New Delhi: On the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed in 1975 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), under the Union Ministry of Culture, began a year-long national program to make the younger generation aware of the impact of the Emergency on civil liberties and democracy.
The program started on June 26 in Delhi with a physical exhibition at Ambedkar International Centre. The exhibition displays rare documents, books, photographs, and stories of people who were jailed or tortured during the Emergency. A special section called the Atal Gallery shows poems written by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his time in prison, expressing his resistance to the government’s actions.
One of his well-known verses featured in the exhibition reads:
“Bade muddat baad mile hain deewane; kehne-sunne ko bahut hain afsane; khuli hawa mein zara saans to le lein; kab tak rahegi azaadi bhala kaun jaane.”
Mobile exhibition vans will now take the display to different parts of Delhi, including Thyagaraj Stadium, Delhi University, JNU, Connaught Place, and more. The goal is to create public discussion and remind people how fragile democracy can be.
Along with Vajpayee’s writings, the exhibition also presents facts from the Shah Commission report, showing that over 36,000 people were arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), and most of them were jailed without any explanation.
Key guests at the event included Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale, writer Ram Bahadur Rai, and several other dignitaries.
