June 26, 1975. Exactly thirty years ago, India woke up to a long spell of darkness. It was the day when the late prime minister Indira Gandhi [Images] imposed Emergency.

The ensuing 19 months are often cited as the darkest phase of Indian democracy.

Hundreds of opposition politicians were arrested and put in jail, the Constitution was amended to suit the prime minister's whims and fancies, laws were modified to overturn court orders, buildings were razed, people were forcibly sterilised and the press was muzzled.

• 'It was the darkest phase of Indian democracy'

Those were the days when even the slightest dissent was not forgiven.

For those who may not know what the Emergency was all about, and for those who may have forgotten those traumatic days, Rediff.com presents a primer.

What is this Emergency one hears so much about? Emergency literally means a crisis, so was this a crisis?
Yes, it was a crisis all right, but a constitutional crisis. Emergency here refers to a period of governance under an altered constitutional setup that the President of India proclaims when he/she perceives grave threats to the nation from internal and external sources or from various crises that include financial situations and natural calamities.

So it is the President of India who declares Emergency?
Yes. The President declares it, but on the advice of the Union Cabinet headed by the prime minister.

Is there a Constitutional provision to declare Emergency?
Yes. Articles 352 to 360 of the Constitution of India deal with the proclamation of Emergency.

Articles 352, 353, 354, 358 and 359 deal with circumstances necessitating a state of emergency at the national level.
Articles 355, 356 and 357 deal with the imposition of federal rule in the states (dissolving the legislative functions at the state level).
Article 360 deals with the imposition of financial emergency.

Is there a time limit on how long the Emergency can be in force?
Emergency is declared for a six-month period. But it would automatically cease to operate after the lapse of a month unless passed by both houses of Parliament. The President can call a parliamentary session, if the house is not already in session to decide on the proclamation. The proclamation would also cease to operate unless renewed at the end of every six months.

How many times has Emergency been declared in India?
Three times since 1947. The first two were triggered off by wars with China and Pakistan. The first one came into force on October 26, 1962. The second one on December 3, 1971. The third one was declared by Mrs Gandhi on June 25, 1975.

How long did that Emergency last?
Nineteen months -- from June 26, 1975, to January 18, 1977.

What prompted Mrs Gandhi to impose it?
The prime reason was a verdict on June 12, 1975, by the Allahabad high court, which found Mrs Gandhi guilty of election malpractices and unseated her from the Lok Sabha. It also barred her from contesting elections for six years.

But didn't she go in an appeal against the verdict?
Yes, she did. She moved the Supreme Court against the verdict. The Supreme Court on June 24 gave a conditional stay, allowing her to remain a member of Parliament, but disallowed her to take part in the proceedings of the Lok Sabha.

Who was the Supreme Court judge who gave that judgment?
Justice V R Krishna Iyer. Justice Iyer, since retired, has this to tell rediff.com: "I refused the prime minister the right to vote in Parliament. My point was that: 'Be you ever so high, the law is above you'." Justice Iyer says his verdict along with the Allahabad high court ruling were the main reasons that prompted Mrs Gandhi to declare Emergency. "The Emergency was the darkest era in the democratic history of India," Justice Iyer, who has fought on behalf of many victims of Emergency, said.

What was Mrs Gandhi's argument?
Mrs Gandhi said she was clamping down emergency because the country's security was endangered due to internal destabilisation.

Were the court verdicts the main reasons for Emergency?
No. There were other compelling political reasons as well. Mrs Gandhi's political opponents led by the Gandhian socialist Jayaprakash Narayan had been agitating against her government. Soon after the Allahabad high court verdict, Narayan and a coalition of opposition leaders launched a massive national movement of civil disobedience to remove Mrs Gandhi as prime minister. So intense was the political opposition to her that not many expected Mrs Gandhi to last long as prime minister. She responded by proclaiming Emergency.

What were Mrs Gandhi's immediate actions soon after Emergency was declared?
Most opposition leaders including Narayan were arrested and put in jail. Mrs Gandhi's argument was that they were creating internal security problems for India. She then recklessly amended the Constitution to suit her purpose soon after Emergency was declared. She amended the Representation of Peoples Act and two other laws with retrospective effect to ensure that the Supreme Court is left with no option but to overturn the verdict of the Allahabad high court. The prime minister also took away from the apex court the authority to adjudicate election disputes relating to the president, the vice-president, the prime minister and the Lok Sabha speaker and transferred it to a body to be appointed by Parliament.

How many people were arrested?
Exact figures are not available. But it is said during Emergency, more than 100,000 person were jailed without trial.

What were the excesses reported during the Emergency?
Officially 22 custodial deaths were reported. Unofficially, it is said there were many deaths, including political killings. People in cities like Delhi [Images] bore the worst of it. Houses, many of them in slums, were demolished in the name of beautification. The worst was the forcible sterilisation of people. More than a million people were forcibly sterilised. People traveling in buses were forcibly taken out and sterilised.

Any glaring incidents...?
In Haryana, a bus carrying professors for a seminar was diverted to a hospital and all the learned participants in the seminar were forced to undergo vasectomy despite their protests.

Who was behind the sterilisation plan?
Sanjay, Indira Gandhi's youngest son.

But didn't the press create a ruckus over all this?
The press was also muzzled. Newspaper offices were raided, telephone and fax lines to them were cut and regular publication of many newspapers blocked. The courageous Indian Express was the most glaring example. In effect, no one in the country was allowed to speak and write freely.

Text: George Iype
Design: Rahil Shaikh