“The circumstances in which the Emergency was declared and the ease with which it was accomplished should be a warning to the citizens of the country. The Cabinet and the important functionaries of the Government were not only not consulted but were deliberately kept in the dark by Smt. Indira Gandhi when she decided to advise the President to impose an “internal Emergency” upon an already existing Emergency in the country….The public records of the times, Secret, Confidential or Public and publications in newspapers, speak with unanimity that there was no unusual event or even a tendency in that direction to justify the imposition of Emergency”.
– Shah Commission of Inquiry, Inquiry (on administrative excesses during the emergency) – Interim Report – II, Submitted on April 26, 1978, Chapter XV, pp. 140-141
This year marks the fifty years of the dark days of Emergency. The Union Government has commemorated it as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas – the day of the murderous onslaught on the Constitution. Ms Indira Gandhi imposed the emergency to save her position as Prime Minister after she lost the case in the Allahabad High Court, and the Supreme Court refused to grant her any relief on June 24, 1975. Much earlier, under the leadership of the stalwart Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), a movement was initiated to mobilise people for Samoorna Kranti – involving personal, socio-economic, and systemic transformation based on Gandhian ideals. Along with him, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was the prime target of the dynastic Congress. Today, just fifty years later, there has been distortion at multiple levels.
Instead of recognising the personal dictatorial ambitions of Ms Indira Gandhi as the root cause of the Emergency, an attempt is being made to divert the blame to a selfless leader like JP and nationalist organisation like RSS. The claim of ‘apology’ by Rahul Gandhi on the Emergency by Congress spokesperson is another baltant lie. ¬ He used the word ‘mistake’ reluctantly in a reply to a question while claiming that his grandmother had already said ‘as much’. Smt. Gandhi never apologised; in fact, she made bizarre accusations against the inquiry commission and recalled the copies of the report once she returned to power. Rahul Gandhi’s argument that the Congress at no point attempted to capture India’s institutional framework was nothing but a figment of imagination, as every report of the era suggests that all institutions, including the judiciary and bureaucracy, were expected to be ‘committed’. The Communists and their media mouthpieces, as they do not have any prominent political spokesperson, tried their best to disassociate from the fight against the Emergency led by JP and RSS and found solace in defending the dynastic dictatorship that damaged the original spirit of the Constitution. The regional dynastic parties, whose leadership emerged from the struggle against the Emergency, are also sitting in the Congress’ lap and are happy to rant against the RSS. The worst came from another emerging dynastic politician whose father is still waiting to take instructions from the first family, who made another undemocratic announcement of banning RSS, if (ever) Congress returns to power. Ironically, whenever Congress had to strangulate the spirit of the Constitution, RSS was their favourite target.
When RSS Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale spoke about how ‘secularism’and ‘socialism’ were inserted into the Constitution during the Emergency, he was exposing this hypocrisy. Dr Ambedkar was unmistakable when he called out communists as the enemies of the Constitution while dedicating the final draft to the nation in 1949. Various outfits with allegiance to communism have openly called the Constitution’ bourgeoisie’, and most of them vowed to overthrow it someday. Congress often touted slogans for Constitutional democracy but never adhered to them due to dynastic claims and egos. From the First Amendment by Nehru to the attempt to bring in unconstitutional law like the ‘Communal violence bill’ by Sonia Gandhi, steering the UPA Government, the Congress has always tried to undermine the Constitutional democracy for dynastic interests. Rahul Gandhi waving a red-covered Constitution without any substance in it is nothing but manipulation and extension of the same ploy, now sadly compromising national unity and integrity. The Islamists, who believe in Sharia over the Constitution, are the allies for the Gandhi scion in this process.
The Congress-Communist habit of using RSS as a favourite punching bag would not help us in saving the spirit of the Constitution. From the first ban to date, the RSS has always opted for Constitutional means to resist tyranny and mobilised the people through democratic means to save the Constitution. As Father Anthony Elingemittam had pointed out, RSS is nothing but a movement of organising the entire society for ‘Hind Swaraj’. The true spirit of the Constitution and democracy, with its Bharatiya characteristics, is the ultimate goal of the Sangh. Hence, whenever the Constitution and democracy have come under attack, it is the RSS and selfless leaders like JP who have come forward. We should celebrate this ‘Rishi Parampara’, which values our traditions and understands the Bharatiya spirit of the Constitution without power considerations. The Communist, fascist, Islamist and dynastic means of using the Constitution to overthrow the same must be exposed and resisted. For that, people need to understand who the real enemies and who the true saviours are of the Constitution.
