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the year was 1975 the then prime
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minister Indira Gandhi declared a state
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of emergency the fundamental rights of
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the citizens were taken away for next
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two years the democracy was destroyed
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and dictatorship was established in
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India and those two years are still
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being considered the darkest period of
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Indian democracy we talk about emergency
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a lot but do we actually know what
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happened during emergency why emergency
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was imposed in the first place what was
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the need for our former prime minister
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Mrs Indira Gandhi to declare a state of
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emergency why did she do that is there
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any justifiable reason behind that if so
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what is that one particular reason let's
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find out today
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so what is National Emergency National
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Emergency is a situation where there's a
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restriction on the fundamental rights of
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the citizens it's literally like a
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democratic nation is being converted
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into an autocratic one for a particular
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period of time and this is legally
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possible under article 352 of the
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Constitution as per article 352 an
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emergency can be declared if any
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extraordinary situation arises that may
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threaten the security peace stability
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and governance of the country the
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article 352 states that if the president
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is satisfied on the grounds that the
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security of the nation is threatened due
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to external aggression or armed
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Rebellion he can declare an emergency so
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National Emergency can be declared for
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three reasons number one due to war
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number two external aggression and
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number three internal disturbances and
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this could be surprising for you 1975
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was not the first time India went to an
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emergency before that Independent India
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faced emergency two times the first
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emergency was declared by prime minister
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jawaharlal nehru in 1962 when indo-china
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war broke out during this emergency the
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gunman increased its power to control
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the media and the ability to detain the
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common citizens of India without any
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trial even though the war ended within a
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month nehru did not work the emergency
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and it was officially lifted after five
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and half months in 1968. the second
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emergency was declared by former prime
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minister Indira Gandhi in 1971 when
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indo-pakistan war broke out although the
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war ended in two weeks the state of
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emergency was not lifted until 1977
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which was almost six years with the
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second emergency still in force prime
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minister Indira Gandhi declared India's
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third emergency on 25th June 1975 and
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this emergency was very different from
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the previous two because those two
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emergencies were declared on the basis
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of external aggression which means India
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was fighting battles with China and
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Pakistan so it didn't directly affect
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the common people of India even though
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it was enforced for a longer time so
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what was the reason for the third
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emergency it all started with the 1971
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Lok Sabha elections when Congress got a
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massive Victory securing 352 seats out
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of 518. Indra Gandhi won from the
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constituency by defeating her opponent
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Raj Narayan by one lakh 10 000 votes but
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Raj Narayan filed an election petition
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in the allahabad high court challenging
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Indira Gandhi's Victory an election
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petition is something that is filed
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directly in the high court questioning
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the election of a particular candidate
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and such petition has to be filed within
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45 days of the Declaration of the
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election results section 123 of the RP
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act that is the representation of the
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people act mentions that if a particular
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candidate was involved in certain
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Corrupt Practices the election of that
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particular candidate can be declared
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invalid so Raj Narendra is the list of
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allegations against Mrs but most of them
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were turned on by the high court which
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means most of the allegations were
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dismissed by the court but the i-code
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did consider two significant findings on
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which Indira Gandhi's election was
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invalidated so what are those two
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significant findings against Mrs Gandhi
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number one the use of government
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Machinery to set up stage and
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loudspeakers the placement of stages
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loudspeakers Barry Gates and the posting
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of policemen for Mrs Gandhi's election
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campaign was arranged by espal Kapoor
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the district magistrate and the
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superintendent of polis of abigaili and
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the Home Secretary of uttar Pradesh
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government and this is a violation of
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law number two use of government officer
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as an election agent the second finding
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against Mrs Gandhi was the employment of
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yashpal Kapoor as the election agent yes
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pal Kapoor was a gusseted officer in
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government of India he was on a special
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Duty in prime minister Secretariat but
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he did submitted his resignation and
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then was appointed as an election agent
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so so what was the problem then listen
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carefully this is why it gets
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complicated yashpal had submitted his
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resignation on January 13 1971 and this
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resignation was accepted the very next
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day since he was working on a special
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duty at Prime Minister Secretariat he
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also need their approval so that
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approval came only on January 25th 1971
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then he was appointed as the election
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agent of Mrs Indira Gandhi on February
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4th 1971 so the problem here is he was a
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government officer until January 25th
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1971 but he did deliver election
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speeches on behalf of Mrs Gandhi on
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January 7th and another speech on
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January 19 1971 and this the usage of
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government officer as an election agent
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is a violation of law under article 123
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of the RP act based on these findings on
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January 12 1975 the alhabat high court
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had passed a judgment that Indira Gandhi
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had engaged in action fraud and banned
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her for six long years from holding
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elected positions which means she'll
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also be unseated as the Prime Minister
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then an appeal was made in the Supreme
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Court which allowed a partial stay on
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the Judgment given by the alhabat high
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court on 24 June 1971. by this day she
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could continue a sampin Lok Sabha and
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kuratan Parliament House meetings until
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next hearing but she could not
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participate in its proceedings a vote as
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a MP most importantly the Supreme Court
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allowed her to continue as the Prime
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Minister until next year but she was not
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satisfied with that she wanted a
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complete stay on the Judgment given by
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the allahabad high court I personally
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feel the punishment given to her that
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was the dethroning as prime minister and
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six years ban in politics was way too
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harsh for those two minor violations
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considering she was already the prime
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minister of India at that time but we
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have a constitution here things has to
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work as per the Constitution so the stay
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given by the Supreme Court was not that
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a bad deal she could have grabbed that
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but she knew that was just a stay order
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if she lost the case in future she would
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have to step down as prime minister
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there was only one thing left to do for
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her to escape the child that is declare
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a state of emergency she went straight
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to the then president in Ali
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Ahmad and advised him to declare a state
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of emergency in her letter to the
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president she wrote information as
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reached as that indicate imminent danger
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to the security of India the matter is
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extremely urgent in 1978 in an interview
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with journalist Jonathan Mrs Gandhi was
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asked what was that exact danger to
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India's security that made her declare
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emergency for which she simply replied
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it was obvious isn't it the whole
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subcontinent had been destabilized but
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the only obvious reason we could see
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here is she being unseated as the Prime
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Minister and banned from Poland politics
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for six years which I really feel way
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too unfair for those minor violations
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but she should have fought it legally
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but being a prime minister she literally
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turned a democratic nation into a
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dictatorship just because she was being
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punished there are people justifying
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this saying there was internal
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disturbances at that time that's why she
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declared an emergency there will be
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internal disturbances what do you expect
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when a prime minister being de-thoned
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there was internal disturbance but that
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disturbance was not against India it was
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against Mrs Gandhi and there are people
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citing the protests that happened in
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Bihar and Gujarat as the reason for the
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Declaration of emergency but those
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protests happened in 1974 and the
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emergency was declared in 1975 that to
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right after the supreme court order and
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there was no discussion about this in
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the parliament forget about discussion
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most of the cabinet members were not
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even informed about this they got to
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know just few hours before the
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announcement was made so as for the
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advice of
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declared a state of emergency on 25th
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June 1975 within few hours a lot of
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opposition Party leaders were arrested
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including LK advani Maharaj Desai and JP
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Narayan the power supplied to the
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newspaper offices in Delhi were
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disconnected that night so that no
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newspaper could be printed the very next
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morning prime minister Indira Gandhi
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announced on the radio
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is
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period of Indian democracy the
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fundamental rights of the citizens were
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taken away the common people who
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protested against it were arrested and
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convicted without any trial and the
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numbers caused one lakh Imagine One lakh
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innocent people were arrested and even
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the Congress leaders who spoke against
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it were made to resign their post and be
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arrested and this list includes the
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Freedom Fighters too and Sanjay Gandhi
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son of Mrs Indira Gandhi was very brutal
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and autocratic in nature he wanted to be
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the next successor of Congress during
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the emergency period he completely
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destroyed the slum areas in Delhi and
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carried out Mass sterilization across
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India men women married as well as
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unmarked were randomly taken from their
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homes Railway stations farms and was
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brought to camps for master decision
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what even more versus the medical
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procedures were done in an extremely
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obscure unhygienic way and it was not
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just men who suffered even women were
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forced to get cubectomy done 81 lakh
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people were totally sterilized in a year
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and a considerable number of people died
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in the process the emergency was finally
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withdrawn and democracy was restored on
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21st March 1977 after 21 long months but
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the people were so Furious that both
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Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi
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got badly defeated in 1977 election
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anjanatha came to power that was the
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first time a non-congas government was
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established in India a study in
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ramachandra guha criticized Mrs Gandhi
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saying she had an uncomfortable
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relationship with democracy he also
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cited a conversation between Mrs Gandhi
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and her friend but when she said that
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democracy not only throws up the
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mediocre person but gives 10 to the most
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vocal howsoever they may lack knowledge
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and understanding I personally admire
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Indira Gandhi especially she has taken a
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lot of Brave decisions in terms of
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Foreign Affairs unlike a father but this
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part the emergency of 1975 will always
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remain a black spot not just in her
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political career but also in the history
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of Indian democracy
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foreign
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[Music]
