I was director, Military Intelligence (DMI), during the Black Emergency when Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) and over one lakh Indian citizens were imprisoned overnight. I had known JP, the hero of the 1942 Quit India Movement, since my childhood. He and my father were classmates in college. Though he was close to Nehru and JP’s wife, Prabhavati, was a good friend of Kamla Nehru, JP had declined Jawaharlal Nehru’s invitation to be deputy Prime Minister and later to be President.
Despite this, JP and Indira Gandhi had strong differences over corruption in government, forcing him to launch an anti-government student’s movement that gained tremendous momentum in North India. In early June 1975, I was on a flight from Patna to Delhi and JP happened to be sitting next to me. We talked about personal matters and not a word of politics. Most of the time he was reading some papers. On arrival in Delhi, I took his briefcase and we walked to the terminal building where thousands had come to welcome him. I handed over the briefcase to one of his men, saluted him and left. The next morning when I went to see the Army Chief, he asked me if I was close to JP. The Intelligence Bureau must have reported the incident at the airport. I said that JP was our family friend whom I had known since my childhood. The Army Chief told me not to worry.
On the morning of June 26, 1975, I was surprised not to receive morning newspapers. I soon heard that Emergency had been declared and publication of newspapers suspended. This had never happened even in British days during the Freedom Movement. I met the Army Chief that morning and found that he too had been taken by surprise. I thought that I would be relieved of my sensitive appointment because of my JP connection. Rumours spread in Patna that I had been placed under house arrest.
General T.N. Raina was promoted as Army Chief on June 1, 1975. He was a Kashmiri and was expected to toe Indira Gandhi’s line. I found that to be absolutely untrue. Gen. Raina insisted that the Army must remain apolitical. Bansi Lal, a devout follower of Indira Gandhi, was the defence minister. He wanted the Army to provide water tankers at Indira Gandhi’s public rallies, saying that providing drinking water in summer was an act of piety. Under instructions of Gen. Raina, the Army declined to do so unless government orders were issued for the Army to provide water at public meetings of all political parties, including those in the Opposition.
Similarly, the Army declined to provide tents in Guwahati for the All-India Congress Committee session. Further, Sanjay Gandhi was invited by the Punjab government to inaugurate the Anglo-Sikh War Memorial at Ferozepur, and given the protocol meant for a Prime Minister, with a police guard of honour. All Army generals serving in Punjab and Delhi were invited to attend the function in uniform. Under Gen. Raina’s instructions, we issued unwritten orders to them not to attend the function.
Soon after Emergency was declared, I carried out a survey in the Army. Both officers and soldiers were largely indifferent to it, though many welcomed the Emergency as trains were running on time and government offices were more functional with officials coming to office punctually.
On August 15, 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members were assassinated by Army officers in Dhaka. His daughter Sheikh Hasina survived as she was abroad at that time. There was much consternation in Delhi and fear that something similar may happen in India. I mounted special intelligence operations, concentrating on Army personnel in Delhi Cantonment and in Army Headquarters, and our assessment was that there was no possibility of such an incident in India.
I came across a well-written pamphlet titled “A tale of two democracies”. It discussed how Hitler, the elected Chancellor of the Weimar Republic of Germany, had subverted the Constitution and imposed Emergency. The German generals, being apolitical, did not interfere. Had they intervened, Hitler could be removed and the world saved the great holocaust of the Second World War. It compared Indira Gandhi’s Emergency to Hitler’s Emergency, implying that if Indian generals did not act, India may face a catastrophe. It was a virtual call for intervention by the Army. I immediately informed the government and ensured that no copy of this booklet was allowed to circulate amongst Army personnel. I discovered later that the author of this booklet was L.K. Advani, then in prison in Bangalore.
One day as per normal practice, while giving my intelligence briefing to the Chiefs of Staff on national security, I mentioned that JP who was then under arrest in Chandigarh, had been moved to Jaslok Hospital in Bombay for treatment. The Air Chief enquired, “Hasn’t that old fellow died yet?” I lost my cool and replied, “Thank God sir, the greatest living Indian is alive.” Gen. Raina smiled and I continued my briefing. It was a time when everyone in South Block appeared to be in the grip of fear and most professed loyalty to the ruling regime. I had not seen such servility among Indian officers, civil or military, even during the Freedom Movement.
A year later, when Emergency was to be lifted and elections were to be held, we discussed the possibility of electoral results at the Joint Intelligence Committee. My counterparts in the Intelligence Bureau and Research & Analysis Wing said that Indira Gandhi will sweep the polls. I differed saying that forced sterilisation had had a very adverse impact and will influence election results. A month before the elections, I was transferred to command a division in Jammu and Kashmir. Maj. Gen. H.N. Kaul, a Kashmiri, succeeded me. A distinguished veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar, in his book on the Emergency, wrote that Indira Gandhi was preparing for Army intervention in case the election results went against her party and that I had been transferred to make room for Kaul.
The fact that the Indian Army retained its apolitical profile during the dark days of Emergency was largely because of Gen. T.N. Raina. The Shah Commission, set up after the Janata government came to power, indicted several institutions and individuals but said nothing against the Army for its role during the Emergency. In recognition of the contribution of Gen. Raina, the Janata government sent him, after his retirement, as our high commissioner to Canada.
The writer, a retired lieutenant-general, was Vice-Chief of Army Staff and has served as governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir
