The Emergency: A Personal HistoryA searing indictment of the suspension of democracy In June 1975, a state of Emergency was declared, where civil liberties were suspended and the press muzzled. In the dark days that followed, Coomi Kapoor, then a young journalist, personally experienced the full fury of the establishment. Meanwhile, Indira Gandhi, her son Sanjay and his coterie unleashed a reign of terror that saw forced sterilizations, brutal evictions in the thousands, and wanton imprisonment of many, including Opposition leaders. This gripping eyewitness account vividly recreates the drama, the horror, as well as the heroism of a few during those nineteen months when democracy was derailed. |
Contents
Darkness at Dawn | |
The Midnight Knock | |
The Media Muzzled | |
A Strange New World | |
Black Diwali | |
Ramnath Goenkas Battle | |
The Enigmatic Empress | |
JP versus Indira | |
Sanjay and His Coterie | |
FivePoint Terror | |
The Opposition versus Indira | |
Firebrand Fernandes | |
The Denouement | |
Swamy on the | |
Common terms and phrases
25 June Anand arrest asked Author’s interview authorities Bansi Lal Bareilly Bhinder Bihar Bombay campaign censors censorship Chandra Shekhar Charan Singh Chawla chief minister Congress(O declared Delhi democracy detainees detention Dhar editor elections Emergency family planning felt George Fernandes government’s Gujarat Haksar Haryana High Court Ibid Indian Express Indira Gandhi Jagjivan Ram Jaitley Jana Sangh Janata Party January journalists JP’s Justice Kapoor Kishan Chand Kuldip Nayar Kumar L.K. Advani lakh later letter Lok Sabha Maruti meeting Mehta ministry MISA Mishra Morarji Desai mother movement Nanaji Narayan Nehru newspaper opposition leaders orders Parliament PM’s police station policemen political Pradesh President prisoners programme protest R.K. Dhawan Rajiv rally Ramnath Goenka Reddy released Roxna Sanjay Gandhi Sanjay’s secretary Shah Commission Shukla Socialist Soni Subramanian Swamy Supreme Court Swamy’s Tandon Tihar jail Vajpayee Virendra wanted Youth Congress