'Today's India not India of 1975': Shashi Tharoor calls Emergency 'dark chapter'; recalls Sanjay Gandhi's role

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has once again found himself in a delicate position within his party amid buzz over rift within the party leadership.

In an article published in Malayalam daily Deepika, as reported by news agency PTI, Tharoor called the 1975 Emergency imposed under then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi , as a "dark chapter" in India's history.

Tharoor highlighted specific instances of authoritarian excess during the Emergency, particularly focusing on Sanjay Gandhi 's controversial forced sterilization campaigns.

"Sanjay Gandhi, the son of Indira Gandhi, led forced sterilisation campaigns which became a notorious example of this. In poor rural areas, violence and coercion were used to meet arbitrary targets. In cities like New Delhi, slums were mercilessly demolished and cleared. Thousands of people were rendered homeless. Their welfare was not taken into consideration," the Thiruvananthapuram MP wrote.

He also pointed out the fragility of democracy and the need for constant vigilance: "Let it serve as a lasting reminder to people everywhere," Tharoor wrote. According to him, "today's India is not the India of 1975."

Also read: PM Modi criticises Congress for 1975 Emergency; 'nefarious attempt made to strangle democracy,' says BJP

"We are a more self-confident, more developed, and in many ways a stronger democracy. Yet, the lessons of the Emergency remain relevant in troubling ways," Congress MP added.

Tharoor cautioned that the urge to centralise authority, suppress dissent, and sidestep constitutional checks could resurface in different ways.

"Often, such tendencies may be justified in the name of national interest or stability. In this sense, the Emergency stands as a strong warning. The guardians of democracy must always remain vigilant," he said.

Also read: Congress takes dig at Tharoor's Emergency remark; claims he's toeing 'BJP line'

Tharoor’s relationship with the Congress leadership has been under strain since he contested the party president election against Mallikarjun Kharge. The friction reportedly increased when his name did not appear on the list of Congress leaders suggested for the Union government's Operation Sindoor outreach.

Despite this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi later invited Tharoor to lead a delegation to the United States and other countries in Americas. Tharoor's public statements, including those interpreted as favourable towards the Prime Minister, have also caused discomfort within the Congress’s Kerala unit.

The tension was evident when Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera pointedly referenced Tharoor's own criticism of the BJP from his book "The Paradoxical Prime Minister ."

Khera highlighted Tharoor's previous condemnation of the BJP's "shameless exploitation" of military operations for political gain, suggesting an inconsistency in Tharoor's current positioning.

"The shameless exploitation of the 2016 'surgical strikes' along the Line of Control with Pakistan... as a party election tool - something the Congress had never had done despite having authorised several such strikes earlier," Tharoor had written in the book.

"I agree with that Dr @ShashiTharoor who wrote about surgical strikes in his book in 2018 – 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister'," Khera posted on X.