Participants in a meeting organised by the BJP here on Sunday to mark imposition of Emergency 41 years ago (on June 25, 1975) recalled the days when the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, suppressed the democratic voices and got thousands of her political rivals and innocent people imprisoned to stem the tide of opposition to her “autocratic” rule.
Addressing the gathering, M.D. Rama Rao, who had gone to prison then, said civil liberties were usurped and even the media was gagged as the ruling dispensation did not want to cede any political ground to its opponents. It was during that turbulent period that Jayaprakash Narayan had waged a popular revolt against the Congress and galvanised the civil society organisations against the anti-democratic forces.
Puvvada Malakondaiah, who was another one put behind bars, said Ms. Gandhi had clamped Emergency following declaration of her election as invalid by the Allahabad High Court. Atrocities by the police were common and curbs were imposed on organisations such as the RSS out of sheer political vendetta.
