NINETEEN years is a long time but not long enough to erase the memory of India’s darkest period since independence; some 20 months that followed the emergency declared in June, 1975, More than one lakh people were detained without trial, the fundamental rights were suspended; the Press was gagged; and highhanded and arbitrary actions were carried out with impunity, Who were the persons who dared to snuff out democracy and where are they now? Indira Gandhi, who imposed the emergency, and her son, Sanjay Gandhi, who put it into effect till the beginning of 1977 when elections swept them and the ruling Congress aside, are dead, But many who were actively involved are around and some thriving.

Mr. Siddharth Shankar Ray, and then West Bengal Chief Minister, who advised Mrs., Gandhi to impose the emergency, is India’s enjoy to the world’s most important country, the U.S.A. He had made the proposal twice carrier. On the first occasion Mrs. Gandhi reportedly enquired whether another emergency could be ordered when the country was still under an external emergency (Since the war with Pakistan in 1971). A lawyer as he is, Mr. Ray explained to her how an “internal emergency” would give her powers to suspend the constitution and rule without any constraint.

 Mr. R.K. Dhawan, Additional Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, who conveyed instructions to ministers, officials or others on detentions, raids and such other jobs, is a Rajya Sabha member, He is also an elected member of the Congress Working Committee, Indicating his personal following in the party.

Mr. Dhawan constituted Sanjay Gandhi’s inner ring, along with Mr. Bansi Lal, then Defense Minister, and Mr. Krishan Chand, then Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi, and Mr. Sushil Kumar, Delhi’s District Magistrate, Mr. Krishan Chand ts dead, Nemesis has caught up with Mr. Bansi Lal, who is in wilderness. Mr. Sushil Kumar has been pushed to oblivion. Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari. Who wielded considerable influence with Mrs. Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi, died in a plane crash the other, day?

Mr. S.B. Chavan, then Maharashira’s Chief Minister, has the distinction of having said while countering the criticism about a large number of detainees, that the government had only put them in jail, not shot them dead. He is now India’s Home Minister.

Mr. V.C, Shukla, then Information and Broadcasting Minister, was the main architect of the propaganda machinery that blacked out information and belched lies. He played havoc with the Press and penalized such newspapermen as did not toe Mrs. Gandhi’s line. He ordered closure of the BBC Office in Delhi and ousted most of foreign journalists, boasting, “we are going to fix them up, They have been pampered too much,” He is now Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, and the right-hand man of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.

Such was Mr. Shukla’s awe that he was able to stall even in the Press Council a resolution against censorship which I as a member, had sought to move. The Council Chairman, Mr. Iyengar, a former Judge of the Supreme assured Mr. Shukla through a letter: “| had an informal meeting of the Delhi-based members and was able to convince them that this (the resolution) is not necessary or desirable. So this will not figure in the agenda of any meeting that is being called.”

Mr. Kamal Nath, Sanjay Gandhi’s closest friend, then in a family electricity undertaking, is Minister for Environment. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, then Deputy Finance Minister, knows all about the searches in the name of excise of income tax evasion and what the Enforcement Directorate could do. His expertise came in handy to Sanjay Gandhi. Mr. Mukherjee is now the Planning Commissions Deputy Chairman and Minister for Commerce. Mr. Narasimha Rao has a lot of faith in his capabilities.

Mr. Rao was then General Secretary of the Congress, not a key position in the party when D.K. Banuah, who said India, is Indira was the President. Mr. Baruah is leading a retired life in Delhi but he has lost a bit of memory. Mr. Rao circulated a paper, after the emergency, what? as he was willing to wound but afraid to strike.

Among the officials, Mr. Jagmohan was a key person. He was the Delhi Development Authority chief. The Shah Commission appointed to look into the excesses committed during the emergency, has said about him: “Shri Jagmohan cannot escape his direct responsibility for all that had happened, and for all the illegalities committed. He has grossly misused his position and abused his authority. All this he was able to do by very skillfully maneuverings and by confusing the issues with the people who were in authority.” The commission also said, has also very vividly been brought on record that the Delhi Development Authority indulged in falsification and fabrication of records.” Mr. Jagmohan is now a nominated member of the

Rajya Sabha.

Mr. S .L. Khurana, who was specially brought as Home Secretary after pushing out Mr. Nirmal Mukharji, acted as a channel for illegal orders to central ministries and sates Mr. Khurana got Tamil Nadu’s governorship after Mrs. Gandhi returned to power, He now, leads a returned life in Delhi Mr. P.K Kaul, then Cabinet Secretary, was the hub of nefarious activities His services were rewarded consequently when he was appointed India’s Ambassador in Washington. He too now leads a retired life in Delhi, although he is on the board of some prestigious business concern.

“After Mr. P.N. Haksar was pushed to the Planning Commission as its, Deputy Chairman for having annoyed Sanjay Gandhi, Mr. P.N, Dhar became the Prime Ministers. Sole secretary. He gave credibility, to most of what was happening, unlawfully. After the emergency, he served in the World Bank at a. senior position. He is now a director of the Reserve Bank of India.

A lesser official, Mr. Navin, Chawla, who was then Secretary to Lieutenant-Governor Krishan Chand, is a Joint Secretary in the” Information Ministry. He was the person who would funnel Sanjay” Gandhi’s messages to the Delhi” Administration, According to the Shah Commission, Mr. Navin Chawla received a message to Conduct a raid on the firm M/s Pandit Brothers, connected with Mr. P.N. Haksar, who by that time had fallen from Mrs. Gandhi’s grace.

Mr. S.M.H. Burney was Secretary to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Among his exploits during the emergency was an order to punish the late Kishore Kumar, who was probably the only One in the cine world to have re4 fused to participate in a government-sponsored entertainment programme. Mr. Burney recorded a note that all songs of Kishore Kumar should be banned from AIR and Doordarshan and all films in which he was acting were to be listed out for further action. He now leads a retired life in Delhi; although a few years ago he was the Minorities Commission Chairman and the Governor of Haryana and one of the north esteem States. What happened during the emergency was the subversion of the System of administration, The return of familiar faces in the government and elsewhere would have mattered less if the institutions: killed intentionally had been fevered. But there has been no such effort.

Where the emergency had harmed society most is that it has obliterated the dividing line between right and wrong, moral and immoral. Values and Standards have got eroded. Some Such persons have come to the fore whose claim to authority is largely based on the Proximity to the seats of power. They have no respect for methods, rules or cleanliness. They are only tools of tyranny and Purveyors of fear.

On the other hand, the dialogue between the government and the intelligentsia has got snapped. There is lack of trust on both sides. Yet if the fundamental values of a democratic Society are to be revived the government will have to win back the intelligentsias confidence. This is difficult so long as power Fests in those who do not feel even sorry for their misdeeds and who continue to play an important role in the government and the party.

Article extracted from this publication >> August 12, 1994