India First

My Memories of the Emergency Originally written: 25-Jun-15 Updated: 25-Jun-24 Looking back over the last few decades, there are a few significant political developments in India which are hard to erase from my memory – the Lok Sabha election results of 1977 and 1989, the Babri Masjid demolition, the Kargil War, and of course, the election result of 2014. But perhaps the most unforgettable of the memories – and also the oldest – is of the Emergency. So, on the 40 th  anniversary of the unprecedented savagery of Indian democracy, I’m noting down my memories as a child. Emergency was declared during school summer holidays in Delhi. I was 8 years old and indifferent towards politics. As young children, my sister and I did know Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister and that my father used to write against her.  Some weeks, or perhaps days before the declaration of Emergency, Indira’s speech was being telecast on TV. My sister and I just happened to tell my father,  K ...