This volume marks the fiftieth anniversary of one of the defining moments of Indian history. It examines the Emergency and its aftermath from diverse perspectives – political, historical, legal, economic, philosophical, experiential and cultural, among others. Bringing together leading scholars and writers, it explores how the Emergency transformed Indian polity, and shaped law enforcement and penal practices, the media, student movements, judicial responses, subaltern politics and literary expression, and examines why analysis of the Emergency is still relevant to political discourse in India today.
The editors:
Peter Ronald deSouza is Senior Research Associate, African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (ACEPS), University of Johannesburg, and Trustee of the Institute of Social Studies Trust. He was Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, for two terms (2007–13).
Harsh Sethi worked as Consulting Editor of the monthly Seminar for two decades. Earlier he was with Sage Publications as Acquisitions Editor. He also held positions of Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, and Deputy Director at the Indian Council of Social Science Research.
Introduction: Revisiting the Emergency Peter Ronald deSouza and Harsh Sethi 1. MISA and the Emergency: Laws, Lives and Afterlives Ujjwal Kumar Singh and Anupama Roy 2. Aftermath of the Internal Emergency (25 June 1975–21 March 1977): The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same R. Sudarshan 3. Emergency and the Resistance Politics of Law: A Perspective from Andhra Pradesh Kalpana Kannabiran 4. The Shah Commission Reports: A Tragic Moment and a Sinister Recurrence Deepak Sanan 5. Three Controversial Aspects of the Emergency Raj Anand Kumar 6. The Economic Roots of the Emergency Errol D’Souza 7. Emergency and the Fabled Foreign Hand: A Factual, Fanciful, or Fabricated Fear? Varun Sahni 8. Resistance Journalism during the Emergency Pamela Philipose 9. Chronicle of a Repression Foretold: JNU in the Emergency and After – University Restructuring in a Global Context Ravi Arvind Palat 10. Internal Disturbances: Poetry and Prophecy 1975–77 Rukmini Bhaya Nair 11. Many Meanings of Freedom: The Dandawate Prison Letters Gyan Prakash 12. Reading [in] the Mulahiza Mahmood Farooqui 13. Anushashan Parva: The Dictatorship of the Acharya Tridip Suhrud 14. Debating the Idea of Freedom (In the Context of 25 June 1975) Gopal Guru 15. Why did She Impose It and Why did She Lift It?: Revisiting the Indian Emergency of 1975 Peter Ronald deSouza