Religious freedoms in the “Era of discipline”: historical and legal aspects of the emergency in India (1975–1977)

Abstract

In the shadow of the Emergency declaration in 1975, the Indian government suspended a number of basic human rights including the freedom of conscience, peaceful assembly and association. Eventually it banned some 20 rightwing religious organizations opposed to the socio-political course of Indira Gandhi and attacked their leaders on the grounds of causing unrest, inciting religious riots and provoking communal violence. Though religious and sectarian groups tried to maintain a united front against the government, they lost that battle. As a result, various religious communities were predictably deprived of legal representation and protection at courts, which intensified the violation of human rights and highlighted a need of negotiation process between the government and respective leaders of Indian religious groups. The anti-secular onslaught shed light on the discrimination treatment of minorities, primarily Muslims and Sikhs. The initiation of a forced sterilization campaign of male population predominantly in Muslim areas along with demolition of slums with a large number of Muslim population revealed the glaring hypocrisy of Indian democracy based on the principles of secularism and inclusiveness. This article examines the mid-1970s ban on a number of religious organizations in India and attempts to explore its influence on the Indian society in the subsequent decades. Currently, in the light of ideological confrontation between secularist forces and radical religious groups the study of the “dark” Emergency period implicates the importance of the constitutionally based principle of freedom of conscience and its implementation in real life.

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