Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi has expressed her views regarding the Emergency imposed in the country in 1975, the assassination of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi and the demolition of Babri Masjid.
He also discussed the role of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi in the emergency decision. According to Sonia Gandhi, not only Sanjay Gandhi was responsible for imposing Emergency, but Indira Gandhi was also under pressure from some of her senior colleagues.
In an interview given to English newspapers 'The Hindu' and 'The Guardian', Sonia Gandhi said these things before the launch of her book 'Belonging: A Journey of Love'. During this, he also mentioned former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's opposition to the Emergency and the tension created over this issue within the family.
On the question of Sanjay Gandhi's role during the Emergency, Sonia Gandhi said that Sanjay Gandhi alone was not responsible for it. He said, "It was not only Sanjay Gandhi who was responsible for this, although in the eyes of the common people, his name is often associated with the Emergency. Indira Gandhi was also under a lot of pressure from some of her senior colleagues. I think there were very few people like Rajiv around her, whose thinking was different from hers. I believe that ultimately my mother-in-law had recognized the situation with her wisdom and had taken steps to improve it."
According to Sonia Gandhi, "Even the family members were not unanimous regarding the decision to impose emergency." Rajiv Gandhi was against it. He had asked his mother to wait till the next elections. But his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi was in favor of the decision of emergency. During a dinner with the family, he had said that the opposition would destroy his mother.
According to The Guardian, Sonia Gandhi writes in her book, "Had Sanjay been kept under control, a large part of the subsequent damage could have been prevented."
Sonia Gandhi recalls that because of this tension had increased within her family also. According to him, Rajiv Gandhi tried to talk to his mother about this, but Indira did not listen to him.
Sonia Gandhi says, "I understood the real seriousness of what was happening during the Emergency only after it ended. Yes, people's democratic rights were restricted and the legal right against detention without trial was also abolished. But all this was done under the Constitution."
"Yet, when I look back at that period and try to understand the situation from Indira Gandhi's perspective, I see that she was struggling to deal with a rapidly deteriorating situation. There were violent demonstrations, burning of government offices and public transport, large-scale organized unrest. Even government officials and the army were being appealed to disobey orders."
In an interview to The Hindu, Sonia Gandhi also said that Indira Gandhi had later understood the situation and decided to hold elections in March 1977. He said that later Indira Gandhi had publicly expressed grief over the excesses committed during the Emergency and had also apologised.
Sonia Gandhi also answered questions related to the Sikh riots of 1984 and the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Actually, at that time some armed militants were hiding in the Golden Temple of Amritsar. He was preparing to announce the creation of a separate Sikh nation. In such a situation, Indira Gandhi gave approval to send army to the Golden Temple. It is one of the holiest places in Sikhism. In this military action, along with the devotees, the militants were also killed. The temple was also damaged by the use of tanks and heavy weapons.
Sonia Gandhi says that when her mother-in-law was shown pictures of this devastation, tears started flowing from her eyes. After this, Indira Gandhi started receiving continuous threats. Sonia Gandhi says, "He had told us what we should do if he died. That means he had an idea of it."
According to 'The Guardian', Indira Gandhi told Rahul that he had to be brave and not cry. That same summer, Indira Gandhi took her grandchildren to her ancestral home in Kashmir. Sonia Gandhi believes that by doing this she wanted to bid him "farewell for the last time". Indira Gandhi did not even listen to the advice of removing her Sikh security personnel. Later this decision became the reason for his death.
On October 31, 1984, Sonia Gandhi was in her house when she heard a sound like firecrackers. She quickly ran towards the office next door. There he saw his mother-in-law (Indira Gandhi) lying on the ground soaked in blood. There were many bullet marks on his body. Indira Gandhi's own Sikh security personnel had opened fire on her to avenge the military action on the Golden Temple.
What happened after this is still alive in the memories of Sonia Gandhi. After putting Indira Gandhi in the car, Sonia held her blood soaked body in her arms. She was trying to bring him to his senses. The car was going fast towards the hospital.
Sonia says, "There was blood all around and I realized that she was not answering my questions. It seemed as if she had already left this world."
Sonia said, "I remember the journey from home to the hospital was very painful. There was not much traffic on the road, but the going seemed very slow. I also knew that because she was not saying anything, it meant everything was over."
Sonia Gandhi also talked about Rajiv Gandhi's death in the interview. She believes that the truth related to Rajiv Gandhi's assassination has not been revealed yet. He says that the latest commission formed to investigate this was closed by the Modi government. "I don't think we'll ever know the truth," she says sadly.
In the interview, Sonia Gandhi also mentioned the incident of demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992. She told that she had cried after seeing the pictures of the demolition of the mosque on TV. She says it was at that very moment that she realized she would have to fight "a long battle for the secular country that Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and their comrades had tried to build."
She also believes that her own party's mistakes have also contributed to the rise of 'BJP and its hardline Hindutva' politics. Sonia says, "I think in many cases we were very careless. Our attitude was such that whatever is happening, let it happen."
