I want to tell you about the black night of emergency. About the Emergency of Emergency. What I saw with my eyes 50 years ago. What kind of pain did I feel in the police stations, how did you feel suffocated in jail. And no one may be able to tell you this thing. I have endured this pain, felt the suffocation. So I will tell you my experience.
It was in 1975, fifty years ago, when the President’s announcement was signed at forty five minutes on the night of 25 June and the cabinet meeting was called at six in the morning and approved. At the same time, the Joint Secretary of the Prime Minister’s office, P.N. Bahl reached the newsroom of Akashvani. He ordered that the Prime Minister’s address to the nation will be broadcast in place of the news bulletin at 8 am on All India Radio. After this, Indira Gandhi’s voice was heard on the radio in the morning. Brothers and sisters, the President has declared an emergency.
But we had received the news at night, in the morning there was a joke with the constitution, the order of emergency was done at six o’clock in the morning, but the police reached the house of the big leaders of the country at midnight, knocked on the door, midnight knock. All the big leaders of opposing parties like Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Prakash Singh Badal, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Raj Narayan, Pilu Modi, Biju Patnaik were arrested at night. Everyone was taken into custody at night. Indira Gandhi did not even wait for the formalities to be completed. The power of newspapers was cut off the same night. The same night many editors, journalists were also arrested. Even before the announcement of Emergency, the terror of dictatorship spread throughout the country. It was a small matter to send people to jail when emergency. Actually the entire country was converted into jail.
But why was an emergency imposed? Why did Indira Gandhi do this? It has been fifty years now, people must have forgotten. On 12 June 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha, Judge of Allahabad High Court, gave a verdict. The Lok Sabha elections that Indira Gandhi won in Rae Bareli was challenged by Rajnarayan in the court. It was alleged that the Prime Minister made his personal secretary and government officer Yashpal Kapoor an election agent, Swami Advaitanand made an independent candidate by paying a bribe of fifty thousand rupees, distributed liquor and blankets to voters. All these allegations were proved in the court. Justice Sinha canceled Indira Gandhi’s election, banning her election for six years. This decision meant Indira Gandhi to resign.
Following the court order, leaders of the opposing parties pressurized Indira Gandhi to resign. A big rally took place at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. In this rally, Jayaprakash Narayan described Indira Gandhi’s government as illegal, demanded her resignation. The same night, Sanjay Gandhi, Bansi Lal and Siddharth Shankar Rai, it was decided to impose emergency on his advice. Indira Gandhi imposed an emergency to maintain the government, to remain the Prime Minister, not to obey the court order.
How did we avoid the police?
Nobody had an idea what emergency meant. On the night of 25 June, I was in the hostel of Delhi University Campus, there was a censorship on newspapers, no newspapers came out, electricity of newspapers offices had been cut, police were stationed on newspaper offices. I remember Arun Jaitley came to the campus in the morning. I got the news in the hostel. All of us met at the Coffee House of Campus Law Center. There it was found that at two o’clock in the night, the police had come to arrest him at Arun Jaitley’s house. His father was a lawyer. He kept the police entangled and Arun Jaitley disappeared from the back door.
What would have been missing, he had come to the university campus. In that meeting, we decided that we will raise our voice against this dictatorship. Will take out a procession in the campus. There were many people of Samajwadi Party, SFI people. A procession with all the people reached the coffee house above the university. Standing on a table in the center there, Arun Jaitley started giving a speech. I was standing next to him. Then I saw that the police had laid siege from all sides and four-five policemen are moving towards Arun Jaitley in plain clothes. I told Vijay Goyal in gestures. He also stood there. He gestured Arun and we all fled in different directions. I had to run behind Vijay Goyal’s scooter. Arun Jaitley, who had to run away on the scooter of the Sahib, disappeared in fear. Arun Jaitley was arrested by the police. Police brought him to the Moris Nagar police station.
We made a plan that we will go to the police station with a procession of boys and will rescue Arun Jaitley. He was the President of the Delhi University Students Union. At that time, the SHO of that police station took us separately and explained to us. It is told that how the rights have been given to the police in the Emergency, any person can be arrested without a warrant and if someone tries to riot, there are orders to shoot him on seeing it. The same Sho Saheb came to know that due to the emergency, the citizens of the country had neither freedom of expression nor to protect. Then for the first time it was discovered that what is the emergency, how serious it is.
Arun Jaitley was arrested under the Misa Act and sent directly to jail. Because I and Vijay Goyal were together on the scooter, both of us were left. The rest of the contact broke. We went to Vijay’s house, took some clothes from there and then every day the houses of different acquaintances started sleeping. Then one day the idea came that how should people be told what is happening in emergency. According to the stories of the freedom movement we had read, it decided to take out a newspaper. What was the newspaper, there was a psycholastic form, named ‘torch’. My hand ritting was good, so I used to write all the news on the cyclostal paper.
There was a coaching center in Shaktinagar near the campus, Sharma New Arts College. After his college was closed, at night, I and Vijay Goyal would take out five-six copies on his psychology machine in a candle light. Sitting there, they used to close them in envelopes and used to throw them in the houses of University Campus at night in the hostel of Vice Chancellor. This was my first introduction in the newspaper world. The first introduction in the world of underground movement was. This series lasted for several days. One day at night we were extracting psychology paper. Vijay Goyal’s house was nearby. Vijay said that the police know that I do not live at home, so they will not find me at home, so I go home, bring some clothes and food.
Vijay Goyal left from there, reached the police five minutes after that and caught me with a cyclostal paper. Took me to the police station with handcuffs. It was night time. First of all he told me where your partner Vijay Goyal is. I wanted to inform Vijay in any way, so I said that he is at home, so the policemen said that he should call him and call him to meet him somewhere. He dialed the number and gave the phone in my hand. Vijay’s mother picked up the phone. I said to talk to Vijay. She used to recognize my voice. He gave the phone. Vijay said why is the call, so I said – “There is black in the lentils, go out”.
As soon as I said this, the policeman rained the slap on me and then tortured me all night. Sitting on a chair, tied his hand back and hit the feet. Blood also started coming out. Then he took me to present in the morning in Tis Hazari Court. Three to four policemen took me from the police station to Tis Hazari court with handcuffs in their hands. People were watching standing on both sides. When I reached the court, I saw that my father is standing in that crowd. They were trying to get closer and the police were pushing them. That thing hurt me inside and felt that courage would break. I was told that in front of the magistrate, I have to say that I apologize for my mistakes and support Indira Gandhi’s twenty -point program, then I will be released. But I was absolutely clear in my heart and mind that neither was to be afraid of jail, nor panic from beating.
The biggest courage was when Babu ji came out of the crowd and he said, “Don’t panic, if you think that the path you are walking is true, then do not back down”. The magistrate then ordered me to be taken to Tihar Jail. The police had a blue van. I was closed in it. There were all the criminals in that van who came on their appearance in court. Along with everyone, I also grabbed two bread in my hand and that van reached Tihar Jail from Tis Hazari.
Indoors
Since I was young, I was under 18 years of age, was a minor, the jail superintendent sent me to the ward of the teenagers instead of sending me to the political ward, which is called Mundakhana in the jail. The cell in which I was closed there was for four people, but there were twelve boys in it. The conversation revealed that there was a pocket, someone stole a meter of water, someone was an expert in pulling a chain. The whole night passed with them. Since there was bleeding from the leg, there was also pain. But there was no place to sit properly. In the morning, the incharge of that ward called Lumberdar called me. He was imprisoned in a murder case. He was the boss of the ward, educated. He talked to me. I told him about the Emergency, how the police caught me, then he was sympathetic to me. He said that you have come to the wrong ward, you should be with political prisoners.
Since the boys used to work in the wards of politicians by eating shaved, Lumberdar sent a message in the political ward. The next day three people came from ward number 11. Among them were Mahavir Singh, the other was Naresh Gaur whom I knew well. Those people took me to the political ward where the RSS people took full arrangements. First of all, he took me to the dispensary, cleaned the wounds, applied the medicine. In another room, arranged to bathe with warm water, gave clean clothes, put white kurta pajamas and food and put me to sleep. After a long time, he got to sleep comfortably. When he woke up in the morning, he felt like a political ward, where the people of RSS were also people, Jamaate Islami, also people of Jana Sangh and socialist. There used to be reports in jail repeatedly that one day we would be seated in the ship and immersed in the sea. Sometimes news used to come that millions of people in jail would be taken to Siberia and released. What is happening in the outside world was not known.
Emergency moves, Lokshahi returned
When the Emergency ended in March 1977, everyone came out of jail. Indira Gandhi announced the Lok Sabha election. The first question was whether the public has forgotten everything after 19 months of censorship? If people have a public meeting, people will come or not? Chaudhary Charan Singh had the responsibility of this. First it was decided that the first meeting will be held in the room of the Constitution Club, then it was decided that this meeting should be held in the lawn of the Constitution Club. Then Delhi’s Jana Sangh leaders Kanwar Lal Gupta and Madanlal Khurana said that we have seen the enthusiasm of the public, we have seen support, we should hold this meeting at Ramlila Maidan.
Since I was asked to speak as “Time Pass Speaker” as the initial speaker at that public meeting, I reached Ramlila Maidan early. Two hours later, not only Ramlila Maidan was filled, people’s heads were visible on the streets far and wide. The big leaders who were coming from Chaudhary Charan Singh, Morarji Bhai, Atal Bihari Bajpai vehicles, they were finding it difficult to reach there due to the crowd. On the same day, it was guessed that the public would throw out Indira Gandhi and her family in this election. I remember the last speech was that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said, “I have met after issues, they have to listen to say, take a little breath in the open air, how long will freedom remain, who knows”. After this, applause continued for two minutes. People kept shouting slogans, “Atal Bihari is speaking, Indira’s rule is shaking”.
One thing is also remembered that people should not reach this rally, so Doordarshan decided to show the film “Bobby” at the time of that meeting. But people came to listen to Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Bhai and Atal Bihari Bajpai. History was created at Ramlila Maidan. When elections were held after a few months, Indira Gandhi lost to Rae Bareli and Sanjay Gandhi Amethi. The Congress was wiped out all over North India. The day the result came, the same day there was a rally at Ramlila Maidan and the enthusiasm of the public was going to be seen.
Fetus
50 years have passed, but remember one moment. After the black night of emergency, the ray of the morning of democracy appeared. When the election results were coming in 1977, people were standing outside the newspaper offices all night. Large blackboards were installed there, on which the results were being announced. Millions of people were on the streets. He was joyful, dancing. But there was a fear in the mind that if Indira Gandhi did not put emergency again, do not cancel the results of the election due to defeat. There was also a lot of rumor that Indira Gandhi would put martial law with the help of the army. But the atmosphere across the country was such that there was no scope for anyone to do anything. Everything was in the hands of the public. That night there was an amazing atmosphere in the whole country.
When the Janata Party government was formed, this was its first responsibility, such a change in the constitution should be made that no one can ever impose emergency in the country. And this change happened. The lock on democracy opened, the censorship went away and there was such a change that no one will ever be able to take away freedom of expression. (Rajat Sharma)
See: ‘Today’s talk with Rajat Sharma’ full episode of June 25, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg9yokau6w4
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