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The Role Of The Cold War In Indira Gandhi’s Emergency

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The Role Of The Cold War In Indira Gandhi’s Emergency

~By Saeed Naqvi

Indira Gandhi declared the emergency in 1975, plonk in the middle of the most intense phase of the cold war. Détente was going so badly for the Americans that stand up comedians in Washington were comparing it to a wife swapping party “from where you return alone.”

After the Vietnam debacle, Washington was going to exert every muscle not to allow Moscow to build upon the strategic asset it had created for itself in New Delhi during the 1971 Bangladesh war.

In fact, the Congress split of 1969 was itself an advantage for Moscow. Mrs. Gandhi had discarded the conservative, pro capital big wigs, more comfortable with Congress stalwarts like Morarji Desai whom she had defeated in the Parliamentary party contest to become Prime Minister in 1966.

Not only was a former card carrying communist (from Eton and Oxford too), Mohan Kumaramangalam part author of the split, he had worked out an arrangement with the General Secretary of the CPI, S.A. Dange described as a policy of “Unite and Struggle”. We shall, said Dange, unite with the Congress’s progressive policies but “struggle” against its “anti people” deviations.

This was a pronounced leftward lurch and it was going to be resisted by a coalition of the Right, both internal and external. Indeed, as early as 1967, within a year of her coming to power, Mrs. Gandhi was given notice: she lost elections in eight states to parties of the opposition. This groundswell would obviously suit the purposes of the Congress old guard discarded by Mrs. Gandhi.

The most succinct observation on Mrs. Gandhi’s ideological leanings came from the correspondent of the Times London, Peter Hazelhurst: “She is a little to the Left of self interest.”

The Role Of The Cold War In Indira Gandhi’s Emergency

Her ideological inconsistency becomes apparent if one reverts to her earliest days in 1959 as President of the Congress. She dismissed the world’s first communist government which had come to power through the ballot box in Kerala. That she took American help to unsettle Kerala to justify the state government’s dismissal was revealed by US ambassador, Ellsworth Bunker in an oral interview kept in the Columbia University archives. Whatever doubts there might have been about the Bunker revelations, were cleared later by Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan in his memoirs.

During her Prime Ministership in 1976, the Congress party raised a storm against the US having installed a nuclear device on Nanda Devi peak to spy on China. The controversy had many twists. A joint CIA and Intelligence Bureau effort to install the device in 1965 (Lal Bahadur Shastri was Prime Minister then) had failed because of bad weather. Worse, two plutonium laden capsules had been lost. According to the Intelligence estimates the plutonium was enough for half a Hiroshima bomb.

Read More: Indira Gandhi changed democracy into dictatorship: Arun Jaitley

In the course of an interview, Chester Bowles, US ambassador during Indira Gandhi’s first innings, took my breath away. He couldn’t understand Congress protest. “After all Indira had asked me to complete in 1966 the project which had been aborted in 1965.”

Well, this is how the Congress’s attitude towards the super powers varied from time to time. But for the West the spectacle of Mrs. Gandhi and Dange in a warm embrace was alarming because of the context. The West had taken a series of knocks – Vietnam, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Nicaragua were all communist. Additionally Communist leaders Enrico Berlinguer, Georges Marchais, Santiago Carrillo in Italy, France and Spain respectively were a headache for the West. Given this state of play, India was too priceless a trophy to be easily lost to Moscow’s sphere of influence.

The obstacle in the way of a counteroffensive was Mrs. Gandhi’s personality. She had evolved into a charismatic and, therefore, invincible leader. Proprietor of the Indian Express, Ramnath Goenka and Nanaji Deshmukh, fell into deep thought.

The Indian mind reveres renunciation. It occurred to the head hunters that once a top ranking Socialist leader, Jayaprakash Narayan had renounced political power. He was keeping himself busy with Gandhiji’s ashrams and such unlikely causes as Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan or Land Gift movement. JP agreed to lead the movement provided it remained peaceful.

The Role Of The Cold War In Indira Gandhi’s Emergency

The youth were in agitation across the globe against the excesses of the Vietnam War – Grosvenor Square, London, barricades in Paris, police shooting down of students at the Kent state university in Ohio, US. Soon thereafter the Navnirman Andolan, youth agitation in Gujarat erupted on a seemingly flimsy issue of hostel fees. After visiting Gujarat, JP was prevailed upon to launch a similar movement against corruption and bad governance in Bihar. It was a tepid agenda livened up only by the media dedicated to the task of keeping up the pressure on New Delhi, boosting notions of a “total revolution” one day, asking police and the bureaucracy not to obey “bad” orders another, and so on. The immediate target of the “movement” was a hapless Chief Minister, Abdul Ghafoor, quite bewildered by his own eminence. Why was he in the eye of a storm? He had sunken cheeks and a drooping frame, draped in a much worn Sherwani. By way of hospitality for visiting scribes, he would fetch a bottle of old smuggler Scotch whisky from his wardrobe full of smudged clothes which were clearly waiting for laundry. He was a simple man, not a plausible enough crook to invite a national movement for his ouster.

JP, who had invited me to stay in his house in Patna’s Kadam Kuan, listened to my stories even about the CM with a kindly smile. He was a trusting man and totally non judgemental about the wide range of political interests who had clambered onto his movement.

The movement was carried mostly by RSS cadres, with a sprinkling of socialists, Gandhians and Congress (O), mostly those who had been shown the door by Mrs. Gandhi in 1969. This exactly was the rough outline of the group which morphed into a coalition in the course of the movement. The coalition came to power in 1977 as the Janata Party.

Supposing the Allahabad High Court had not disqualified Mrs. Gandhi, how would events have shaped? If Sanjay Gandhi, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Muhammad Yunus and others had not forced her hand on the Emergency, how would the Mrs. Gandhi-JP standoff have concluded?

India News

Cauvery water dispute: Tamil Nadu farmers hold dead mice in their mouth in protest against Karnataka government | Watch

Farmers from different parts of Thanjavur performed Tharpanam, a ritual which is done for ancestors, in front of district collector office, urging the government to get Tamil Nadu’s share of water in Cauvery for Kuruvai and Samba cultivation.

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Cauvery water dispute: Tamil Nadu farmers hold dead mice in their mouth in protest against Karnataka government | Watch

While Karnataka Jala Samrakhshan Samiti, an umbrella outfit of farmers’ association and opposition parties in Karnataka are holding protests in the state regarding the Cauvery water dispute, farmers in Tamil Nadu also took the street to protest on the same and demand the release of Cauvery water to the state from Karnataka. 

The conflict between the two states broke out when the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) order directed Karnataka to continue releasing 5000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for another 15 days. Following the order, top Congress leaders of Karnataka maintained that there is no surplus water available to be released. 

Protesting against the Karnataka government and demanding release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, a group of farmers from Tiruchirappalli were holding dead rats in their mouths. Notably, a similar protest was seen in April 2017, when  Chinnagodangi Palanisamy, a 65-year-old farmer, caught a live rat in his mouth while protesting near Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to draw the government’s attention to the plight of farmers in drought-stricken areas of Tamil Nadu. The photos of this incident went viral then.

Meanwhile, farmers from different parts of Thanjavur performed Tharpanam, a ritual which is done for ancestors, in front of district collector office, urging the government to get Tamil Nadu’s share of water in Cauvery for Kuruvai and Samba cultivation. Kuruvai cultivation refers to the seasonal cultivation of paddy during the Kuruvai season in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Samba cultivation also refers to a seasonal paddy cultivation.

Furthermore, members of Cauvery Urimai Meetpu Kulu also staged a rail roko protest in Thanjavur by blocking Cholan Express train, condemning Karnataka government to release Tamil Nadu’s share of water in Cauvery river. Reportedly, the protestors were arrested by the police. 

In another protest regarding the same, members of Desai Thenninthiya Nathigal Inaippu Vivasayigal Sangam (National South Indian River Interlinking Agriculturist Association) held a protest under the leadership of state president of the association Ayyakannu in Trichy by performing the last rites of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah. They condemned the Karnataka state government for not releasing enough water from Cauvery. 

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India News

Watch: Korean Ambassador Chang Jae-bok performs puja for his new car, video goes viral

In the video a priest can be seen holding the puja ceremony. Ambassador Chang Jae-bok and other officials are also standing in attendance during the puja ceremony. The post was shared by the Korean Embassy on X on September 26

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Watch:  Korean Ambassador Chang Jae-bok performs puja for his new car, video goes viral

South Korean Embassy in India held a special puja ceremony to mark the arrival of a new vehicle for Ambassador Chang Jae-bok. The official took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a video of the pooja ceremony. He wrote he was delighted to have new Hyundai Genesis GV80 as the ambassador’s official vehicle. He also held a puja ceremony for good luck.

In the video a priest can be seen holding the puja ceremony. Ambassador Chang Jae-bok and other officials are also standing in attendance during the puja ceremony. The post was shared by the Korean Embassy on X on September 26. The video has been viewed close to 80,000 times. The post has more than 1700 likes.

Variety of comments started coming on Twitter. Many social media users were happy on seeing the video and wished Ambassador for the new car. One social media user said Good Luck and safe driving Ambassador Chang. One X user wrote that is the way to appreciate someone’s culture and wished the Ambassador best of Luck.

One social media user thanked the ambassador for embracing the culture. He said good luck for the new vehicle. Another X user said nice looking car. One user wrote performing puja is a very heartwarming. He assured the Ambassador that positive forces will bring much more glory to South Korea and India’s relations. One social media user said great to see this and respect for him. Another X user said India’s culture was the pride of India.

Another social media user said this is a great gesture by the Korean ambassador.

One X user said happy driving and safe journeys.

Another user found the video beautiful.

Another social media user said this will be a good beginning for the car of the ambassador.  

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Haryana news

Watch: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar reaches Karnal airport on bike, video went viral

On September 1, in an effort to check pollution, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar declared that Tuesdays from now will be designated as car-free days in Karnal.

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Watch: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar reaches Karnal airport on bike, video went viral

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday took a bike rike to Karnal airport in an attempt to support the car free day initiative in the state. Earlier, the chief minister announced that every Tuesday would be a car-free day in Karnal, where all government officials would travel by bicycle only.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, CM Manohar Lal Khattar wrote that be it Car Free Day or the resolve to make Drug-free Haryana, it cannot be accomplished without public cooperation. He expressed that he also made a small cooperation to reduce car traffic today by travelling to Karnal Airport by bike on Car Free Day. He added that he hopes the aware people of the state will take this message forward and inspire people to give up their cars just for a day. 

On September 1, in an effort to check pollution, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar declared that Tuesdays from now will be designated as car-free days in Karnal. Under the aegis of this initiative, all government officials will be required to travel by bicycle on Tuesdays.

Meanwhile on Monday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar flagged off a cyclothon in Haryana’s Yamunanagar to promote the initiative of drug-free Haryana. The campaign titled Cyclothon for a Drug-Free Haryana witnessed the first cyclothon on September 1 and Monday, September 25.

Speaking about drug-free Haryana, the Chief Minister noted that their goal will not be achieved by mere march against drug addiction. He added that in order to eradicate it from its roots they will have to create public awareness continuously. He underlined that to eliminate drug addiction, they have to break the drug supply chain for which the government is taking action against the drug smugglers with great responsibility. 

The Chief Minister further remarked that during Cyclothon Yatra Closing Ceremony in Karnal, all the people present there took many resolutions to eradicate drug addiction from the society. 

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