Indira Gandhi put us in jail, but never abused us: Lalu Prasad remembers Emergency

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday (June 30)reflected on the period of the 1975-77 Emergency. He remarked," Indira Gandhi put many of us behind bars, but she never abused us. Neither she nor her ministers called us “anti-national” or “unpatriotic”. She never enabled vandals to defile the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar—the architect of our Constitution. 1975 is a stain on our democracy but let's not forget who doesn't respect the Opposition in 2024."

He shared an article co-authored with journalist Nalin Verma On social media platform X,criticising the BJP-led central government.

In his tweet, Prasad wrote, "I was the convener of the steering committee that Jayaprakash Narayan—had constituted to carry forward the movement against the excesses of Emergency imposed by the then PM Indira Gandhi. I was in jail under the Maintenance of Security Act (MISA) for over 15 months. My colleagues and I did not know many of the BJP ministers speaking about the Emergency today. We hadn’t heard of Modi, J P Nadda and some of the PM’s other ministerial colleagues who today lecture us on the value of freedom".

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"Indira Gandhi put many of us behind bars, but she never abused us. Neither she nor her ministers called us “anti-national” or “unpatriotic”. She never enabled vandals to defile the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar—the architect of our Constitution. 1975 is a stain on our democracy but let's not forget who doesn't respect the Opposition in 2024," he further said.

During the Emergency in India (1975-1977), the leaders of the opposition faced significant challenges and impacts. Many prominent opposition leaders were arrested under preventive detention laws like the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and kept in jail for extended periods without trial. Leaders such as Lalu Prasad Yadav, Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and George Fernandes were among those detained.

The Emergency, declared on June 25, 1975, by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was a period marked by censorship, arbitrary arrests and the suspension of many democratic freedoms. This year commemorates the 49th anniversary of that tumultuous chapter in Indian democracy.

(With inputs from agencies)