“A nightmare worse than Emergency” says Nayantara Sehgal

Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. This is an oft repeated saying and let us begin by remembering that today is the anniversary of the Emergency, declared by then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi in 1975. It was 43 years back and lasted for 21 months.

On June 25, 1975, emergency was declared in India and there was widespread human rights violations, jailing of key Opposition figures and a total gag on press freedom. Speaking about the period, senior journalist and human rights activist, Nayantara Sehgal said in her interview that today there is an undeclared emergency and there is no freedom of press in Modi’s India.

Now we are living in a battered, bleeding democracy

“Now we are living in a battered, bleeding democracy. And though no Emergency has been declared, people are being killed, people are being jailed; people are being hauled up for sedition and for being anti-national. It is an absolutely nightmarish situation which has no equal. This government is pretending to be democratic but we see what is happening all around. And nothing has come out of the government’s mouth to condemn all these goings on. So I rate it as a situation which has no equal in India.”

She however ended on a very positive note that Indians will oust the narrow-minded Sangh and succeed in bringing back a secular and diverse republic in the same way as Indira Gandhi was ousted after the Emergency.