New Delhi, June 24
India is unlikely to see
the imposition of another Emergency due to changes made in the
Constitution and people being more vigilant, veteran journalist and
political commentator Kuldip Nayar has said, noting that the Congress
should have learnt the lesson of not pursuing dynastic politics from the
period that saw a curb on civil liberties under Indira Gandhi.
Nayar,
91, who spent three months in jail during the 1975-77 Emergency, said
that system was still dependent on the goodwill of the ruling party and
there should be proportional representation in the Lok Sabha so that the
opposition has a stronger voice in the house.
"There should be
proportional representation for at least 50 percent of the seats. Still
we are dependent on the goodwill of the ruling party and the prime
minister. The opposition will get a stronger voice if there is
proportional representation," Nayar told IANS in an interview on 40
years of Emergency.
Nayar, a veteran journalist who has written
several books, including a gripping account of the time, "Emergency
Retold," said the country had learnt its lessons from the Emergency that
lasted from June 25, 1975, to March 21, 1977, and saw over 100,000
people being put under detention, civil liberties being curbed and
imposition of press censorship.
Asked if the Congress had
transformed itself after the Emergency, Nayar, a former high
commissioner to Britain, said the party was still stuck in the dynastic
mould and this was working to the advantage of the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP).
"Till the time they come out of dynastic
politics, what can happen. Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi and her son (Rahul). Then
people also talk of Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra). Dynastic politics is now a
feudal thing. It does not go well with democracy. The Congress should
also have learnt (from Emergency) that dynastic politics does not go
well with democracy," Nayar said.
Indira Gandhi, who imposed
Emergency, was widely seen to have worked under the influence of her son
Sanjay Gandhi. She was the daughter of India's first prime minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru, and her other son, Rajiv Gandhi, also served as the
country's prime minister.
Indira Gandhi's daughter-in-law, Sonia
Gandhi, is the Congress president and her grandson Rahul Gandhi is
Congress vice-president.
Asked about senior BJP leader L.K.
Advani's remarks in an interview that forces that can crush democracy
were now stronger and a repeat of an Emergency-like situation cannot be
ruled out, Nayar said Emergency has become almost impossible because to
ratify the measure, a prime minister who tries to impose it will need a
two-thirds majority in each house of parliament due to amendments made
in the constitution.
"What he (Advani) is saying is that
environment is such where power is getting concentrated in one person.
Just like at that time it was getting concentrated in Mrs (Indira)
Gandhi, now it is getting concentrated in (Narendra) Modi," Nayar said.
At
the same time, he said there were now stronger safeguards for civil
liberties in the constitution and its basic structure can also not be
changed.
"What he is saying is that an authoritarian system can
prevail. An authoritarian system is still possible. Style of governance
depends on the person (who is the prime minister). There should be
inner-party democracy and I feel that party elections should also be
supervised by the Election Commission so that there is independence,"
Nayar contended.
Nayar said his advice to the younger generation was that independence, democracy and secularism should not be taken for granted.
"These
eternal principles or basics have to be renewed and protected. If there
is any tendency (to disturb them), you should get up (and raise your
voice). Because if you do not and keep walking, you will suddenly see
that a lot of ground has been lost. I saw it during Emergency also that
there was initially a response of chalta hai (let it be). This really
became a danger," Nayar said.
(Prashant Sood can be contacted at [email protected])
