Even today there is a lot of discussion about emergency in the country. Political debates happen, but in the minds of some of the agitators present at that time, even today that black day is printed in the same way as they had seen and felt. One of them is Srinivas, an agitator and senior journalist associated with the JP movement, who shared with us the memory of the old days. He tells that his family used to live in Muzaffarpur, Bihar while he was making Bettiah his base. Emergency was imposed on June 25, 1975 but he got information about it the next day.
Srinivas told that it was a matter of 26 June 1975. My father was listening to BBC news. At the same time he was shocked to hear a news and came running to me and said that Emergency has been imposed in the country. JP has been arrested. He said that at that time I did not know much about the Emergency. I ran towards the market and picked up the newspaper. After reading the newspaper, it became clear that what to do and what not to do in the country. He said that because we were associated with the JP movement, this news made our heart beat faster.
There was a picture of Indira Gandhi at Srinivas’s house.
Refreshing the memories, Srinivas says that a picture of Indira Gandhi was displayed in our house. That too in the frame… On hearing about the emergency, blood started running fast in our veins. We took down the picture of Indira Gandhi from the wall, although father stopped me and my brother..but where were we going to stop. We took the picture off the wall.
If he was passionate about the movement, then how could he have obeyed his father?
The agitator Srinivas told that he had gone to jail four times earlier in the course of the movement (once under ‘MISA’), so his father was more worried. Father said that if he goes to jail this time, he will not be able to leave soon. But we were passionate about the movement, so how could I listen to my father… I immediately left for Bettiah from Muzaffarpur. Here I met my friends. On 27th June, we held a meeting, that too in the cemetery.. All the friends reached there to make further strategy. At the same time a pamphlet came in our hands. Motihari bandh was seen written in this pamphlet. We have also decided that on June 28, we will announce Bettiah Bandh.
On June 28, we set out to shut down Bettiah
Senior journalist Srinivas further said that instead of Motihari, we wrote Bettiah in the pamphlet and started distributing the pamphlet all over the city. On June 28, we set out to get Bettiah closed. Our slogans of Bettiah Bandh created a stir among the people. People started closing their shops, but only then we reached near a shop. That shopkeeper opposed the bandh. After this protest, the shopkeeper had a fight with us. He told that after this he reached a school. There, however, even after arguing with the principal, 15 to 20 children joined him.
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The police reached there amid the closure. Srinivas says that he saw the police and went towards a paan shop. When the police started coming towards them, they started running but the police chased them and caught them. Srinivas was arrested on 28th June while agitating. He was put in jail the same day. After this, the number of agitators kept increasing with him in the jail. He was released from jail after being in jail for about 11 months.
