Shashi Tharoor's Sanjay Gandhi Flashback Post In New Provocation For Congress
In another move that is likely to widen his rift with the Congress leadership, senior party leader Shashi Tharoor has written an article on the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975. Besides articulating the excesses during the Emergency and the lessons we must learn from them, Mr Tharoor also pointed to how these excesses were "downplayed", a barb aimed at his party colleagues.
The Emergency is a tricky subject for the Congress, especially since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014 and started observing June 25 -- the day the Emergency was announced -- as Samvidhan Hatya Divas. The Opposition party has tried to counter the BJP's narrative, saying it has imposed an "undeclared Emergency".
In his article for media non-profit Project Syndicate, Mr Tharoor has written about how Emergency remains embedded in India's collective memory even 50 years after it was imposed.
"I was in India when the Emergency was declared, though I soon left for graduate studies in the United States and observed the rest of it from afar. At its onset, I was struck by the profound sense of disquiet. The vibrant cacophony of Indian public life, so accustomed to vigorous debate and free expression, had been replaced by an eerie silence," he has written, recounting his experiences during that time.
"The judiciary buckled under immense pressure to back the move, with the Supreme Court even upholding the suspension of habeas corpus and citizens' fundamental right to liberty. Journalists, activists, and opposition leaders found themselves behind bars. The broad constitutional transgressions enabled a horrifying litany of human-rights abuses. Torture in detention and extrajudicial killings - though less publicized at the time - were dark realities for those who dared to defy the regime," Mr Tharoor added.
The article mentioned the role of late Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi's younger son and Rahul Gandhi's uncle, in the excesses committed during the Emergency, which lasted for nearly two years.
"In fact, the quest for 'discipline' and 'order' often translated into unspeakable cruelty, exemplified by the forced vasectomy campaigns led by Gandhi's son, Sanjay, and concentrated in poorer and rural areas, where coercion and violence were used to meet arbitrary targets. Slum demolitions, carried out with ruthless efficiency in urban centers like New Delhi, rendered thousands homeless, with little to no concern for their welfare," Mr Tharoor wrote.
"These acts were later downplayed as unfortunate excesses. And some might point out that, in the Emergency's immediate aftermath, there was a fleeting sense of order imposed, a temporary respite from the unruliness of democratic politics. But the violence was a direct consequence of a system where unchecked power had become tyrannical, and whatever order the Emergency delivered came at a very high price: the soul of our republic," he added.
Mr Tharoor's "acts were later downplayed as unfortunate excesses" point is a veiled strike at Congress leaders' weak defence of all that went wrong during the Emergency in the years that followed.
The Congress leader then went on to articulate how the "trauma" and "mistrust" in affected communities played out during the polls after the Emergency, in which India voted out Indira Gandhi.
The 50th anniversary of that dark period, he said, "is an occasion for historical reflection and introspection". "The Emergency offered a vivid demonstration of how fragile democratic institutions can be, even in a country where they are ostensibly robust. It reminded us that a government can lose its moral compass and sense of accountability to the people it purports to serve. And it showed how the erosion of freedom often happens: subtly at first, with the chipping away of seemingly minor liberties in the name of virtuous-sounding causes, until 'family planning' and 'urban renewal' become forced sterilizations and arbitrary home demolitions," he said.
Elaborating on the "manifold" and "enduring" lessons of Emergency, Mr Tharoor wrote, "First, freedom of information and an independent press are of paramount importance. When the fourth estate is besieged, the public is deprived of the information it needs to hold political leaders accountable. That said, the cravenness of many media outlets in the face of intimidation remains inexcusable.
"Second, democracies depend on an independent judiciary able and willing to serve as a bulwark against executive overreach. Judicial capitulation - even when temporary - can have severe and far-reaching consequences," he added.
"The third lesson - perhaps the most pertinent in our current political climate - is that an overweening executive, backed by a legislative majority, can pose a grave danger to democracy, especially when that executive is convinced of its own infallibility and impatient with the checks and balances that are essential to democratic systems. The Emergency was possible precisely because power was centralized to an unprecedented degree, and dissent was equated with disloyalty," the Congress leader wrote in the article.
"The India of today is not the India of 1975. We are a more confident, more prosperous, and, in many ways, a more robust democracy. Yet the lessons of the Emergency remain alarmingly relevant. The temptation to centralize power, to silence critics, and to bypass constitutional safeguards can emerge in many forms, often cloaked in the rhetoric of national interest or stability. In this sense, the Emergency should serve as a potent warning: democratic stalwarts must be eternally vigilant," he warned.
"All of us - in India and around the world - who believe in democracy must ask ourselves: are we sufficiently attuned to the subtle erosion of democratic values? Could we recognize, let alone resist, the advent of strongman rule? Are we doing enough to protect the institutions, from the press to the judiciary to civil society, that safeguard our freedoms? Let us not merely remember the Emergency as a dark chapter in India's history, but instead internalize its lessons. Let it be a constant reminder to people everywhere that democracy cannot be taken for granted; it is a precious inheritance that must be constantly nurtured and fiercely defended," he concluded.
While the article urges caution against centralisation of power and autocratic regimes, it also touches upon a subject Congress leaders have tiptoed around for decades due to the power Sanjay Gandhi wielded during the Emergency and how decisions that violated human rights were greenlighted by Congress' icon and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The timing, too, is significant: Mr Tharoor's ties with the Congress high command are on the rocks.
The former diplomat has been trading barbs with top Congress leaders following his praise of the NDA government's handling of Operation Sindoor in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and its diplomatic outreach, of which he was a part.
Last month, Mr Tharoor's praise for Prime Minister Modi drew a barb from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. "We said the country comes first, party later. Some people feel 'Modi first, country later'. What can we do?" Mr Kharge said.
In response, Mr Tharoor put up a post widely seen as a response to his party colleagues' barbs. "Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one," read the message with a bird's photograph.
Mr Tharoor has been articulating New Delhi's position to national and international media in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and India's counterstrike, Operation Sindoor. His sharp remarks endeared him even to critics, who praised him for setting aside party differences in an hour of crisis.
The Congress, which assured full support to the Centre in its action against those behind the Pahalgam terror attack, later changed tack and asked the government to come clean on what led to the ceasefire and questioned what role the US played in it. Against this backdrop, Mr Tharoor's remarks backing the government and the latter choosing him to lead an Indian delegation did not sit well with a section of the main Opposition.
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