The opening of Parliament this week saw the BJP, from Prime Minister Modi to various other party members, harking back to the declaration of Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1975. Many argue that the irony is lost on Modi and the BJP, given the way they have trampled all over democratic institutions in the last 10 years, not least on the media.
But I think that is not the case. They know very well what they’re doing. They know that their captive lapdog media will amplify their lies and manufactured outrage and present an image of Modi and the BJP being saviours of democracy to their core audience.
It was interesting in that light to read this piece by Lalu Prasad (Yadav) and Nalin Verma, in the Indian Express, about how Indira Gandhi’s Emergency was different to Modi’s Emergency, especially in the way Modi and the BJP have attacked democracy. (Undoubtedly there will be several counters from the far right which dominates the Indian Express’s opinion pages, but well, never mind that for now.)
I quote extensively from this piece, because it highlights everything today’s media should have told you about Modi and the BJP claims in the Lok Sabha and did not or could not or would not:
“Shockingly, Modi and his BJP-RSS friends are “enlightening” the next generation about a period in which they played a dubious role. I (Lalu) was the convener of the steering committee that Jayaprakash Narayan—the greatest people’s leader after Mahatma Gandhi—had constituted to carry forward the movement against the excesses of Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. I was in jail under the Maintenance of Security Act (MISA) for over 15 months. My colleagues and I did not know many of the BJP ministers speaking about the Emergency today. We hadn’t heard of Modi, J P Nadda and some of the PM’s other ministerial colleagues who today lecture us on the value of freedom…
“The then Prime Minister had resorted to constitutional provisions to declare Emergency. Indira Gandhi put many of us behind bars, but she never abused us. Neither she nor her ministers called us “anti-national” or “unpatriotic”. She never enabled vandals to defile the memory of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar—the architect of our Constitution. She also did not associate with those who endorse lynch mobs to kill and maim minorities and Dalits in the name of religion and caste. Cattle traders were not persecuted and killed on suspicion of possessing beef. The assassins of Mahatma Gandhi were not worshipped during the 1975 Emergency. Young people were free to choose partners of their choice. They were not persecuted in the name of a fictitious “love jihad”…
“In fact, JP never liked the Sangh Parivar leaders and their dual roles. He asked them to disassociate themselves from the RSS to join the Janata Party based on his philosophy of socialism, equality and justice. Sangh leaders never abided by JP. They used the movement to gain recognition in society and continued with their communal ways…
“Veteran Socialist leader Shivanand Tiwary recalled how the then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras, arrested under MISA, wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi supporting her 20-point programme that her government had put in place to garner public support for the Emergency. He also pleaded with other RSS workers.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/what-the-sangh-does-not-say-about-emergency-9418731/
The Emergency was a dark period in India’s democracy. The Emergency lasted from 1975 to 1977. Elections were called for when it was clear that public unrest could not be contained, even though democratic rights had been suspended and the administration had given itself special powers. The public response to the Emergency – apart from those largely middle class people who loved the idea of authoritarian rule – was negative.
The contrast to today’s scenario could not be more stark. The media was very different then, largely middle of the road and conservative. Radio and TV were government-owned. Literacy levels were low and this curtailed the reach of the print media. And yet, people spoke with their feet.
In spite of the reach of the media, in spite of literacy levels, in spite of information spreading almost without any time lag, we are slower in our response time. The American media has been fact-checking the face-off between US President Joe Biden and Republic presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump since yesterday’s first debate. In India, we have to depend on independent fact-checkers.
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.