Remembering the Emergency Era

When B'lore was hotbed of rebellion

What were you doing in the last week of June in 1975? Thousands of long-time Bangaloreans would answer: Plotting a rebellion. Planning to throw out the government at the centre. Playing hide and seek with the State police. Indeed, those were the times. Wednesday, June 26 marked the 32nd anniversary of the Emergency Era (1975-77), India's darkest chapter in its political history. It was the time when the world's largest democracy, was half a step away from becoming a totalitarian State. A time when the people of Bangalore played a critical role in the national rebellion against the Emergency.

A time when an Indira Gandhi under siege rocked the very foundations of our democracy. Stung by the adverse Allahabad High Court verdict unseating her on charges of corruption, Mrs. Gandhi reacted by packing off the entire opposition to jail.

In this nostalgic piece, TWB goes down memory lane and remembers the extraordinary exploits of ordinary peace loving citizens, including the young and the old, the infirm and the ailing, from virtually all classes and all professions. The history of rebellion against the Emergency will never be complete without recording the heroic exploits of these unsung heros viz. Mara ppa, Ramas wamy, TR Sampath, Nagaraj, and BN Vijayakumar (now the city BJP President) to name a few.

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An ubiquitous house, typically middle-class, with nothing in particular to commend it. Few would notice it. But for the police.

It was the 'unofficial' headquarters for the rebellion, B.N. Murthy, the chief 'plotter' along with his brother B.N. Vijaykumar.