Description
In June 1975 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a 'State of Emergency', resulting in a 21-month suspension of democracy. Jaffrelot and Anil explore this black page in India's history, a constitutional dictatorship of unequal impact, with South India largely spared thanks to the resilience of Indian federalism.India's First Dictatorship focuses on Mrs Gandhi and her son, Sanjay, who was largely responsible for the mass sterilisation programmes and deportation of urban slum-dwellers. However, it equally exposes the facilitation of authoritarian rule by Congressmen, Communists, trade unions, businessmen and the urban middle class, as well as the complacency of the judiciary and media. While opposition leaders eventually closed ranks in jail, many of them collaborated with the new regime--including the RSS. Those who resisted the Emergency, in the media or on the streets, were few in number.This episode was an acid test for India's political culture. While a tiny minority of citizens fought for democracy during the Emergency, in large numbers the people bowed to a strong woman, even worshipped her. Equally importantly, Hindu nationalists were endowed with a new legitimacy. The Emergency was not a parenthesis, but a turning point; its legacy is very much alive today.
Table of Contents
LIST OF TABLESABBREVIATIONSGLOSSARYPREFACEIntroductionPART ITHE VARIETIES OF AUTHORITARIANISM: WHAT KIND OF REGIME WAS THE EMERGENCY?1 A Constitutional Dictatorship2 The Political Economy of the Emergency: Looking for an Ideology3 Subverting Institutions: Remnants of Democracy4 An Era of Sultans: Sanjay's Emergency5 The Uneven Geography of TyrannyConclusion to Part IPart IICAUSES AND BEYOND: WHAT MADE THE EMERGENCY "NECESSARY" AND POSSIBLE6 Immediate Causes: The JP Movement and the Allahabad Judgment in Perspective7 Mrs Gandhi's Personalisation of Power, 1966-19758 An Incongruous CoalitionConclusion to Part 2Part IIIRESISTANCE AND END GAME9 An Uneven Resistance10 Lifting the Emergency: What Return to Democracy?Conclusion: Interpreting the EmergencyGLOSSARYLIST OF ACRONYMSBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX
