On June 25, 1975, the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi declared an “Emergency” across the country. The emergency was for a 21-month period time that is from 1975 to 1977. It has been 45 years since the day emergency was declared. Though it might not exist anymore, neither the prime minister who declared it but when you read about those days you would realise that the scars of The Emergency linger fresh. The entire political system still has its echoes running inside the political sphere of the country.
So here we have some of the rare pictures from the darkest period of India’s democracy:
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1. Power came solely into the hands of Indira Gandhi.
2. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister declares the Emergency.
3. Major opposition leaders were jailed after the Emergency was announced.
4. Police beating Lok Jayaprakash Narayan during the Emergency.
5. Narendra Modi, the present Prime Minister had to remain in disguise.
6. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy disguised himself and went underground.
7. The houses near Jama Masjid were demolished by bulldozers.
8. Censorship was imposed on the press. All India Radio was also pacified. Both of these were important means of getting news.
9. In a weekly English newspaper named ‘Himmat’, some people continued to oppose it.
10. Indira Gandhi was strongly opposed by artists like Safdar Hashmi and some intellectuals.
11. George Fernandez became evidence of Emergency.
12. Sanjay Gandhi mass sterilization program carried out as a measure of population control.
13. Suchitra Sen’s political film Aandhi was stopped from release. It was released after the emergency.
14. The film Kissa Kursi Ka was also banned.
15. In 1977, Indira Gandhi was forced to remove the emergency after the order of the Supreme Court.
16. George Fernandes, then Union Minister for Industry, addresses the railway employees in New Delhi in May 1979.
17. Men register their names for vasectomy at Dujana House Family Planning Clinic in Old Delhi, 6 Sep 1976.
18. Sterilised men are given ghee and clocks as rewards for undergoing vasectomy. At Dujana House 6 Sept 1976.
19. Press interview of Indira Gandhi arranged by the National Broadcasting Corporation, 20 August 1975.
20. Resistance cartoon by R.K. Laxman, December 1976. Reproduced from Satyavani, an underground newspaper published in New York and London during the Emergency.
21. Delhi for foreign dignitaries: Jagmohan, Vice Chairman of the Delhi Development Authority flanked by Margaret and Denis Thatcher, visiting a DDA housing project, 24 September 1976.
22. Janata Party Prime Minister Morarji Desai lays the foundation-stone of the new housing complex to be built at Turkman Gate, 19 Jan 1977.
23. The man behind the mess: Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency on the advice of Siddhartha Shankar Ray, the then West Bengal Chief Minister.
24. Speech breach: Many Congress leaders slammed C. Subramaniam for taking a harsh stand against Indira while deposing before the Shah Commission.
25. President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who declared the Emergency.
Also read: 39 Historical And Rare Photos From Around The World You Have Never Seen Before
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