The President Takes Over

by Bhaskar Sarkar

Emergency is Declared

  It was midnight. Anil Bhardwaj, the duty correspondent at BBC’s Delhi office was feeling sleepy. The programs on all channels were changing. The life seemed very dull. Nothing sensational was happening. He was sleepy. He had to do something to keep awake. He decided to do some channel hopping. He tried Star TV. The same silly advertisements about the Axe effect were on. He turned to Doordarshan (India's State TV Channels). The announcer was saying that there was an important message for the nation from the President. He was intrigued. The President did not address the nation very often and that too never at midnight. There must be something important happening. He turned on the recorder and waited.

  “My beloved countrymen” read the announcer, “It is with a heavy heart that I address you at this hour. When I was administered the oath of office, I swore that I would preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law and devote myself to the service and well being of the people. Am I doing that? Or am I another rubber stamp VVIP who is there to enjoy 5 Star luxuries and to overlook all the unfortunate and immoral things that are happening in our beloved country”.

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved countrymen: Today a party that survived a vote of confidence in the Parliament through blatant use of inducements to arrange cross voting and abstentions is ruling the country. The government is trying to stop investigating disproportionate assets cases of its political allies. It refuses to allow independent investigation into the coal block allotment cases. In Rajasthan, an illiterate woman was made a minister to reward a defector from an opposition party which enabled it to form a government. The government refuses to implement court orders. Illegal mining goes unchecked in spite of Supreme Court orders disallowing it. What right does this Government have to rule this country? It may not be considered correct on my part to question a decision taken by my predecessor. At the same time silence is not always golden. To me the government is totally unconstitutional”.

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved countrymen: In Assam there is violence between the indigenous people and Muslim settlers that has left almost a million people displaced. Where have these settlers come from? How has the Muslim population of the state grown four times in two decades? Why does the government impose Presidents Rule on the state?”

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved countrymen: Today the Government wants to finish the independence of the judiciary. The Judiciary is the only authority in the country that has tried to defend the law and the Constitution. Even the Office of the President of India has failed to do so. It is the only institution left in the country to which the common man can turn to against the arbitrary, motivated and unlawful decisions taken by our honorable political leaders and governments to preserve their personal or party interests. Today, our honorable political leaders have decided to destroy this last bastion of defense of the law and the Constitution. They want to have the judges of their own choice. They would like to transfer judges who do not abide by their wishes, the same way they transfer police officers and honest bureaucrats who do not do their bidding. Political parties do not respect bans on “Bundhs” and Strikes. Allegations of bribes to members of Parliament are not allowed to be tried in courts. The Parliament Speaker constantly warns courts against ruling on executive excesses even when they are unconstitutional. Do you want this last bastion against political domination to be destroyed?”

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved countrymen: When a chief minister hands over government land to his personal trust or to his kith and kin at throw away prices, is it rule of law?”

  “Judge for yourself, my countrymen: When investigating agencies are denied permission to prosecute corrupt politicians and senior government officials for long periods, is the rule of law being upheld?”

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved country men! When officers investigating sensitive cases are posted out when the investigation is incomplete, is the rule of law being upheld?”

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved countrymen: When billions of Rupees are siphoned through fraud, no senior government officer or minister is charged for the criminal liability and never tried and found guilty. Is the Constitutional provision of all being equal before law being upheld? Today, a pick pocket or a ticket less traveler, if caught, will go to jail. But a government officer, a senior bank official, a minister who through their acts of omission or commission cause a loss of thousand crores of Rupees cannot be arrested or if arrested are given immediate bail . When children of the rich and powerful indulge in rape or drunken driving resulting death, the police look the other way. Is it thus that the Constitution and the law are upheld?”

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved countrymen: When the Supreme Court ruled that the out of turn allotments of houses or plots made to government employees were arbitrary and bad in law and that the occupants should be evicted, the Government did not implement the judgment. Instead they brought forward an Ordinance to regularize the out of turn allotment. Is this upholding the Constitution and the law?”

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved countrymen: Today, hundreds of our honorable political leaders, journalists and politically connected people are in unauthorized occupation of government accommodation in Delhi and other State capitals. All of them are among the rich and the famous. But the Government is not willing to take action against them because they are personal friends, relatives or power brokers. Is this called upholding the law and the Constitution?”

  “Judge for yourself, my beloved countrymen: Today Rajiv Gandhi’s daughter, who is not a government servant, has been given a posh house and VVIP security. The Badal family of Punjab is supposed to have deployed over a thousand policemen for their personal security. Is this equality before law? Will the Government of India provide houses and security to the wives and children of all the ex Prime Ministers of this country? Is this upholding the law and the Constitution?”

  “My dear beloved countrymen: If I were to try to recite all the improprieties, all the acts of omissions and commissions of our Central and State Governments, of our honorable elected leaders, their financiers and criminal friends and relatives, and their beloved and above the law children, it would take me days to do so. But I am sure that you will agree that neither the Constitution nor the law is today upheld in our beloved country. The Government is paralyzed by the fear that by whatever action they take, they will incur the wrath of their supporters and they will loose their majority, their power and their perks of office. It is astonishing that most political parties are mortally afraid to face elections. This is because they have betrayed the people. They have betrayed your trust by defecting to other parties to enjoy the power and perks of office. They have betrayed your trust by failing to look after your interest. Do you want that this should continue?”

  “Every person who is elected either to the Parliament or to a Legislative Assembly takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and the law. Immediately thereafter, they forget their pledges and start looking for ways and means of protecting their interests and feathering their nests. Do you want these traitors to continue in office? I do not.”

  “My dear countrymen: You must understand that in democracy no hard decisions can be taken. A party that comes to power by promising you to give rice at Rs 2 per kilo cannot do so in perpetuity. Where will the money come from? A party that comes to power by promising free electricity to the farmers is immoral. Why should the farmer be given privileges which are not to be given to the industrial worker, the maid servant, the construction worker, the unemployed and the old people? Is a government only for the farmers and not for the other members of the society? Where will the money come from? I am sure you all understand that no person can go on spending more than the money he earns for long. Even a government cannot do so. So the state government of Bihar in the 1990s could give a few saris to the poor but could not pay salaries to its primary school teachers. It could allow thousands of crores to be drawn from its treasuries by a few cheats in connivance with government officials an
d politicians, but it cannot spend money on building roads, providing water supply, giving fair wages to its postgraduate doctors in implementation of a Supreme Court ruling and for generating employment.”

  “My dear countrymen: You must understand that in democracy our honorable leaders cannot take action against the corrupt, the rich landlords and industrialists. If they do, who will give them money for fighting elections, for building their houses, for educating their children? Do you have any money to give the politicians to fight elections? You do not have enough to live on, to educate your children. You only have a vote. What use are you to our honorable leaders once you have cast that vote in their favor?”

  “My dear countrymen: You must understand that in a democracy our honorable leaders cannot take action against criminals. If they do who will give them money for fighting elections? Who will come and threaten you that if you do not vote for the leader, your house will be burnt; your wife and daughters will be raped? Who will capture booths for the leader during elections? Who will kill their political opponents? Who will burn busses, loot trains and shops, destroy public property during agitations and create communal and caste riots? You have no time or inclination to do these things. You are too busy trying to earn your living.”

  “My dear countrymen: The government is planning to gag the television channels from broadcasting agitations or police actions. They plan to ban sting operations which expose corruption in government offices and high places. Do you want them to succeed?”

  “My dear countrymen: In a democracy, you must understand that our beloved leaders cannot act against the bureaucracy. If they do, who will do their dirty jobs for them? Who will hand over government land at throw away prices to their kith or kin and their beneficiaries? Who will make rules so that their friends benefit while their enemies suffer? Who will manipulate rules and award government contracts so that our beloved leaders or their parties can get huge cut backs? Who will prepare cases that will enable them to give favors to their benefactors?”

  “My dear countrymen: In a democracy, you must understand our beloved leaders cannot act against the police. If they do, who will protect the friendly criminals while arresting those of the other parties? Who will make sure that cases are not filed against their beloved children, their friends and relatives? Who will only investigate the opposing politicians while covering up the crimes of fellow party men? Political parties are not ready to implement police reforms because that will reduce their ability to manipulate police in their favor. Do you want it to continue?”

  “My beloved countrymen: I know that you are not happy with your leaders. I know you are not happy with the Government that we have. But what can you do? Every time you elect a party, every time you elect a new Prime Minister or a Chief Minister nothing changes. Even after 65 years of independence, your villages often do not have roads, water supply or electricity. You cannot get a license without paying a bribe. You cannot drive a commercial vehicle without paying a "hafta" (weekly bribe to police or local goons) to the police. You cannot run a business without paying protection money to the local goons. You cannot get an FIR registered without paying money even if your daughter has been burned for dowry or raped. And if these crimes have been committed by the friends and relatives of our beloved politicians or the rich and the powerful, it is likely that your FIR will not be registered even if you pay the money. I can understand your frustration. I can understand your apathy. What can you do?”

  “But what about me, your President, the first citizen of this country, the man in whom, under Article 53 of our Constitution, the executive power of the Union is vested, the man who has taken an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the Law and devote myself to the service and well-being of the people of India, the man who as per the Constitution is the supreme commander of the armed forces. Am I a powerless nincompoop who has to sit in air conditioned comfort and watch over the anarchy that has become synonymous with elected governments? Am I supposed to sleep in comfort while our political leaders bribe their way to power, while thousands of crores are misappropriated from the Government treasuries, while the law of the land is violated every minute, while the rich and the powerful do what they please, while Government lands and Government funds are distributed as largesse's by our honorable leaders to win votes and influence people?”

  “No my friends: I do not think the President of India is a powerless man. In spite of all attempts by our honorable politicians to make the President a toothless tiger, in spite of the Forty Fifth Amendment which tries to ensure that the president has no powers, I have the authority under Article 53 of our Constitution to take necessary steps to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the Law. And I have decided that time has come for me to act to defend the Constitution and to look after your interest and the interest of my beloved country?”

  “Hence, under the powers vested to me under the Constitution, I hereby declare an internal emergency in the entire Union of India for a period of six months from this date. This declaration cannot be challenged in any court of law for a period of six moths. There after I shall be liable for my acts of omission and commission in any court of law.”

  “Further, under the authority vested in me under Article 53 of the Constitution, I hereby dismiss the present Prime Minister and his council of ministers and also dissolve the Parliament. A new Parliament will be elected within 150 days and will take over the reigns of the Government from me.”

  “I also hereby dismiss the Government of Assam for their inability to maintain law and order and check illegal immigration and impose Presidents Rule in the State. I further decree that the elections to the State assembly will be held along with the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.”

  “I will leave the other State Governments intact with a warning that they should function within the letter and spirit of our Constitution and uphold the rule of Law. Any failure to do so and any attempt to shield the corrupt or to protect those charged with serious crimes or to allow demonstrations against the imposition of Internal Emergency in the Union would invite dismissal of the Government and imposition of Presidents Rule.”

  “My first priority will be to launch an all out war on corruption and to finish off the nexus between the criminals and politicians. In the process I will not follow the law of the land. It is my experience in real life that the dictum that no man is guilty unless he is so proved does not work. The rich, the powerful politicians and bureaucrats, organized criminals and terrorist are able to intimidate or eliminate the witnesses and drag their cases for decades. It took 23 years to convict Mr. Sukh Ram of corruption. But he is not in jail. The judgment is being appealed against. The absence of witnesses in such cases is not a proof of innocence. Hence during the period of the Emergency all accused will be deemed guilty unless proved otherwise. The punishments will also be rather barbaric. The details of these measures will follow. I know a few innocent people will suffer. But then, it is always the innocents who suffer. When police resort to firing, it is the innocent bystander who usually dies. When the terrorist plants a bomb, it is the innocents who die. When a fire destroys a building due to neglect of the owners and the authorities, it is always the innocent who die. So what is wrong if a few innocent die for the betterment of their country and their fellowmen?”

  “My beloved countrymen: I promise you no miracles. I only promise to fight corruption, criminals and vested interests with your anger and vengeance. I promise to break the nexus between the politician and criminals. I promise to give you a government that works. I also promise to give you a chance to elect clean and capable men as your leaders so that democracy can return and you can prosper.”

  “Give me an opportunity to serve you, my countrymen. Do not get carried away by the rhetoric’s of the dismissed and corrupt leaders and start agitations and create law and order problems. They will try every trick to use you for their gains as they have always done. When the bullets begin to fly some foolish, gullible
innocent ones amongst you will die. I can assure you no criminal or political leader will come to face bullets. They have already made enough money and would not like to die without enjoying their ill gotten gains. Do not trust these self seekers. Do not trust the press or the electronic media which the rich and the powerful have bought with their advertisements. Trust me. Bear with me. Six month is not a long time. If you are not satisfied with what I have done, tear me into pieces or kill me. But for the duration of the emergency, be with me. Do not agitate. Agitations will not be tolerated. Give me a chance to serve you and do something for my country. Jai Hind.”

  Anil Bhardwaj was stunned. He could not believe what he had heard. He began to replay the tape. The telephone rang. It was the President’s press secretary informing him that the President would meet the media at the conference room of Rashtrapati Bhavan at 2 AM. Bhardwaj rang his director and informed him of the happenings. The director informed him that he was coming to the office as soon as he could.

  Col Malhotra and his escort drove to the Prime Minister’s residence to give him the Presidential Proclamation. The night was quiet. There were very few vehicles on the streets. He arrived at his destination without any problems. His men got down and took up positions. It was a few minutes past midnight. He got down and asked the sentry to get the guard commander. When the guard commander came, he told him that he had a message from the President for the Prime Minister which was to be delivered in person. The guard commander went inside with the message. He met the Prime Minister’s secretary and gave him the message. The secretary came out and told Col Malhotra that the Prime Minister did not see any one at this hour. The message could be left with him and he would deliver it to the Prime Minister in the morning. Col Malhotra said that the message was important and he would use force if it was necessary to deliver the message. The sullen secretary went inside to see the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was getting ready to leave his office. He told the secretary to allow the officer to see him but without arms. The secretary conveyed the Prime Minister’s message to the Colonel. Col Malhotra handed over his carbine to the escort commander and followed the secretary to the Prime Ministers office. He entered and saluted the old man.

  “What brings you here at this hour?” asked the Prime Minister. “A message from the President, Sir” said the Colonel and handed over the sealed envelope. The Prime Minister slit open the cover and began to read. Soon his face became grim. When he came to the end, he looked up at the Colonel and said that the President had no authority to declare an emergency. Col Malhotra kept quiet. He then asked the Prime Minister’s permission to leave. The Prime Minister nodded. Col Malhotra saluted and left.

  The Prime Minister handed over the papers to the secretary to read. Once he had finished, the Prime Minister said that he would not give up without a fight. He told the secretary to call a meeting of the steering committee at the earliest and a meeting of the legislators in the morning. He then began to examine the problem and possible options for actions.

  The President had moved into his office. He was relieved that things were moving smoothly. The ADC came and informed him that the representatives of the media had arrived and were waiting in the conference hall. As the President entered the conference hall he was greeted with the glare of lights and flashes of the cameras. He took his seat and invited questions.

  The correspondent of the Times of India asked him if the declaration of internal emergency was justified. The President replied that he had explained the reasons in detail in his Proclamation of Emergency and asked the correspondent to study the document carefully. He also requested the correspondents to collect the text of the Proclamation and to publish it in their papers and magazines.

  The correspondent for the Indian Express asked him as to what was the guarantee that he would relinquish his emergency powers at the end of six months. The President replied that his word was the only guarantee and he intended to stick to his words.

  The correspondent of BBC was concerned about the issue of human rights under emergency. The President replied that the question of human rights was abused by the west. Whereas he was concerned about human rights per say, he was not willing to worry about abuse of human rights of those who do not respect the fundamental rights of others. As far he was concerned criminals, anti socials, terrorists, those who engaged in rioting and vandalism did not deserve to have any human rights. Under emergency they would have none.

  The correspondent of Hindu asked if this was not the end of democracy in India. The President assured him that he need not have any such fears. India had been under emergency five times in the past. Each time it was replaced by an elected government. This time also he would ensure that this spell of emergency was succeeded by an elected government.

  The correspondent for CNN asked him whether his move would effect relations with the USA and Europe. The President replied that the USA had maintained very cordial relations with autocratic regimes like Batista in Cuba, Mr. Mobutu in Zaire, Pakistan under General Ayub Khan and General Zia Ul Haq, the Shah of Iran and President Marcos of the Philippines to name a few. They still had very good relations with the Royal Family in Saudi Arabia. As long as USA and Europe did not try to impose their will on India, there was no reason for any deterioration of relations with any country. India was willing to extend its hand of friendship to all countries that did not interfere with its internal affairs.

  The correspondent for India Today asked if there was going to be any change to the policy of economic liberation. The President replied that six months was too short a time to dabble in macro economics. No major changes on this front should be expected. Efforts will be made to maintain status quo.

  The correspondent for Hindustan Times asked how he could be sure that he would be able to root out corruption and break the nexus between criminal and politicians. The President told him to hold his horses and wait for things to happen.

  There were a few other questions. The President then excused himself and returned to his office. It was about 3 AM in the morning. He asked his secretary to send for the chiefs of the various intelligence agencies, the Delhi Police Chief and the Director Generals of BSF and CRPF. He then got in touch with the Chief of Army Staff to find out about the situation. The Chief had nothing to report. The politicians seemed shell shocked. The leaders were meeting together ostensibly to work out their strategy. The President told the Chief not to take any chances. Adequate troops must be on the streets of the towns in Assam, Haryana and UP, particularly in the state capitals. Tanks and armored cars should also be deployed. It should look as though the army has taken over. Surveillance must be maintained and all crowd formations must be dispersed as soon as they begin to form.

  When the police chiefs had assemble in the conference hall, the President told them that he did not want to know whether they approved of the Declaration of Emergency or not. There was no going back. What he wanted to know was whether they were going to be loyal to him and co-operate in carrying out assignments given. If any one had any reservation, he was free to go on leave. But any dereliction to duty or attempt to sabotage would lead to very unpleasant consequences. He then told the intelligence agencies that he wanted accurate and real-time intelligence on the activities of the political parties and the leading politicians. To the others he said that law and order was to be maintained at all cost. They were to operate in close co-ordination with the Army. They should straight away go and see the Chief of Army Staff and jointly draw up plans for maintaining law and order in Delhi and the States.

  The initial briefings done, the President retired to his room to get some rest.

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