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Blackest day in post-independence history of India

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In the post-independence era, June 26th is a black day. With a large population below the poverty line and a lack of basic amenities such as education, India remains a global outlier in the democratic tradition.

The only blemish in Indian democratic history is the period of emergency from June 26, 1975 to March 21, 1977. Any proud Indian who believes in democracy cannot help but recall those dreadful days of complete anarchy, dictatorship, and censorship. A nationwide Satyagraha was planned, and the Aapat Kal Sangharsh Samiti was formed.

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The instructions were to gather in small groups of 10 to 15 people and begin shouting anti-dictatorship slogans, distributing cyclostyled or photocopied pro-democratic pamphlets, declaring an emergency, and walking until the police arrested the participants. We were a group of eight, and I was the youngest.

The propaganda of efficiency, law and order, and discipline was perplexing, and it resulted in a total disconnect between the people and reality. We were locked up in a single cell for about twenty-four hours, with the toilet separated by a small shoulder-height wall within the cell itself.

 

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