In 1971 Indira Gandhi declared emergency under the pretext of India being under threat of internal and external forces. However the actual reason was that the on the day of the declaration, the next day a court verdict was going to be announced. The verdict was on a case filed by Jayprakash Narayan on the then recent elections accusing Indira Gandhi of elections malpractices. If the verdict by the court found Indira guilty then that would mean she would be striped of her Prime Ministership, to avoid this she declared Emergency.
During the emergency there were gross violations. The press was gagged. Many political persons were arrested without being charged and tortured. There were rise in encounter cases. Journalists were persecuted. Sanjay Gandhi went wild by forcing many men to undergo vasectomy. There was a gross violation of human rights.
However the persecution for these crimes conducted by Indira Gandhi led nowhere. She successfully turned an arrest of her during the Janta Party rule into her favour. By the time Janta Party broke down she had successful converted the nation to support her. Then she died. Though the emergency is regarded as the darkest period in Indian Democracy, Indira is still regarded in high opinion because of the new heights she bought India to.
This draws on a parallel of the current Chief Minister of Gujarat Narander Modi. The main man who allowed the gross human violation to occur. The man who did not initiate the infrastructure to stop violent mobs and in doing so giving permission for mass extermination of Muslims. While ongoing investigation has given him a clean chit, many people still believe that he holds a major responsibility for the Gujarat riots.
While this goes on, a group of people have voiced out their opinions that he should be forgiven for his past crimes and the present should be looked at, where he has converted Gujarat as a model state for many.
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