Lessons of the Emergency

The Emergency lasted from June 1975 to March 1977. What did India learn from it?

1. Democracy is hard to remove in India. Within about two years, normal democratic politics returned, through an election. The people themselves used their vote to end it.

2. The rules were tightened. The 44th Amendment (1978) changed Article 352:

• An internal Emergency can now be proclaimed only on the ground of 'armed rebellion', not vague 'internal disturbance'.
• The President can proclaim it only on the written advice of the Cabinet, not of the Prime Minister alone.

3. Civil liberties became more valued. People and the courts became more alert to rights. The courts later became more active in protecting individual freedoms, and civil liberties organisations grew.

4. Some questions remain open: what is the right balance between a government's duty to rule and people's right to protest? How far can protest go before it disrupts democratic government? The Emergency did not settle these.

The Shah Commission, appointed after the Emergency to inquire into its excesses, found that the police and administration had become tools of the ruling party, open to political pressure. Making them independent and accountable is still a challenge.

The Emergency was a painful time, but in the end it strengthened Indian democracy: it taught people what they could lose, and they fought to keep it.