6 facts you need to know about Indian democracy's darkest phase

Considered as the darkest phase of Indian democracy, 'Emergency' reminds the people of India of the 21-month period from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977 when fundamental rights of Indians were suspended under Article 359 of the constitution.

The then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared Emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution on the sole advice of then Prime Minister (PM) Indira Gandhi.

iamin revisits the dark era and brings to you some facts that you would like to know.

1. In 1975, the High Court (HC) of Allahabad declared that the election of Indira Gandhi as fraudulent and nullified the election. In her desire to stick to the PM's chair, she chose to declare national emergency on June 25, 1975 claiming ‘internal threat’ to the security of India.
   State and Parliamentary elections were postponed, once the Emergency was announced.

2. It was on the same day when political activist Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) initiated 'Total Revolution' and announced nationwide plan of daily demonstrations in every state capital. He had also demanded Indira Gandhi's resignation after the Allahabad HC gave it's verdict.

3. Thousands of politicians and journalists were detained all over the country. Over 140,000 people were detained without trial. Some of the prominent leaders who were arrested were: JP, Vijayaraje Scindia, Morarji Desai, Jivatram Kripalani, L.K. Advani among others. Also there several reports suggest that many protesters who were under detention were tortured to death.

4. In September 1976, Indira's son, Sanjay Gandhi initiated a widespread compulsory sterilisation program to limit population growth. There were reports that unmarried, old and in some cases opponents were forced to get sterilised.

5. Slum and low-income housing in the Turkmen Gate and Jama Masjid area of Old Delhi were also destructed during this period.

6. The Emergency officially ended on March 21, 1977. The opposition Janata movement's campaign warned Indians that the elections might be their last chance to choose between 'democracy and dictatorship'.

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