GUWAHATI:
Assam shares a dubious connection with the 21-day Emergency which was imposed in 1975. The then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and the then Congress president Devakanta Barua were both from Assam. Ahmed had, acting on advice of
Indira Gandhi, declared the Emergency while Barua, a staunch loyalist of Indira, is remembered for his statement: 'Indira is India and India is Indira."
There was a third from Assam, former chief minister
Tarun Gogoi, there as a close confidante of
Sanjay Gandhi, who saw how it all happened.
Forty-three years later, Gogoi, who was then an AICC joint secretary in-charge of Youth Congress and Seva Dal, told TOI that Indira Gandhi is the biggest champion of democracy.
"Except Indira Gandhi and may be Sanjay Gandhi, no one knew that the Emergency was being clamped until June 25 morning, Gogoi said. He added, "Even the Union ministers came to know at the cabinet meeting held in the morning. This utmost secrecy was maintained to ensure that the Emergency decision was not leaked."
"Even Congress president Devakanta Barua, who was most influential person at that point of time and Indira Gandhi’s right hand man had no idea about the Emergency before it was announced," Gogoi said. He said that Congress leaders, by and large, did not go against the Prime Minister’s decision.
"Fakhruddin sahab gave his consent because without his approval, Emergency could not have been clamped. Before we criticize Indira Gandhi, we have to see the circumstances that led to this decision. There was chaos across the country and Jay Prakash Narayan had united the opposition and had asked the Army to revolt. Soon after Emergency was declared, discipline was restored," Gogoi said.
"Yes, there were some mistakes…the arrest of opposition leaders like Jay Prakash, LK Advani, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Moraji Desai and several others could have been avoided. Press censorship was also a wrong decision. Of course, the leadership later accepted these mistakes," Gogoi said.
The octogenarian outspoken Congress leader, who was ousted by BJP in 2016 after a three-term rule in the state remains as one of the oldest loyalist of Gandhi family. "I consider Indira Gandhi as the greatest champion of democracy. The Emergency gave her absolute powers but she decided to go the people for mandate because she was not a dictator and. She lost the 1977 election because the people punished her for the Emergency. Three years later, the people brought her back to power," Gogoi said.