The President Takes Over

by Bhaskar Sarkar

The Initial Tussles

  It was the second morning after the imposition of emergency. The President knew that this was the vital period when he had to assert his will on the people and consolidate his hold on the administration. He glanced through the various news papers. The reactions were predictable. There was wide spread criticism of the imposition of emergency and dissolution of the Parliament and the two state governments in most of the editorials. There was also virulent criticism about the firing incident at Haryana where two persons had died. The papers also carried the instructions on declaration of assets by government servants. The measure was generally welcomed by the people but the press was skeptical about the final outcome.

  He checked the situation with the Chief of Army Staff. The night had passed off peacefully. But intelligence reports indicated that some of the political parties were determined for a show down. The leaders had been busy planning massive demonstrations against the President and the imposition of emergency. Trouble and violence was expected during the Bharat Bandh. The President told him not to worry too much about it and deal with situation firmly but using minimum force. The Press and the electronic media should be given free access to all areas. They should be allowed to accompany missions and kept informed of developments. Four hourly press briefings were to be organized. Openness was the key. It should also be ensured that Doordarshan camera crews cover all incidents of firing. Private television channels were also welcome to cover the events.

  The Cabinet Secretary arrived. The President discussed with him the list of advisors. Most of the ministers were retained as Presidential advisors. A few new ones were taken from the Opposition so that there was almost equal representation of all political groups. The most notable omission was the prime minister, home minister, coal minister, telecommunication minister and the law minister. In the important ministries of finance, industry, commerce, foreign affairs, home and defense, a panel of three advisors was nominated for advising the President. Each member was from the three major political groups. The Cabinet Secretary was asked to obtain the willingness of those nominated and then publish the necessary notification. The media were to be given the proposed names immediately.

  The first hints of trouble began to trickle in at around ten. The aerial surveillance reported the formation of groups of demonstrators from different parts of Delhi. The groups were quickly isolated, confronted and dispersed with tear gas and in some cases lathi (cane) charge. There were stray cases of violence. There was some loss of private and public property. A few persons who were injured were given medical treatment and discharged. There was no incidence of firing.

  The reports from the states were similar. In the non NDA ruled states, the Bandh was almost complete. Public transport went off the road. Massive rallies were held and these were addressed by the local and state leaders. The national leaders were generally absent because in the absence of the VIP quotas, most of them had been unable to obtain reservations either by rail or air. The effigies of the President were burnt at many street corners. The President was happy. The people needed to let off steam. Burring effigies was a pretty harmless way of doing it.

  In the NDA ruled states the situation was marginally different. The Bandh had been declared. But there were no demonstrations or burning of effigies except in the strong holds of the other parties. Law and order was maintained and no violence was permitted. Public transport was on the roads. Many of the shops and establishments were open. Attendance in banks and offices was substantial though less than normal.

  The major problem areas were Haryana, some parts of UP and Assam. Here the demonstrators were more determined. Though the security forces had succeeded in preventing the assembly of large mobs, crowds of a few hundred had collected in many places. Even though they were isolated and confronted by security forces, these mobs were more violent and indulged in throwing stones and soda bottles at the security forces. Some of these crowds dispersed on arrival of the army with a few tanks or armored personnel carriers. At other places the crowds held their ground shouting slogans and resisting as best as they could in face of lathi charges and tear gas. However there was no need to resort to firing. The stand off continued till evening.

  The first instance of stoppage of rail traffic near Rohtak, Haryana came to the control room at around noon. A large crowd was reported to have squatted on the track and prevented the trains from plying. The team of para commandos along with the video team of Doordarshan and Star TV were dispatched to clear the line in two MI 17 helicopters. The troops landed at a nearby field. Leaving about 10 men to protect the aircrafts, they headed for the crowd. They were greeted with boos, slogans and a hail of stones. The troops took up positions about 200 m from the crowd and the television teams some distance behind at vantage points. The officer in charge took the loud hailer and told the crowd that the line should be cleared within five minutes. Else he would be pained to open fire. The crowd greeted his announcement with boos, slogans and a fresh hail of stones. The officer looked at his watch and began the count down; four minutes, three minutes, two minutes, one minute. Still there was no reaction from the crowd other than the slogan shouting and stone throwing. The officer asked three of his men to take up kneeling position. “Look to the front”, he said. “200 yards, man in white dress with red flag in his hand. One round aimed fire, fire.” A volley of shots rang out over the din of the slogans. The man with the red flag and the one next to him fell to the ground. The crowd began to run. A few turned back to help their fallen comrades. The officer called for the nursing assistants and two stretchers. He then advanced to the fallen men with half his men. The two fallen men were given first aid and put on the stretchers and carried to the helicopters. The line was now cleared. The waiting train was flagged off. The troops returned to their helicopters, reported mission completed and returned to base. The whole operation was over in less than three hours. The injured were immediately moved to the military hospital where they were given emergency treatment. Fortunately both were likely to survive.

  There were four other instances of attempts to stop road and rail traffic. They were all cleared within a few hours. The casualties mounted to three killed and about seven wounded. Each incident was shown live on television by a number of channels.

  The political parties filed their writ petitions in the Supreme Court against the imposition of emergency. The petition was heard. The judges refused to grant stay order. They issued notice to the Government to justify the emergency and to file their reply. The date of next hearing was fixed after one month.

  By noon the politicians had received notices with regard to vacation of the government premises allotted to them. They had also received the list of the suggested Presidential advisors. The parties debated whether they would allow their members to be advisors to the President. NDA happily agreed as did the Congress. The debate in the ruling coalition was heated. But finally it was decided that some thing was better than nothing. Through these posts it was hoped that some influence will be retained. The success of the program of agitation was reviewed. The lack of success was demoralizing. However, in the press conferences which followed, the parties put up a brave front. They claimed that the Bharat Bandh had been a complete success. They also announced that they would continue their agitation till the emergency was lifted.

  In the evening, the President reviewed the situation with his security advisors. He was happy with the over all situation. He told his advisors that he expected the agitations in most parts of the country would peter out within a week. He told his security advisors, to maintain pressure on the known criminals and ensure that law and order was maintained.

  As expected, the agitations petered out within a week. However, the Army and para military forces maintained their presence on the streets to ensure order for some more time. By the month end life for the ordinary man had returned to normal.

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