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In the name of Democracy: JP movement and the Emergency
An examination of two watershed developments in our contemporary history
The Emergency of 1975-77 was a dark chapter of India’s democracy. Leading up to it was the JP movement, named after its leader Jayaprakash Narayan, which paralysed much of northern India and directly challenged Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the Centre. This book, unlike earlier studies, looks at these happenings sequentially, seeking to understand their character and the nature of the challenge they posed to our democracy.
Tracking the events of the period, Bipan Chandra finds that instead of pressing for Mrs Gandhi’s resignation, JP could have waited for the low to take its course or asked for immediate elections. Similarly, Indira Gandhi could have preponed elections on grounds of political instability and sought a popular mandate rather than impose Internal Emergency. Both sides seemed to have been prisoners to immediate circumstances and had the potential for leading to a totalitarian dictatorship though they did not. Yet, despite the authoritarianism inherent in the Emergency, particularly with the rice to power of Sanjay Gandhi and his Youth Congress brigade, Indira Gandhi ended it and called for elections. Likewise, the JP movement ran out of steam, through the danger of it turning fascist was real, given the fuzzy ideology of Total Revolution, confused leadership, and dependence on the RSS for its organization.
Finely argued, incisive and original, this book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of those turbulent years. Further, by raising the matter of acceptable limits of popular protest in a democracy, it offers insights of great contemporary relevance.
The Emergency of 1975-77 was a dark chapter of India’s democracy. Leading up to it was the JP movement, named after its leader Jayaprakash Narayan, which paralysed much of northern India and directly challenged Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the Centre. This book, unlike earlier studies, looks at these happenings sequentially, seeking to understand their character and the nature of the challenge they posed to our democracy.
Tracking the events of the period, Bipan Chandra finds that instead of pressing for Mrs Gandhi’s resignation, JP could have waited for the low to take its course or asked for immediate elections. Similarly, Indira Gandhi could have preponed elections on grounds of political instability and sought a popular mandate rather than impose Internal Emergency. Both sides seemed to have been prisoners to immediate circumstances and had the potential for leading to a totalitarian dictatorship though they did not. Yet, despite the authoritarianism inherent in the Emergency, particularly with the rice to power of Sanjay Gandhi and his Youth Congress brigade, Indira Gandhi ended it and called for elections. Likewise, the JP movement ran out of steam, through the danger of it turning fascist was real, given the fuzzy ideology of Total Revolution, confused leadership, and dependence on the RSS for its organization.
Finely argued, incisive and original, this book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of those turbulent years. Further, by raising the matter of acceptable limits of popular protest in a democracy, it offers insights of great contemporary relevance.
413 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2003
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About the author
Bipan Chandra
62 books210 followersBipan Chandra (born 1928) is an Indian historian, specialising in economic and political history of modern India. He has specialized on the national movement. He is considered an authority on Modern Indian History and is one of its most popular scholars.
Source for information : Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipan_Ch... ) and for the Author's photograph : Penguin ( http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/c... )
Source for information : Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipan_Ch... ) and for the Author's photograph : Penguin ( http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/c... )
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 3, 2021
Brilliant. Slightly academic but quite an objective analysis of the period.
Given that the author has lived through the period, it is expected that there will be personal biases. Filter out those and we're good.
Also, it comes eerily close to the situation we are facing as of now.
Given that the author has lived through the period, it is expected that there will be personal biases. Filter out those and we're good.
Also, it comes eerily close to the situation we are facing as of now.
April 19, 2016
Not a very authentic book on the emergency period. But if you read it keeping in mind the author's political inclinations then it can become quite informative.
March 28, 2025
A liberal outlook, but definitely one that has solid reasoning and explanations. It tries to paint the picture of both sides, and creates an analysis considering “the worst has happened, but let’s see what we learned from it”. Don’t know yet how much it should affect my views about the period.
October 25, 2012
For the first time, a well balanced book about the JP Movement and the Emergency that it provoked. All the other accounts I have read deify or demonize one or the other. Bipan Chandra analyzes the causes for the movement, it's principal actors, and its nature. The author presents, very convincingly, that JP himself was not very clear about the goals (and even methods) of the movement. Having a limited presence outside Bihar, JP relied on a motley band of organizations for support and organization. Of them - the Congress (O), the Sarvodayaites, the RSS, Naxalites and Anand Margis - there was a real danger of the movement turning fascist with there being a real risk of the RSS hijacking the movement.
As for the Emergency, while not defending it, the author emphasizes that while it was bad, it not not as bad as other Authoritarian and Totalitarian regimes, contemporary or past. He postulates that Indira Gandhi called off the Emergency, when she realized that too much power was accumulated in the hands of Sanjay Gandhi, her son, and that the Emergency itself was in danger of spinning out of control into an Authoritarian, Totalitarian and potentially a Fascist regime.
All in all an excellent book for those interested in the Emergency and its causes.
As for the Emergency, while not defending it, the author emphasizes that while it was bad, it not not as bad as other Authoritarian and Totalitarian regimes, contemporary or past. He postulates that Indira Gandhi called off the Emergency, when she realized that too much power was accumulated in the hands of Sanjay Gandhi, her son, and that the Emergency itself was in danger of spinning out of control into an Authoritarian, Totalitarian and potentially a Fascist regime.
All in all an excellent book for those interested in the Emergency and its causes.
April 20, 2018
Detailed narration but biased
September 5, 2014
JP Narayan led the first notable political revolution in the post independence India and this books takes you through the journey of this revolution. Indira Gandhi's total seizure of control and then the total loss of it. Then the book highlights the very fragmented political opposition to congress which eventually could not stand against Congress or Indira Gandhi.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews