India, June 30 -- The Emergency of 1975 was not merely a temporary suspension of law and order; it was a full-scale attack on the soul of the Indian Constitution. It showed how easily democracy can be manipulated through legal instruments when the spirit of constitutionalism is lost

On the midnight of June 25, 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a National Emergency under Article 352 of the Constitution of India. This decision plunged the world's largest democracy into a period of authoritarian rule lasting 21 months, during which the Indian state witnessed mass arrests, censorship of the press, curtailment of civil liberties, and the systematic dismantling of democratic institutions. Although the Emergency was imposed citing "int...