India against corruption: Be it on social networking platforms or common conversation, emergency makes a comeback to political lexicon
Manner in which UPA-2 has handled Anna Hazare’s demand for a more forceful Lokpal bill. Parallels were being drawn all over the place just after Hazare was arrested on Tuesday.
By Akshaya Mukul, TNN | Updated:
NEW DELHI: Every political movement has a reference point. The French Revolution had Marie Antoinette’s quip ‘Let them eat cake’, the American war of independence was imbued by the idea of republicanism and Fidel Castro’s famous ‘Condemn me! It does not matter, history will absolve me’ during the 1953 trial had Cubans up in arms. All of them ended successfully.
Back home, the past few days has seen recurring references to the Emergency – those dark days between June 25, 1975 and March 21, 1977 when fundamental rights of citizens were suspended by a beleaguered Indira Gandhi government – in the context of the manner in which UPA-2 has handled Anna Hazare’s demand for a more forceful Lokpal bill. Parallels were being drawn all over the place just after Hazare was arrested on Tuesday. Be it on social networking platforms or common conversation, Emergency had made a comeback.
Indira Gandhi government imposed Emergency after failing to politically counter anti-government protests that late Jaiprakash Narayan led on the twin issues of corruption and inflation: the same concerns that have put off significant sections of people against the present regime.
What is interesting is that the reference to Emergency is being made by a generation for whom it was an era in the distant past. They did not experience its excesses, nor would have cared about it a month ago. Barring L K Advani and a few leaders from the Socialist set who always accused Congress of ‘Emergency mindset’ , the term was even getting out of our political lexicon. But now it has made a grand re-entry into middleclass drawing rooms and youth.
Sociologist Shiv Viswanathan says there are only two reference points for contemporary India — national movement and Emergency. One associated with liberation, the other with totalitarianism. National movement is the memory of what should be done and Emergency of what should not be done. He agrees what is happening now is a cheap imitation of those intense years of the seventies.
“When you see Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Ambika Soni perform on television, you are only reminded of Emergency. Soni was actually known for her role during the Emergency,” he says, asking how Soni could refer to Kiran Bedi with a smirk ‘cop knows better.’ “Can cops not talk about human rights,” he asks. He also refers to Renuka Chowdhury’s comment of red alert in the country and says it is a clear case of self-inflicted injury. “Congress could have done better. Absence of politics in government’s handling is amazing. But people are not so stupid,” he says.
Back home, the past few days has seen recurring references to the Emergency – those dark days between June 25, 1975 and March 21, 1977 when fundamental rights of citizens were suspended by a beleaguered Indira Gandhi government – in the context of the manner in which UPA-2 has handled Anna Hazare’s demand for a more forceful Lokpal bill. Parallels were being drawn all over the place just after Hazare was arrested on Tuesday. Be it on social networking platforms or common conversation, Emergency had made a comeback.
Indira Gandhi government imposed Emergency after failing to politically counter anti-government protests that late Jaiprakash Narayan led on the twin issues of corruption and inflation: the same concerns that have put off significant sections of people against the present regime.
What is interesting is that the reference to Emergency is being made by a generation for whom it was an era in the distant past. They did not experience its excesses, nor would have cared about it a month ago. Barring L K Advani and a few leaders from the Socialist set who always accused Congress of ‘Emergency mindset’ , the term was even getting out of our political lexicon. But now it has made a grand re-entry into middleclass drawing rooms and youth.
Sociologist Shiv Viswanathan says there are only two reference points for contemporary India — national movement and Emergency. One associated with liberation, the other with totalitarianism. National movement is the memory of what should be done and Emergency of what should not be done. He agrees what is happening now is a cheap imitation of those intense years of the seventies.
“When you see Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Ambika Soni perform on television, you are only reminded of Emergency. Soni was actually known for her role during the Emergency,” he says, asking how Soni could refer to Kiran Bedi with a smirk ‘cop knows better.’ “Can cops not talk about human rights,” he asks. He also refers to Renuka Chowdhury’s comment of red alert in the country and says it is a clear case of self-inflicted injury. “Congress could have done better. Absence of politics in government’s handling is amazing. But people are not so stupid,” he says.
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