6.8 Consequences — What the Emergency Meant in Practice

The proclamation brought the agitation to an abrupt stop. Strikes were banned, many opposition leaders were put in jail, and the political situation became quiet though tense. Deciding to use its special powers under the Emergency provisions, the government moved on multiple fronts at once: arrests, censorship, suspension of fundamental rights, and constitutional changes. We need to look at each of these carefully.

6.8.1 Suspension of Fundamental Rights

Most importantly, under the provisions of Emergency, various Fundamental Rights of citizens stood suspended — including the right of citizens to move the Court for the restoration of their Fundamental Rights. The government made extensive use of preventive detention: people were arrested and detained not because they had committed any offence, but on the apprehension that they might commit one. Using the Maintenance of Internal Security Act^? (MISA) of 1971, the government made large-scale arrests during the Emergency.

Arrested political workers could not challenge their arrest through habeas corpus petitions. Many cases were filed in the High Courts and the Supreme Court by and on behalf of the arrested, but the government claimed it was not even necessary to inform the arrested of the reasons and grounds of their arrest. Several High Courts gave judgments that even after the declaration of the Emergency, the courts could entertain a writ of habeas corpus filed by a person challenging detention. In April 1976, however, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court (in the ADM Jabalpur habeas corpus case) over-ruled the High Courts and accepted the government's plea. It meant that during the Emergency the government could take away the citizen's right to life and liberty. The judgment closed the doors of the judiciary for ordinary citizens and is regarded as one of the most controversial Supreme Court rulings in Indian history.

6.8.2 Press Censorship — Blank Columns and Closed Magazines

The government suspended the freedom of the Press. Newspapers were asked to obtain prior approval for all material to be published — this is what we call press censorship. After midnight on 25/26 June, the electricity to all major newspaper offices was disconnected. Apprehending social and communal disharmony, the government also banned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jamait-e-Islami. Protests, strikes and public agitations were disallowed.

There were many acts of dissent and resistance. Political workers who escaped the first wave of arrests went underground and organised protests against the government. Newspapers like the Indian Express and the Statesman protested censorship by leaving blank spaces where news items had been censored. Magazines like Seminar and Mainstream chose to close down rather than submit to censorship. Many journalists were arrested for writing against the Emergency, and underground newsletters and leaflets were published to bypass censorship. Kannada writer Shivarama Karanth, awarded the Padma Bhushan, and Hindi writer Fanishwarnath Renu, awarded the Padma Shri, returned their awards in protest against the suspension of democracy. By and large, however, such open acts of defiance were rare.

6.8.3 Constitutional Changes — The 38th, 39th and 42nd Amendments

Parliament also brought in many new changes to the Constitution. In the background of the Allahabad ruling, an amendment was made declaring that elections of the Prime Minister, President and Vice-President could not be challenged in any court. The 42nd Amendment^? was also passed during the Emergency. This single amendment consisted of a series of changes in many parts of the Constitution and is therefore often called the "mini-Constitution".

Among the various changes made by the 42nd Amendment, a particularly significant one was that the duration of the legislatures in the country was extended from five to six years. This change was not only for the Emergency period but was intended to be of a permanent nature. Besides this, during an Emergency, elections could be postponed by one year. Effectively, after 1971, elections needed to be held only in 1978 — instead of 1976.

6.9 The 20-Point and 5-Point Programmes

The government also tried to give the Emergency a positive face. Indira Gandhi launched a 20-Point Programme for economic development — covering items such as land reform, abolition of bonded labour, control of speculation, rural housing, abolition of rural indebtedness, increased agricultural wages, and expansion of irrigation. Alongside this, her son Sanjay Gandhi, holding no constitutional position but exercising enormous political influence, propagated a parallel 5-Point Programme: family planning, afforestation (plant trees), abolition of dowry, abolition of illiteracy/adult literacy, and removal of slums (urban beautification).

6.9.1 Forced Sterilisations & Slum Demolitions

In practice, Sanjay Gandhi's programmes — implemented without legal sanction or parliamentary debate — produced some of the worst excesses of the Emergency. Family planning was pushed through aggressive vasectomy camps, with district administrations given quotas for sterilisations. Officials used coercion: government employees were threatened with loss of pay; permits, licences and even hospital admissions were denied to those who refused. Public outrage at these forced sterilisations — particularly among poorer and Muslim communities in north India — would deeply hurt the Congress in the 1977 election.

The "removal of slums" point led to the brutal demolition drives in Delhi. The most notorious incident took place at Turkman Gate in Delhi on 19 April 1976, where homes were bulldozed and protesters were fired upon. Forced relocation and displacement, the forced sterilisations — both were concentrated mostly in the northern States. The later Shah Commission would document many of these excesses in detail.

6.10 Resistance — Underground, Returned Awards, and Blank Columns

Although open defiance was rare, the Emergency was not without resistance. Indian Express and Statesman protested censorship by leaving blank spaces. Seminar and Mainstream closed rather than submit. Underground networks of party workers — across the Jana Sangh, Socialists and the RSS — circulated illegal leaflets, ran cyclostyle newsletters, organised secret meetings, and helped families of the detained. Internationally, the Free JP Campaign placed advertisements in newspapers like The Times in London. A small but symbolically powerful number of artists and writers returned their state honours.

6.11 Memorise These Names & Dates