Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi undoubtedly committed blunders, yet there is no scope for equating her with German dictator Adolf Hitler, opines Soroor Ahmed.
Before making any comparison between former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and German dictatorAdolf Hitler, the RSS organ Panchjanya should have asked: Have any court in Germany dared to disqualifythe election of Hitler (who initially came to power with the help of ballots) and barred him fromholding any elected post? Or, for that matter, can any court in India now pass any such ruling?
Without holding any brief for the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, one must not forget that a single-member bench of Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of Allahabad High Court on June 12, 1975, that is just 13days before the imposition of Emergency, disqualified her 1971 election from Rae Bareli and barred herfrom holding any elected post. Can anyone think about it now?
Indira Gandhi was equated with Hitler in the latest issue of Panchjanya when the fact is that theSangh Parivar’s adoration for the German dictator and approval of his mass killing of Jews and allother political rivals is an established fact.
DOUBLE BLOW TO INDIRA
The June 12, 1975 judgement came at the peak of JP movement and just hours after another importantdevelopment. The Janata Morcha government came to power on that day in Gujarat where the Congress wasvoted out of power. It was in Gujarat that the Nav Nirman movement was launched in December 1973. OnMarch 18, 1974 students’ movement started in Bihar. It was here that Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayanentered the scene with the call of Total Revolution. Before the June Assembly poll in Gujarat fourmajor non-Communist opposition parties came together under the banner of Janata Morcha, the precursorof 1977 Janata Party.
Panicked by the double blow – court ruling and Gujarat election defeat – Indira imposed Emergency. Whathappened after that intervening night of June 25-26 has been well documented. So, there is no need todiscuss them here. No doubt, beleaguered Indira took some extreme steps to defend herself nine yearsafter coming to power in 1966. In this period, she had achieved some great success. She nationalisedbanks in 1969 and coal mines in 1972, presided over the Green Revolution in early 1970s, played a crucialrole in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 and India first tested nuclear bomb on May 18, 1974.
Hitler, like all the fascist powers across the world, started off with the very purpose of eliminatingthe political rivals. After coming to power in 1933, he got burnt the Parliament building. Unlike Indira, he left no opportunity for any election.His stormtroopers, like in this part of world now, were busy imposing his will not only on Germanpeople, but in the large part of Europe, which his army later occupied.
INDIRA’S APPROACH DURING WAR
In contrast, Indira’s army withdrew from Bangladesh three months after helping the Mukti Bahini liberatethe country. And by mid-1972 the process of repatriation of 93,000 Pakistani Prisoners of War started.The Germans never indulged in any such exercise. In fact, the PoWs were used as shield by the Germanarmy leading to the killing of a large number of them.
If Panchjanya had drawn a parallel between Indira and Hitler this time, five years back the then Union Minister, now late Arun Jaitley, did the same. Indira might have some traits of authoritarianism, whichshe exhibited during 19 months of Emergency. But to equate her with Fuhrer’s totalitarian regime is asheer exaggeration.
GLOBAL ECONOMIC MELTDOWN
What was not highlighted much throughout the last 48 years is as to why the economic situation hadsuddenly deteriorated in late 1973, fuelling anger among the people. Whether it was December 1973 inGujarat or March 1974 in Bihar, the students’ unrest started after rise in college and hostel fees. Therailway strike of May 8-27, 1974 – the nuclear test took place on May 18 – came as a big challenge to herregime. There was steep rise in prices of all essential goods and foodgrains.
The genesis of this problem can be traced to the global economic meltdown witnessed after the 17-daylong Arab-Israel War in October 1973. The Arabs used oil as a weapon and imposed embargo on itsexport.In no time the oil price jumped four times, from three dollar per barrel to 12 dollar per barrel. Nocountry, even the powerful US and Japanese economies were prepared for this shock.In India this development coincided with bad monsoon.The opposition, which was completely marginalised after the March 1971 election, got an opportunity topolitically exploit the restiveness of the common masses.
It is difficult to say as to how any government other than that of Indira Gandhi could have tackled thissituation. Yet the fact remains that the whole development leading to the imposition of Emergencyshould be dispassionately discussed. Since Indira was the one who imposed censorship, she got a badPress after the Emergency was lifted. It is also a fact that Indira later apologised for the excessescommitted during the Emergency and her party never defended what had happened then. Had Hitler done so,or is anyone else doing so now?
She undoubtedly committed blunders, yet there is no scope for overblowing her misdeeds.Here one is reminded of William Shakespeare’s play, King Lear, where the dejected monarch said: “I am aman more sinned against than sinning.”