New
Delhi, June 20
It is not possible now for any political party to
enforce Emergency in India, but there exists a looming danger of a
"creeping form of authoritarianism", said veteran CPI-M leader Prakash
Karat who was then forced into hiding to escape from being arrested.
"The
experience of the Emergency (rule) has actually strengthened a
democratic consciousness among the people. I don't see any possibility
of having an Emergency in the immediate future," Karat told IANS in an
interview on 40 years since Emergency that lasted from June 25, 1975, to
March 21, 1977.
He cautioned against some "anti-democratic" laws
such as Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which gives authorities the
power to detain without filing a charge-sheet for six months, or the
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), giving special powers to the
army in areas declared as disturbed.
"Sraightforward
authoritarianism is very difficult to impose in our country. But the
danger of a creeping form of authoritarianism where civil liberties get
eroded is there," Karat said.
Karat, 67, who has just stepped
down as the party's general secretary, looks back at the Emergency
period as "interesting" and "exciting" times.
He used to be 27
then and a PhD student at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University where
he was president of the party's student wing, Student Federation of
India (SFI). He recalls how over 150 JNU students were arrested one
night from hostels and a few of them were kept in jail for the entire
period.
"As students, we were trying to fight the government," he said.
Karat
was at a SFI meeting in Kolkata on the day the Emergency was declared
by then prime minister Indira Gandhi, suspending elections and curbing
civil liberties, including arrests of top opposition leaders and
dissidents and suspending press freedom.
The party decided some
of its cadre will "work underground" to avoid arrest. And so Karat took
on an assumed name, stayed at a location where nobody knew who he was
and posed as a college lecturer.
"I used to go by the name P.
Sudheer. It was actually the name of a friend of mine who was later with
me in JNU," Karat told IANS.
Staying underground meant he could
not stay at his house, visit party offices, hold public meetings or go
to his university. The only time he came out was when when his mother
died. "I had to go to the hospital and attend the funeral."
He
married fellow party member Brinda Karat during this period. "It was
nothing formal. We were at a friend's house, a SFI member, and declared
we are married," he said.
Karat remembers the Emergency as a time which threw up leaders who have graduated to prominent positions in their parties today.
"Emergency was seen an attack on democracy and so the whole thrust was to restore democratic rights," said Karat.
It
brought close political adversaries. "People who were dead against each
other, the RSS and the CPI-M worked on parallel lines, not together but
in a broad coordination," Karat told IANS.
He said there were no
major mass movements during this period as most leaders were in jail,
but "had the Emergency lasted longer, there could have been a revolt
with people coming out".
Karat said the CPI-M's strong opposition to the Emergency helped it consolidate its electoral position.
"The
fight we gave during the Emergency helped us gain support that was seen
in elections. Our party's strength grew in states and we formed the
government in West Bengal and Triupra," he recalled.
(Priyanka can be contacted at [email protected])
