Best foot forward in the worst of times

THE morning of June 26, 1975, was typically hot and humid. The summer vacation in government schools of Punjab had begun a few days earlier. I was working as a Hindi teacher at Government High School, Poohla, in Bathinda district. Rather than going back to my hometown Rampura Phul, I stayed in Bathinda to spend time with my friends.

We chatted till 2 am on the rooftop before going to sleep. Around

5 am, a commotion woke me up. Still half asleep, I saw a policeman and greeted him. For a moment, I thought he was my friend’s father, who was also a cop. However, he turned out to be someone else. He and his colleagues had come to pick up a professor-turned-‘Comrade’. I was not on their list, but was still taken along to the police station.

Newspaper hawkers were shouting: “Emergency lag gayi” (Emergency has been imposed). I saw a frail person being taken away by cops. He was chanting the slogan, “Indira Gandhi murdabad!” Later, I found out that he was a CPM activist. We came across newspapers at the police station and realised what a big blow had been dealt to India’s body politic. Four of us were presented before a magistrate on June 27. We were charged under Sections 107 and 151 of the IPC for allegedly disturbing peace by raising slogans and taking out a procession against the government. We were promptly remanded in judicial custody at the Bathinda Central Jail.

The people arrested in July, when PM Indira Gandhi’s 20-point programme was announced, included leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Jana Sangh, CPM and trade unions. Former ministers Balramji Das Tandon and Balwant Singh were also brought to the Bathinda jail and kept in a special ward. In one barrack, there were 64 prisoners. Half of them slept on stone beds and the rest on the floor.

‘Comrade’ used to play chess with the ex-ministers. Family meetings were allowed every week. I got big-sized copies of novels — mostly in Hindi — by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Vrindavan Lal Verma, Prem Chand and other eminent writers. I had applied for admission to the newly launched PhD course in Hindi at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and had received a telegram to appear for the interview. My father tried to secure bail for me on the basis of that telegram, but his plea was declined. In 1976, I was selected, but was denied admission in view of the police report.

I was shifted to the Patiala Central Jail on medical grounds. In the prison, Prem Singh Chandumajra (who went on to become a prominent Akali leader) was kept in a special ward along with Chandra Shekhar (who later served as the PM), Akali stalwart Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Jana Sangh MP Yagya Dutt Sharma.

Finally, I was bailed out on January 27, 1976. I had got myself transferred to a school in Patiala district. As I had been suspended with effect from June-end 1975, I used to go to school once a month to receive suspension allowance. Panjab University offered me a golden chance to improve my MA (Hindi) marks. I secured the first division in MA in 1977 and was able to join JNU. Thanks to my allowance and the money earned from translation work, I completed my PhD in 1982.

Musings