The Emergency - A Personal History
by Coomi Kapoor
I just finished this book on 'Emergency' imposed on the country by Smt Indira Gandhi in June 1975. It is very well written book by Coomi Kapoor whose husband Mr Vrender Kapoor, was also one of the detenues just because he, as a journalist questioned Ambika Soni on use of police force on protesting students.
Having read about the brutal use of sweeping powers in the hands of police, bureaucrats and congress functionaries, one can dare say that the hatred of Congress, in the minds of those who suffered during this period, is justified. There was no 'Daleel', 'Vakil', ans 'Appeal' in those days. Even the wrong persons who were put into prison by mistake continued to rot there for more than year. But the most disappointing part of the story is that how all these politicians, bureaucrats, and police personnel got away with and in fact, later on, persons like Navin Chawla rose to much higher ranks before retirement. Chapters on heroic struggles of Ram Nath Goenka, Subramanium Swami, George Fernandes are superbly written.
This book is must read by every citizen who wants to know about the 'dark chapter' of recent Indian History. Indeed a splendid effort by Coomi Kapoor.
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