposed again today?

According to Supreme Court advocate Anil Singh Srinet, in today’s era, an emergency like the one imposed 50 years ago cannot be imposed. In fact, the public and social media have become so aware that the common man knows everything about his/her rights. At the same time, the Constitution and the Supreme Court have become so powerful that they are enough to stop the dictatorship of a single person. Even if someone wants to today, the Supreme Court can demolish that decision.

Strictness on emergency in 44th constitutional amendment

Supreme Court advocate Anil Singh Srinet explains that after the end of the Emergency, the 44th Constitutional Amendment, 1978 was made. In which it was said to prevent the misuse of emergency powers of the executive. Before the 44th Amendment Act 1978, a proclamation of emergency could be issued on the basis of war or external aggression or internal disturbance. Internal disturbance in this was vague and the government could misuse it. Now in the Act, the term ‘armed rebellion’ has been provided in place of internal disturbance, in which the President can declare an emergency only after the written recommendation of the cabinet. Apart from this-

• Once the proclamation of emergency was approved there was no parliamentary control. But now a special sitting of the Lok Sabha could be held to consider disapproval.
• Article 19 will automatically stand suspended if an emergency is declared on the ground of war or external aggression under the provisions of Article 358.
• The fundamental rights under Article 20 and Article 21 cannot be suspended during an emergency under any circumstances. Earlier, when an emergency was imposed, the enforcement of any or all fundamental rights could be suspended.
• Unlike in 1975, it is no longer possible for the Prime Minister to unilaterally decide to declare an emergency without any written explanation. A simple majority in Parliament is no longer sufficient to declare an emergency.
• The 44th Amendment Act made it mandatory that a proclamation of emergency would be reviewed after six months from its passing and in the absence of fresh parliamentary approval the emergency would be suspended.