In the history of India, the days from June 22, 1975 to March 21, 1977 were the black days of the Emergency. Many in the country are unaware of what the Emergency meant, and how it affected the lives of common people. A State of Emergency is declared under special circumstances. Emergencies have been in force in different countries to face foreign aggression, or deal with internal violence. When a State of Emergency is declared, it affects the whole populace of a country.
In India, the Emergency was declared not to protect the country from danger, but to protect the personal interests of a single leader, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister. She had been defeated in elections. She then filed an election petition, which she lost, and she appealed to the High Court and the Supreme Court. She lost her case everywhere. After that, to safeguard her own political position she declared the Emergency, thereby concentrating all powers in herself. Most of the country was in deep sleep when the Emergency was declared. India awoke in darkness. All sorts of human rights were taken away mercilessly.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was declared in 1948. It encompasses the rights of people anywhere and everywhere in the world. To make sure that these rights are fully enjoyed by the common person, the Supreme Court of India had made certain suggestions. Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer compiled these into law. Of these, the most important ones are the right to life and the right to know. If these two rights are protected, all others will get protected along with them. The clause dealing with the right to life makes clear the rules applicable during arrest, and details of the rights of the person arrested. It clearly instructs that the person arrested should be brought before the court within 24 hours of arrest, and subjected to medical examination at least once within 48 hours of arrest. If the authorities had obeyed these rules, Rajan’s case and others like it would never have happened. The most inhuman aspect of the Emergency was that the two major human rights, the right to life and the right to know, were totally denied. The tragedy of my son was typical of this denial of rights.
The Emergency was lifted over 25 years ago. The general public has forgotten those days almost completely. This is dangerous. The dark powers of the Emergency are still there. Like venomous snakes they are hiding in their holes. Given a chance, they will raise their heads again, so people need to be constantly alert. There should be strong defenses built to face these dark forces, I feel. Even at the beginning of Rajan’s case, I declared that such an incident should never be allowed to happen in the country again. All my work since has been aimed at this. This book also is a part of that work.
To alert people against the powers of the Emergency we toured the state in a procession. All the people who were tortured during those days were represented. All political parties not in power during the Emergency cooperated with us. Left wing youth organizations like the Students Federation of India and Democratic Youth Federation of India were the organizers. Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Mr. P. P. Dasan represented those two groups respectively. Mr. Gopi Kottamurikkal representing the Communist Party Of India (Marxist) and Mr. Ettumanoor Radhakrishnan representing the Bharatheeya Janatha Party were also in the procession. I was its captain. All throughout Kerala people gave the procession a rousing reception. Thousands came to greet us.
A woman from Malappuram district carrying a small baby in her arms also participated. Her husband was a village officer who had been arrested after being branded as an extremist. He died in police custody. The reason for his death is still unknown. The police claim he died when the police jeep in which he was being taken caught fire. The procession’s aim was to meet and submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Mr. A. K. Antony, and request him to get the village officer’s wife a job in the government service, to redress the death of her husband. The Chief Minister could have saved that family, but he didn’t react positively.
History doesn’t pardon a lack of reaction and laziness often. I fought a lonely battle for my lost son. Though tired, I am still carrying on.
