Emergency dreaded memories linger

Hyderabad: Though 40 years have passed by the memories of the dreaded days of Emergency are still lingering in the minds of all those who had seen India’s most infamous day. CPM Politburo member B V Raghavulu talking to The Hans India said, during the emergency days he was studying in Andhra University.

As the university authorities, including the vice-chancellor and registrar of that time were toeing the line of the government. National Students Union of India (NSUI) was the only student’s organisation that was functioning during the emergency days in the university. The VC, registrar, senior university officials used to visit the rooms of the NSUI leaders in the hostels.

They even saw to it that the rooms of these leaders were refurbished and also provided attached bath rooms.He said in the morning he used to attend the classes and at night used to visit workmen areas. Some of the prominent leaders like Ch Narasimha Rao, Venkata Ramana Reddy, Sankar of ML Party who were studying in the university were arrested by the police.

Speeches of senior party leader and Member of Parliament like A K Gopalan in parliament used to inspire everyone. Some of the administrative staff used to type out the speeches of AK for us. Some of the heads of the departments and professors who were opposed to emergency used to help by permitting us to use the typewriters in the departments and get them cyclostyled.

What was unique was the left and the RSS working together to fight against emergency, he said. Senior journalist Potturi Venkateshwara Rao, said emergency was just not possible. It was the darkest period the country had ever seen. Indira Gandhi behaved like a dictator by suspending basic rights of people, sending political opponents to jail, imposing curbs on the media to name a few.

However, it was not the media that suffered but Indira Gandhi’s Congress party that was rooted out in next general elections, he said. Senior BJP leader Baddam Bal Reddy, who was a student leader during those days, said he went underground. Indira Gandhi behaved like a dictator and suppressed the voice of the opposition. Such type of situation will not be repeated again, he stressed.

On the other hand B Ramamohan, a senior journalist from Pattikonda of Kurnool district said he cannot forget the memories of India’s most infamous day. Students were indiscriminately arrested by the police. He said he was studying Intermediate and was also active in RSS, along with few other students of his age.

Police used to keep an eye on the activities of students at schools and colleges. They used to get empty warrants signed by the District Collector, Revenue Divisional Officer or Tehsildars. Armed with the empty warrants they used to go on a spree of arrests and fill the warrants with the name of the students and others arrested, under Defence of India Rules (DIR), and Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA).

He said “Six of us were arrested and put behind the bars. Our mistake was raising slogans and propagating against emergency. But, it was our luck that the judicial magistrate working at Pattikonda and Dhone succeeded in getting us released or quash the cases filed by the police on the ground that the arrested were ‘minors’, ‘fist time offence’ or ‘bind over, ’ he added.

Undavalli Arun Kumar who was a NSUI activist made an interesting observation. He said the credit of reducing the adverse impact of emergency in Andhra Pradesh should go to the then Chief Minister Jalagam Vengal Rao. He did not touch big leaders in the State whose arrest might have posed a threat.

That is was why even Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was not arrested. It was only the small and second rung leaders who were arrested. But, even in their case, Vengala Rao had taken care by providing them with the political detenu status. It was due to the skilful handling of emergency in the State that Congress had got land slide victory in 1977, and out of 42 parliament seats, with a lone exception of Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy from Nandyal, the Congress party had bagged 41 seats, he said.