On 25 June this year, India marks 50 years since former prime minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency in India. This was the third time that the emergency had been declared in India, but unlike the first two times which were in case of external threats due to wars with India’s neighbours, the 1975 Emergency was due to internal threats and resulted in the suspension of many constitutional rights and a crackdown on freedom of the press.
In his comprehensive history and analysis of the Emergency, political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot calls the Emergency “India’s first experiment with authoritarianism”. In this episode of State of Southasia with Nayantara Narayanan, Jaffrelot delves into the complexity and contradictions of the Emergency, examines its legacy – how it changed the Congress party and India’s politics, and draws out the parallels and differences with India under Narendra Modi.
More content from this blog
- Oksana Dutchak on War, Austerity and Care – 29 March 2026
- The State of Africa in the New World Order, by Will Shoki – 2 April 2025
- Nazis of Color, by Spencer Sunshine, Isaac & contributors – 12 July 2023
- “The Simple Thing. So Hard To Achieve.” Interview with Uri Weltmann – 24 July 2022
- Despite Claim to be Leftists, Signatories of Counterpunch Letter Glowingly Praise an Authoritarian Theocracy, by Brian Hioe – 12 May 2026
Except where noted otherwise, original writing and translations produced by the Left Renewal Blog Collective are published under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Republished and translated material remains subject to the licence and terms of its original publication.