For Reasons of State

Title: For Reasons of State – Delhi under Emergency

Author: John Dayal, Ajoy Bose

Publisher: Penguin, 2018 (First published 1977)

ISBN: 9780670090808

Pages: 243

Indians can justifiably be proud of their nation being the largest democracy in the world. This euphoria belies the precipice into which its democracy had fallen 42 years ago when a patrician, egotistic and vain woman usurped all power into the hands of her younger son and tucked the nation under the doormat to be trodden upon by her coterie. Indira Gandhi's fall from grace was surprisingly swift and comprehensive. The 1971 victory in the war against Pakistan catapulted Indira virtually into the realm of the divine, as the conquest was total and Pakistan lay prostrate, cut neatly into two pieces. Just three years later the situation changed. A row of protests by the Opposition had upset her comfortable position. To add fuel to the fire, the Allahabad High Court declared her election as null and void on account of electoral malpractices. There was only one denouement to the verdict – Indira had to resign. This was unacceptable to her younger son Sanjay Gandhi who had begun dabbling in politics as a cover for corruption and blatant misuse of power. Indira Gandhi declared an internal Emergency on 25 June 1975 and curtailed all civil liberties. It lasted for 21 months till 21 March 1977. Her lawyers argued in the Supreme Court that citizens did not enjoy even the right to life during Emergency. Newspapers were put under strictest censoring. People who even dared to dream of protest were dragged into prisons. Through forced sterilization, the state nakedly violated the most intimate privacy of a citizen’s life. Even though all of India reeled under the draconian rules of the Emergency, Delhi was particularly vulnerable to it as the ‘royal family’ resided there and the sycophantic officials tried their best to impress them by fiercely following the policy guidelines formulated by Indira and Sanjay. This book reveals the impact of Emergency in Delhi, red in tooth and claw. The details and immediate and long term causes of it are not considered. Ajoy Bose was a TV commentator and columnist. He has written many books on Emergency and politics in general. John Dayal is the secretary general of the All India Christian Council and a past president of the All India Catholic Union. He is also a human rights and political activist.

During emergency, a few public officials and politicians of the Congress party exploited the gagged populace to settle past scores. The people had to absolutely obey the commands of the rulers. There were no civil or judicial remedies available. Sterilization was a prominent objective of all governments in free India to put a speed break on the soaring population growth. Participation was always voluntary and incentives were offered to them. Sanjay Gandhi thought of making a harvest of sterilization cases by forcibly vasectomizing unwilling people. Tired doctors carried out rapid-fire surgeries on their screaming victims. There was an offer of two rupees per gash for them. Groups of Youth Congress activists under the label of the Nehru Brigade herded even adolescents to the camps. The extra-constitutional command structure worked like a well-oiled machine. Delhi’s city officials met with Sanjay one by one and took instructions every day. They competed with one another to gain the prince’s favour. Nothing pleased Sanjay as much as the knowledge that instant action has been taken on his words. When the initial enthusiasm for Nasbandi (sterilization) waned, stricter controls were put in place. Treatment in government hospitals was made payable for people who had more than two children unless they produced a certificate of sterilization. This was then extended gradually to sanctioning of bank loans, granting of annual increments and even payment of monthly salaries to the government officials.

Clearing of slums and encroachments was the other area in which the zealous officials fully lived up to the notoriety that the future held in store for them. On the face of it, there was nothing objectionable to the motive. The slums had to be cleared and illegal constructions dismantled. Moreover, the authorities promised alternate housing for the displaced families. It was Sanjay’s desire that Delhi be cleaned and all unseemly slums, all places which reminded one of the rank hunger and poverty be removed. Life was not easy even for legitimate residents. The municipal corporation passed an order giving seven days’ notice to the residents to change their plumbing and to convert dry latrines to flush-type. The slum demolition was kept closely guarded. The inhabitants knew of it only when the team arrived at site with heavy machinery and produced an eviction notice issued in the distant past. They were asked to voluntarily pull down their houses within a few hours if they wanted to save the bricks and asbestos. 1.2 lakh housing units were removed and 7 lakh people resettled in a matter of a few weeks. The evictees were in for a rude shock when they reached the resettlement colonies. Not only were they situated at a great distance from work, but the available infrastructure was paltry. Basic amenities were unheard of. Drinking water was heavily contaminated with human waste and diseases on the rampage. The author's narrative of the pitiable condition of those housing colonies presents a very grim picture of reality. They were in fact concentration camps that broke down the personalities and individuality of people and entire communities.

This book was originally published in 1977 and this edition is a recent one put out in 2018. An introduction to the latest issue is presented as an opportunity to take stock of the political conditions prevailing in the country then and now. This unleashes a surprising tirade on Narendra Modi and his government with the observation that the nation is poised for another bout of emergency. Even though Dayal - Ajoy Bose is no more – concedes that the constitution is not suspended, press is not censored and opposition leaders are not jailed, Modi's growing stature as a tough politician upsets him. You may or may not have valid reasons for supporting or opposing Modi, but wild and false speculations such as the nation's slide to Emergency is nothing more than fearmongering of an intolerant mind. John Dayal froths in the mouth with venom when he is disorientated by seeing Modi's portraits everywhere in the countryside and the fact that he has won a few elections in a row. Another bone of contention is that most private television channels support the government which is claimed to be out of fear. Dayal laments at the restrictions placed on NGOs on receiving funds from abroad. Drying up of this lucrative channel for receiving overseas money has infuriated many a liberal to no end. The all-out assault on Modi seems to have originated from the impotent frustration of a group of liberals. Mark Tully, the former BBC India chief, also chimes in with a politically one-sided foreword.

The book is structured as a fictional narrative based on facts listed out in an introductory chapter. It includes the names and addresses of all people killed in the Turkman Gate police firing when people violently protested against forceful evictions. Every sentence in the book is a poisoned dart on the Congress government and Indira Gandhi for their total disregard of human suffering caused by their pompous and self-serving reform measures and each one of them hits the bull’s eye. Books on Emergency provide a valuable lesson to people in any democracy by giving them a warning of the supreme ease with which a fully functional democratic state might tumble into the depths of autocracy in the blink of an eye.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 3 Star