People were arrested and sent to Jail on merest suspicion. Sometimes not even suspicion was required, if one happened to be close to power centers, he could send anyone to jail. You could not move freely, talk freely or even think freely. No men, women or senior citizens were being spared. There were no fundamental rights, no rule of law, no one you could request to help and no one who would stick his neck out to help you. Innocent people were beaten up in public places. So called free speech was the fastest ticket to Prison. Whether you were a government Servant or in a Private job or a businessman, you were not safe. Anyone could be kept under detention for as long as the local policeman wanted.
It was an atmosphere of fear...dark fear and hatred. The kind of atmosphere which builds deep suspicion in minds of normal people. Who knows when your neighbour or even a relative complains about you? You don’t have any friends to trust, no one you can go to for help
Freedom was an extinct commodity and trepidation was in abundance.
No...I am not talking about the India under British Oppression or Communist rule of USSR, I am not even talking about Muggles under Lord Voldemort. I refer to the darkest period in Indian History.
Recently I read an article which said that, the way that Government and police treated the peaceful demonstrators at RamLila ground was like a feeling of Emergency (1975) all over again.
Now any democratic government should feel ashamed of voluntary committing atrocities on peaceful public, it got me thinking about Emergency and an exceedingly brave man who fought it
Emergency
If there can be greater crime against a country than treason, it would have to be Emergency. India otherwise called the largest democracy, suffered this ignominy in 1975. Emergency was the most ignoble period of the country since the independence. For a country that prides itself on Democracy, Emergency is a black spot that shall continue to shame us for generations to come.
For reasons known only to the Prime Minister and her loyal followers, the country was declared to be under threat, and Emergency was proclaimed...
It’s almost like a Permanent Curfew. Curfew, not only on free movement but also free speech and free literature and even free thought.
In its intoxication with power, Government and the ruling party decided to suspend even the Fundamental Rights (which are the final safeguards of individual freedom) including "right to Life". It’s noteworthy that even under cruel regimes like British or Aurangzeb's rule, a person enjoyed the right to life (though no constitution existed). So you can imagine what the atmosphere in 1975 must be like.
When the people, who were detained illegally by the central powers, went to court asking for their freedom, Government transferred all the cases to Supreme Court. The case is now known as Habeas Corpus or ADM Jabalpur Case.
So the case came in front of Supreme Court, and Government in Power was expected to win.
There were 5 judges to the Judgement
Justice A. N. Ray, Justice P. N. Bhagwati, Justice Y. V. Chandrachud, Justice M.H.Beg, and JUSTICE H R Khanna..
Here (I quote from The Sunday Times, UK) Government's lawyer mentioned that in Emergency ordinary Citizen has no "right to freedom". When further questioned by Justice Khanna, the lawyer went on to claim that Citizens did not even have "Right to Life" which means even if a innocent civilian is killed by policeman or a government official due to personal hostility, still it is acceptable and the official will go unpunished"
Shockingly but not unexpectedly, all the Judges (except one) presiding the case, sided with Government's argument. They agreed that Indian Citizens do not have a right to life, just because the government "which was elected by them" thinks so.
4 of the honourable, judges sided with the government and one Justice H R Khanna, sided with his conscience and with the people of India.
Its noteworthy that all 4 who sided with the Government, went on to serve in Capacity as Chief Justice of India..All 4... (Coincidence???...is it)
No prizes for guessing who did not become Chief Justice...despite being the senior-most even in this group (except the incumbent). His juniors were promoted above him.
Being a real man, Justice H R Khanna resigned without any fanfare.
However he was the one who actually paid his dues to the word JUSTICE, rather than being only a Judge.
H R Khanna gave the judgement against government, with full prior knowledge that he will not be able to become Chief Justice ever, after this...
How many of us would be able to do the Right thing if it meant giving up so much...and taking on the extremely powerful government.
A popular Hindi movie dialogue goes like this
-There are 2 ways of doing things, Easy way and the Right Way...Right way is more difficult and fraught with dangers but it is still RIGHT
The 4 who sided with the government were good judges and highly respectable. They went on to serve extremely well and did a great service to field of Law. What they did on that day, may be any normal person would have done. They did what they thought was "as per law". Such were the circumstances.
However what Justice H R Khanna did, was something only what the greatest, bravest and best amongst us would do.
In the darkest hour of the Democracy, there was one man, who stood tall. He did not have followers, neither actual nor on Twitter. What he had was an extremely strong conscience, which made him say that wrong was wrong and Might is not right, even if the might is that of a Prime Minister.
It was not important that whether this lone beacon of freedom, was able to brighten up the entire country in those difficult times... What’s important is, that in the darkness, there shone, a light, A single solitary light...It shone alone and not for long, but it shone brightly and most importantly when it shone, it scared the darkness.
Today if we can say that no one can take way our Fundamental rights, that we are free people of free country, we have a certain gentleman to thank. If our Constitution which is the strongest safeguard of Freedom and National Fabric remains uncorrupted despite vagaries of the Ruling class, then we should be grateful to JUSTICE Hans Raj Khanna.
On this 3rd July (99th Birth Anniversary of Justice H R Khanna), spare a minute and thank the man who kept flag of freedom flying high.
Remember when the others crawled on their knees, He stood tall.
Otherwise for all we know, India too, could have gone the way of its neighbour Pakistan which alternately waltzes with Democracy and dictatorship.
Hence before Anna Hazare or even Baba Ramdev stormed into the minds of common Indian Middle class, there were those who faded into oblivion in face of Public apathy and the wonderful ability of the public to forget both, the Heroes and villains (unless ofcourse they are on Facebook).
Whether Anna or Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist) will win or lose will not depend on how strong they are but how strong we are.
To rephrase saying of Pastor Niemoeller about inactivity of the middle class during the Hitler's oppression of Jews and mould it for Indian context
First they came for Anna Hazare, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't an activist.
Then they came for Baba Ramdev, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Yogi.
Then they came for me, and there was no one else left to speak out for me.
Make no mistake; if Emergency could happen once, it could happen again. Maybe its waiting to happen right now...Unless YOU say....NEVER AGAIN.
This may be time to speak or atleast to know the difference between right and wrong.
But then all of us have our jobs, our families, or MBA or IIT entrance exams, and so.......
Maybe We could just sit tight and wait for Harry Potter to come along and rescue us from Lord Voldemort.
Though remember ...Harry Potter is pure fiction but.................... Lord Voldemort is as much a real character, as You and Me !!!!!!!!
Disclaimer- Any hurt to a person or an institution is unintentional
