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In The Name Of Democracy: JP Movement and the Emergency
An unusual and insightful perspective of Indian democracy's dark hour
'When Jayaprakash Narayan, the leader of the JP movement in north India, pressed for the resignation of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, it prompted her to impose internal Emergency. In this fascinating account, Bipan Chandra traces the events that led up to this moment and makes some startling revelations. He finds that there was a real danger of the JP movement turning fascist, given the fuzzy ideology of Total Revolution, its confused leadership and dependence on the RSS for its organization. At the same time, despite the authoritarianism inherent in the Emergency, particularly with the rising power of Sanjay Gandhi and his Youth Congress brigade, Indira Gandhi did end it and call for elections.
Finely argued, incisive and original, this book offers significant insight into those turbulent years and joins the ever-relevant debate on the acceptable limits of popular protest in a democracy .
'When Jayaprakash Narayan, the leader of the JP movement in north India, pressed for the resignation of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, it prompted her to impose internal Emergency. In this fascinating account, Bipan Chandra traces the events that led up to this moment and makes some startling revelations. He finds that there was a real danger of the JP movement turning fascist, given the fuzzy ideology of Total Revolution, its confused leadership and dependence on the RSS for its organization. At the same time, despite the authoritarianism inherent in the Emergency, particularly with the rising power of Sanjay Gandhi and his Youth Congress brigade, Indira Gandhi did end it and call for elections.
Finely argued, incisive and original, this book offers significant insight into those turbulent years and joins the ever-relevant debate on the acceptable limits of popular protest in a democracy .
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
About the author
Bipan Chandra
64 books215 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 - 7 of 7 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
June 3, 2026
The Emergency period has been touted as the darkest period in Indian democracy. Roles of various stakeholders, like Indira Gandhi and Jay Prakash continue to be evaluated even in contemporary times. This period has in recent years piqued my interest as to what actually happened, what series of events led to it and what can I learn from this sordid episode. This led me eventually to this book written by one of the most prolific historians of India.
Bipin Chandra has introduced the book by setting expectations over the scope of his book, which is a welcome move. He then moves on to talk about the series of events that culminated into the proclamation of Emergency. He carefully examines the roles of JP, the opposition, RSS, Indira Gandhi, and INC to show the reader a better context of the period. One of the things I loved reading n his book was how he breaks the society into various interest groups like the intelligentsias, bureaucracy, the rich, middle and poor section of society, the capitalists and the youth. This demonstrates how different sections behaved differently, rather than like a composite block. One sees this pattern throughout the book.
He speaks about the conditions that lead to Emergency, by bringing out the challenges in front of the Indira Gandhi led Congress government & their ineptitude that was highlighted by the JP movement's rise. The author takes a pause in his narration by then playing a thought experiment over what were the options in front of the Congress government other than the Emergency. He presents a simple idea in the midst of various conflicts.
He then goes on to dismantle JP as a character and his movement seeking to bring Total Revolution. He then focuses on Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi over their role. In this section the author shows a level of protectionism towards Indira Gandhi, the same of which is not extended to JP. He then goes on to describe the excesses of Emergency so that the reader understands its extent. But sometimes it feels like he is pulling back his punches.
The author then goes on to conclude with the conditions leading to the reversal of Emergency and its aftermath. In the final section the author attempts to tie everything in a neat bow. He attempts to analyse what kind of popular movements are acceptable in a democratic state and how they must evolve when the state refuses to engage. Unfortunately, he stops short of giving a conclusive answer.
The book itself appears to be well researched by its long list of Notes and Bibliography. Some of the sections can feel a little drawn especially the one analysing JP as a character and the movement, but otherwise the book has a good flow. There are instances of a clear bias but the author does attempt to reason it away. I do plan on reading Emergency Retold by Kuldip Nayar, to get a more critical view. Future readers are welcomed to read multiple perspectives to form their views.
I think it's unavoidable to understand Modern Indian history without reading the works of Bipin Chandra. Hence, I will always suggest his books. Though, I'll recommend the readers to supplement it with subaltern studies and its like.
Bipin Chandra has introduced the book by setting expectations over the scope of his book, which is a welcome move. He then moves on to talk about the series of events that culminated into the proclamation of Emergency. He carefully examines the roles of JP, the opposition, RSS, Indira Gandhi, and INC to show the reader a better context of the period. One of the things I loved reading n his book was how he breaks the society into various interest groups like the intelligentsias, bureaucracy, the rich, middle and poor section of society, the capitalists and the youth. This demonstrates how different sections behaved differently, rather than like a composite block. One sees this pattern throughout the book.
He speaks about the conditions that lead to Emergency, by bringing out the challenges in front of the Indira Gandhi led Congress government & their ineptitude that was highlighted by the JP movement's rise. The author takes a pause in his narration by then playing a thought experiment over what were the options in front of the Congress government other than the Emergency. He presents a simple idea in the midst of various conflicts.
He then goes on to dismantle JP as a character and his movement seeking to bring Total Revolution. He then focuses on Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi over their role. In this section the author shows a level of protectionism towards Indira Gandhi, the same of which is not extended to JP. He then goes on to describe the excesses of Emergency so that the reader understands its extent. But sometimes it feels like he is pulling back his punches.
The author then goes on to conclude with the conditions leading to the reversal of Emergency and its aftermath. In the final section the author attempts to tie everything in a neat bow. He attempts to analyse what kind of popular movements are acceptable in a democratic state and how they must evolve when the state refuses to engage. Unfortunately, he stops short of giving a conclusive answer.
The book itself appears to be well researched by its long list of Notes and Bibliography. Some of the sections can feel a little drawn especially the one analysing JP as a character and the movement, but otherwise the book has a good flow. There are instances of a clear bias but the author does attempt to reason it away. I do plan on reading Emergency Retold by Kuldip Nayar, to get a more critical view. Future readers are welcomed to read multiple perspectives to form their views.
I think it's unavoidable to understand Modern Indian history without reading the works of Bipin Chandra. Hence, I will always suggest his books. Though, I'll recommend the readers to supplement it with subaltern studies and its like.
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 - 7 of 7 reviews