51ST ANNIVERSARY OF EMERGENCY IN INDIA: RSS BETRAYED ANTI-EMERGENCY MOVEMENT, NOW RUTHLESSLY RULE WITH UNDECLARED
EMERGENCY
RSS as a Hindutva gurukul (university) specializes in training cadres in
speaking blatant lies and fabricating history. As a latest proof, we find on
the 51st anniversary of the Emergency [1975-77], number of RSS-BJP
leaders enlightening us how RSS hated Emergency, how valiantly its cadres
challenged the dictatorial rule of Indira Gandhi and made great sacrifices
during anti-Emergency movement. The newspapers are filled with advertisements
announcing ‘Samvidhan Hatya Divas’ in which PM Modi is shown bowing to the
constitution.
[The Indian Express, Delhi, June 25, 2026]
Last year RSS English organ Organizer (June 24, 2025) presenting PM Modi
as a singular symbol of fight against Emergency stated:
“The lesson
had been burned into public memory. The Emergency became more than a chapter in
history. It became a warning. For Narendra Modi, it was not just a past event.
It was part of his personal journey. As Prime Minister, he has often reminded
the nation of those dark times…It was about imprisoning free thought, art, and
expression. That period left behind not just scars, but reminders. It taught us
that freedom is earned, not gifted.”
[‘National Emergency 1975: The murder of the Indian republic on June
25, https://organiser.org/2025/06/24/298840/bharat/national-emergency-1975-the-murder-of-the-indian-republic-on-june-25/]
Let us evaluate first, the claim that the RSS-BJP
rulers are/have been committed to the liberal democratic values as a faith. The
most prominent ideologue of the RSS, MS Golwalkar, also known as 'Guru of Hate'
[whom PM Modi credits for grooming him into a political leader] while
addressing the 1350
top level cadres of the RSS in 1940 declared, "RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology is lighting the
flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land." [Golwalkar, MS, Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan (collected
works of Golwalkar in Hindi), Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, nd., vol. I, p.
11.]
With such a philosophical love for
totalitarianism the RSS hated sharing of power. It could be seen in its strong
opposition to the federal structure of the constitution, a ‘Basic’ feature of
the India polity. Golwalkar declared in 1961, "Today’s federal form of government not only gives birth but also
nourishes the feelings of separatism… It must be completely uprooted,
constitution purified, and unitary form of government be established." [Ibid.
vol. III,
p. 128.]
So far Emergency is concerned the
RSS claim of fighting against it needs to be evaluated in the light of contemporary
narratives including the RSS documents. In this connection two narratives one by
a veteran thinker and journalist of India, Prabhash Joshi and the other by TV
Rajeswar, former Intelligence Bureau [IB]
chief who was the deputy chief of IB during the Emergency are of immense
importance. They recounted the days of Emergency (or state
terrorism) when RSS surrendered to the repressive regime of Indira Gandhi,
assured her and her son, Sanjay Gandhi to enforce faithfully the draconian
20-point programme announced by the Emergency regime. A large number of RSS
cadres came out of jails by submitting MAAFINAMAAS (mercy petitions).
The narrative by Prabhash Joshi appeared in the English weekly TEHELKA on the
25th anniversary of the Emergency. [http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main13.asp?filename=op070205And_Not_Even.asp]
According to him even during the Emergency "there was always a lurking
sense of suspicion, a distance, a discreet lack of trust" about RSS' joining
the anti-Emergency struggle. He went on to tell that
"Balasaheb
Deoras, then RSS chief, wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi pledging to help
implement the notorious 20-point programme of Sanjay Gandhi. This is the real
character of the RSS...You can decipher a line of action, a pattern. Even
during the Emergency, many among the RSS and Jana Sangh who came out of the
jails, gave mafinamas. They were the first to apologize. Only their leaders
remained in jail: Atal Behari Vajpayee [most of the time in hospital], LK
Advani, even Arun Jaitley. But the RSS did not fight the Emergency. So why is
the BJP trying to appropriate that memory?"
Prabhash Joshi concluded
that "they are not a fighting force, and they are never keen to fight.
They are basically a compromising lot. They are never genuinely against the
government".
TV
Rajeswar, who served as Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim penned a book,
'India: The Crucial Years” [Harper Collins] corroborated the fact that "Not only they (RSS)
were supportive of this [Emergency], they wanted to establish contact apart
from Mrs. Gandhi, with Sanjay Gandhi also" [https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/rss-backed-indira-gandhis-emergency-ex-ib-chief-264127-2015-09-21]
Rajeswar in an interview with Karan
Thapar disclosed that Deoras: "Quietly established a link with the PM's
house and expressed strong support for several steps taken to enforce order and
discipline in the country. Deoras was keen to meet Mrs. Gandhi and Sanjay. But
Mrs. Gandhi refused." [Ibid]
According to
Rajeswar's book,
“Sanjay Gandhi’s
concerted drive to enforce family planning, particularly among Muslims, had
earned Deoras’s approbation.” [https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/ib-ex-chiefs-book-rss-chief-deoras-had-backed-some-emergency-moves/]
Rajeswar also shared the fact that even after Emergency the "organization
(RSS) had specifically conveyed its support to the Congress in the
post-emergency elections." [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RSS-backed-Emergency-reveals-former-IB-chief/articleshow/49052143.cms]
It will be interesting to note that even according to Subramanian Swamy during the Emergency period, most of the senior
leaders of RSS had betrayed the struggle against the Emergency. [https://medium.com/@hindu.nationalist1/double-game-of-senior-rss-leaders-during-emergency-74abc07a4fa8]
The contemporary
documents in the RSS archives prove the narratives of Prabhash Joshi and
Rajeswar truthful. The 3rd Supremo of RSS, Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras wrote the first letter to Indira Gandhi within
two months of the imposition of Emergency. It was the time when state terror
was running amok. In letter dated August 22, 1975, he began with the following
praise of Indira:
"I heard your
address to the nation which you delivered on August 15, 1975, from Red Fort on
radio in jail [Yervada jail] with attention. Your address was timely and balanced
so I decided to write to you". [Madhukar
Dattatraya Deoras, Hindu Sangathan aur
Sattavaadi Rajneeti, Jagriti Prkashan, Noida, 1997, p. 270.]
Indira Gandhi did not respond to it. So Deoras wrote
another letter to Indira on November 10, 1975. He began his letter with
congratulating her on being cleared by the Supreme Court of disqualification
which was ordered by the Allahabad High Court, "All the five Justices
of the Supreme Court have declared your election constitutional, heartiest
greetings for it." It is to be noted that opposition was firmly of the
opinion that this judgment was 'managed' by the Congress. He also stated that "RSS has been named in context of Jaiprakash
Narayan's movement. The government has also connected RSS with Gujarat movement
and Bihar movement without any reason...Sangh has no relation with these
movements..." [Ibid.,
pp. 272-73.]
Since Indira Gandhi did not respond to this letter
also, RSS chief got hold of Vinoba Bhave who supported the Emergency
religiously and was a favourite of Indira Gandhi. In a letter dated January 12,
1976, he begged that Acharya should suggest the way that ban on RSS was
removed. [Ibid. pp. 275-77.]
Since
Acharya too did not respond to Deoras letter, the latter in another letter
without date wrote in desperation,
"According to
press reports respected PM [Indira Gandhi] is going to meet you at Pavnar
Ashram on January 24. At that time there will be discussion about the present
condition of the country. I beg you to try to remove the wrong assumptions of
PM about RSS so that ban on RSS is lifted and RSS members are released from
jails. We are looking forward for the times when RSS and its members are able
to contribute to the plans of progress which are being run in all the fields
under the leadership of PM." [Ibid.
p. 278.]
[All these letters in Hindi are being
reproduced from a publication of the RSS at the end of this article.]
Even a prominent Hindutva ideologue
Balraj Madhok who as an RSS whole-timer founded Bhartiya Jana Sangh (1951) on
RSS command confessed:
“Sarsanghchalak of the Sangh Shri
Bal Saheb Deoras was a MISA prisoner in Pune's Yervada Jail...his life was full
of comforts. Therefore, he wrote two letters to the jailed Indira Gandhi on
22-08-1975 and 10-11-1975 to change her attitude towards the Sangh and lift the
ban on it. He also wrote a letter to Shri Vinoba Bhave and requested him to try
to remove the feeling of opposition towards the Sangh from Indira Gandhi's
mind. These letters were leaked by the government, and they were published in
many newspapers. This naturally had an adverse effect on the morale of the
Sangh volunteers and the Satyagraha movement became almost dead.”
[Madhok, Balraj, Zindagi
Ka Safar –3: Deendayal Upadhyay Ki Hatya Se Indira Gandhi
Ki Hatya Tak (Journey of Life-3: From the Murder of Deendayal Upadhyay to
the Murder of Indira Gandhi), Dinman Prakashan, 2003, pp. 188-189.]
It is to be noted that former
President of the Indian Republic, Pranab Mukherjee was invited by the RSS
chief, Mohan Bhagwat as the chief guest at the graduation ceremony of its new
recruits must be working over-time to convert India into a Hindu state. Pranab
Mukherjee was indicted as one of the top leaders of Congress for Emergency
excesses by Shah Commission.
It
is shameful that despite these facts thousands of RSS cadres continue to get
monthly pension for the persecution during Emergency. The BJP ruled states like
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra decided to award a monthly
pension of Rs 20,000 to those who were jailed during the Emergency period for
less than 2 months, and Rs 10000 to those who were jailed for less than a
month. This rule took care of the financial interest of those RSS cadres who
submitted mercy letters completing only one- or two-months’ jail term. For
securing such a fat pension there was no such condition that the beneficiary
should have been in jail for the whole period of the Emergency.
Interestingly,
in the case of anti-British freedom struggle there has not been even a single
RSS cadre to claim the freedom fighter pension. It may be noted that nobody
remembers hundreds of Communist youths, branded as Naxals killed in fake
encounters during the Emergency. Interestingly, Shiv Sena, the Hindutva
co-traveler of the RSS openly supported the Emergency.
Renowned
senior journalist and one of the finest political commentators in India today,
Coomi Kapoor evaluating the RSS-BJP of last 12 years forthrightly stated:
“Increasingly,
those in power believe they are not directly answerable to the people. The
government’s radio silence over major mess-ups in the NEET and CBSE examinations,
affecting lakhs of students, is a telling example. To respond to public
complaints is perceived as a weakness by today’s regime. The lack of internal
debate in the ruling party, too, is perturbing. The BJP parliamentary board
rarely meets and when it does, it merely rubber stamps decisions taken
elsewhere. The surprise elevation of inexperienced junior party persons as
chief ministers, without any prior consultations, is yet another instance of
the absence of inner-party democracy. No less concerning is the falling
standard of independence and probity of constitutional bodies meant to uphold
democratic values.
“The
Election Commission’s blatant exclusion of over 90 lakh names from the West
Bengal SIR rolls unnecessarily put a question mark over an election where the
public mood was clearly against Mamata Banerjee…The crux of a true democracy is
securing a majority in Parliament through an ethical recourse to the ballot
box, not by winning over opposition legislators by whatever means, fair or
foul, post elections. In the ongoing ruthless mission to secure a two-thirds
majority, one recalls uneasily just how Indira Gandhi utilised her brute
two-thirds majority to subvert our Constitution and push through Emergency
rule.
“As
the country marks the half-century anniversary of the Emergency, many ruling
party supporters wax eloquent on Indira Gandhi’s Emergency excesses as a
warning to future generations not to go down that discredited path and derail
democracy. Ironically, many of the practices of the Emergency are actually
being emulated today. Even the unnecessary sycophancy of rulers in
advertisements, bill boards and at public events seems ominously reminiscent of
that black period and recalls Congress President D K Barooah’s fawning slogan, ‘Indira
is India and India is Indira’.’’
[Coomi
Kapoor, ‘Five decades after the Emergency, difficult questions, unheeded
warnings’, The Indian Express, Delhi, June 25, 2026.
ttps://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/when-a-home-of-her-own-is-a-womans-lifeline-10750871/?ref=infinite]
So,
writing on the wall is clear. India had Emergency imposed using some Articles (352-360)
of the Indian constitution and same was rescinded. Presently without Indira
Gandhi and Congress government we have perpetual ‘undeclared’ Emergency under
Modi rule. It does not need to be withdrawn as it was never declared!
Shamsul Islam
June 25, 2026.
notoinjustice@gmail.com
http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam
Facebook:
https://facebook.com/shamsul.islam.332
Twitter: @shams4equality
http://shamsforpeace.blogspot.com/
Email: notoinjustice@gmail.com
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https://tinyurl.com/shams-books
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