Narendra Modi lambasted the Congress, but chose not to speak on those who implemented the Gandhi family’s diktats during Emergency.
The BJP-led NDA government Tuesday turned the anniversary of Emergency into a mega event to remind the citizens of the country, especially those who were fortunate enough not to have suffered it, of the dark days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at an event in Mumbai, lambasted the Congress and the Gandhi family for the “sins” associated with the Emergency.
But, what about leaders who were at the forefront of implementing the diktats of the Gandhi family? Why the Prime Minister and most of his ministers didn’t find them worth mentioning? Most of these leaders found a negative mention in the Justice J.C. Shah Commission report on excesses committed during Emergency.
One reason for their omission from all speeches could be that while the BJP continues to bring up Emergency and the horrors associated with it, it had deemed it fit to do business with the same leaders in the past.
Bansi Lal: If there was one Congress politician who drew the most flak for, among other things, forced sterilisation and using brute state power against his opponents and the media, it was Bansi Lal – helped by his son Surender Singh, then with the youth Congress.
When Bansi Lal left the Congress in 1996 and formed the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), guess which party formed the next government in Haryana along with the HVP? The BJP. The alliance ended in 1999 when the BJP pulled out of the government.
Vidya Charan Shukla: If there was one person who throttled the media during Emergency, an issue the BJP doesn’t stop talking about even now, it was then I&B minister V.C. Shukla. Modi Tuesday referred to the Indira Gandhi government’s decision to ban Kishore Kumar’s songs on All India Radio because he “refused to sing at a Congress function”.
That decision, it is a matter on record, was taken by Shukla. What Modi didn’t say was that Shukla had joined the BJP just before the 2004 elections and even contested on the party ticket from Mahasamund constituency in Chhattisgarh. He lost and soon thereafter resigned from the BJP. Later, he returned to the Congress fold.
Jagmohan: A close associate of Sanjay Gandhi, Jagmohan gained notoriety for his controversial stint as vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) during Emergency. During that period, he oversaw large-scale demolition of slums in Delhi in the name of beautification, with his arbitrary actions even fetching him a Padma award. The Shah Commission noted that Jagmohan had an “infinite capacity to mislead”.
In the late 90s, he joined the BJP and even won Lok Sabha elections and served in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet.
Earlier, it was under his watch as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir that large-scale migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley took place.
Pranab Mukherjee: Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee (he later became President of India and has a very good equation with Modi) was minister of state for revenue during Emergency. His role also came under the scanner of the Shah Commission. A few years ago, Mukherjee wrote a book on Indira Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister through which, many feel, he tried to give a clean-chit to Gandhi for Emergency.
Most recently, Mukherjee was the guest of honour at the closing ceremony of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event to mark the conclusion of a three-year training camp for swayamsevaks in Nagpur – his decision to attend the event drew heavy criticism from several quarters, including some Congress leaders.
Maneka Gandhi: While she was not a 24 x 7 politician during Emergency, India Gandhi’s close aide and senior Congress leader R.K. Dhawan said in 2015 that she knew about the event and had no qualms about it. While she is a minister in the government of Narendra Modi, her son, Varun Gandhi, is a BJP Lok Sabha MP. Varun, however, was born after the Emergency was lifted.