Political Science · Ch 13 — The Crisis of Democratic Order
Lessons of the Emergency
Lessons of the Emergency
The Emergency of 1975–77 was a traumatic period, but it also became a powerful teacher. It revealed both the fragility and the resilience of Indian democracy. While many observers argue that India ceased to be democratic during those nineteen months, the fact that normal democratic functioning was restored within a short time after the elections of 1977 is itself a significant lesson. It showed that doing away with democracy in India is extremely difficult — the system has deep roots.
A second major lesson concerns the constitutional provisions for an Emergency. The experience exposed several ambiguities in the original text. These have since been rectified through constitutional amendments. Today, an ‘internal’ Emergency can be proclaimed only on the ground of ‘armed rebellion’ (not merely ‘internal disturbance’, which was a much vaguer term). Furthermore, the advice to the President to proclaim an Emergency must now be given in writing by the Union Cabinet. This ensures collective responsibility and prevents a single person, like the Prime Minister, from taking such a grave decision unilaterally.
Thirdly, the Emergency made everyone far more aware of the value of civil liberties. The courts, which had largely failed to protect individual rights during the Emergency, took on a much more active role afterwards. This judicial activism was a direct response to the earlier failure. In the years that followed, many civil liberties organisations and human rights groups came up, determined to guard against any future abuse of state power.
The textbook includes a poignant example of public sentiment during the Emergency: an anonymous advertisement in the Times of India soon after the declaration of Emergency in 1975, which read: “Death of D. E. M. O’Cracy, mourned by his wife T. Ruth, his son L. I. Bertie, and his daughters Faith, Hope and Justice.” Another advertisement, placed by the ‘Free JP Campaign’ in The Times, London, on 15 August 1975, pleaded: “Today is India’s Independence Day… Don’t Let the Lights Go Out on India’s Democracy.”
However, the critical years of the Emergency also brought up deeper issues that have not been adequately grappled with. Two stand out:
- The balance between routine governance and protest: There is a persistent tension between the normal functioning of a democratic government and continuous political protests by parties and groups. What is the correct balance? Should citizens have full freedom to engage in protest activity, or should there be limits? And if limits exist, what should they be? …