INDIA: STATE OF EMERGENCY BACKGROUNDER скачать в хорошем качестве

INDIA: STATE OF EMERGENCY BACKGROUNDER

(24 Jun 1995) English/Nat Twenty years ago this Sunday, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency for two years in India in response to serious opposition and unrest. Civil liberties were suspended, members of the opposition party were imprisoned and the press was censored. Two decades later APTV finds out how the state of emergency affected and still affects the people of India. Indira Gandhi imposed the state of emergency amidst political chaos and to avoid being taken out of office through an alleged vote-for-bribe scandal. Freed of many parliamentary constraints, she managed to control inflation and boost the economy. But on the negative side, political opponents were imprisoned, the press was censored and civil liberties were undermined. The emergency ended in 1977 as , believing the people were behind her and her emergency powers, Indira Gandhi called an election only to be voted out of power by discontented voters. Political analyst Babhani Sen Gupta vividly remembers the severe impositions on day to day life during the emergency. SOUNDBITE: "For the first time in our country comprehensive press censorship was introduced. Then, all the fundamental rights were suspended, including the right to live." SUPER CAPTION: Babhani Sen Gupta - Political observer Despite widespread dissatisfaction with the impositions of the Emergency, Indira Gandhi believed she was doing what the people wanted. Now - following the end of the Nehru dynasty in India - nearly all the political parties are renouncing the period. But one faction of the All-India Congress party, now split into four parts, still justifies her decision. It claims there are vast differences between pre-emergency and contemporary India. V-N Gadgil was one of the designers of the Emergency programme and a spokesman for Indira Gandhi. SOUNDBITE: "There were revolutionary forces and counter revolutionary forces, both organised. There was a grand alliance against the Congress in the '71 elections, and she (Indira Gandhi) won with thumping majority. That is why the counter revolutionary - perhaps with help from abroad - started. No such situation exists today." SUPER CAPTION : V-N Gadgil, Senior Congress (i) leader Amidst daily turmoil, it is difficult for many Indians to see any changes at all. The rift between rich and poor is only growing bigger. A series of programmes to reduce population growth have all but failed. Only this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross was allowed to regularly visit detainees in Kashmir and restore contact between them and their families. As a result, for an overwhelming majority there is a sense of helplessness - one reminiscent of the times during the Emergency. P-N Lekhi was one of the some 200-thousand people imprisoned during the Emergency. SOUNDBITE : "This was the lesson we learnt from them, that one has to be a eunuch in order to avoid emergency. And that is precisely what Indira Gandhi wanted to convert the whole nation into a nation of eunuchs, as far as her rabid lust for power was concerned." SUPER CAPTION : P-N Lekhi, Lawyer imprisoned during the emergency 20 years since the state of emergency was declared and the people of India are still waiting for things to change. Unrest continues throughout many of India's states. Permanent strikes often paralyze life in the main cities and the unrest in Kashmir continues. But for now at least - the people have had their voices restored. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...