The Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, and the press was censored. The first edition of the Indian Express after that carried no editorial. The space where it should have been was left white. One account dates the issue June 28, 1975.
The Financial Express printed a poem by Rabindranath Tagore: “Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high.” The journalist Kalpana Sharma said that leaving blank space was later judged a breach of the censorship guidelines.
In 1948 the cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai founded Shankar’s Weekly, a magazine of political cartoons. Jawaharlal Nehru launched it. He is reported to have told the cartoonist: “Don’t spare me, Shankar.” Nehru then appeared in more than 4,000 of Shankar’s cartoons.
The weekly closed in 1975, about two months after the Emergency began. When he closed it, Shankar wrote: “Dictatorships cannot afford laughter because people may laugh at the dictator and that wouldn’t do.” Sources differ on why he closed it. ThePrint reports that Shankar himself named the cost of running a weekly, not the Emergency.
In February 2023 the UN General Assembly voted on a resolution on the war in Ukraine. 141 countries voted for it, 7 against, and 32 abstained. India was among those who abstained.
India’s Permanent Representative, Ruchira Kamboj, explained the vote. Given the resolution’s “inherent limitations in reaching our desired goal of securing lasting peace, we are constrained to abstain.” She also asked: “Can any process that does not involve either of the two sides ever lead to a credible and meaningful solution?”
On July 27, 2019, resident doctors and students at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi protested against the National Medical Commission Bill. They wore black badges to work, “in ICUs, emergency block, wards and operation theatres.”
In May 2024, cabin crew of Air India Express reported sick in large numbers. Al Jazeera, citing NDTV, reported nearly 300. Around 90 flights were cancelled. The crew were protesting against what they saw as unequal treatment in the merger of the Tata group’s airlines, and against new hiring and promotion policies.
The airline sent termination letters to 25 crew members. It described a “pre-meditated and concerted abstention from work without any justifiable reason.” After talks, it withdrew the letters.
In a tale of Tenali Rama, King Krishnadevaraya banishes Tenali after a false accusation. Tenali comes back to court with a pot over his head.
He explains, in a retelling on MomJunction: “as a citizen of Vijayanagara, it is my duty to follow your orders.” And: “I took the help of this pot to hide my face from you, and at the same time, fulfill my royal duties.”
In one of the Akbar and Birbal tales, a poor Brahmin stands all night in a freezing pond to win a reward from the emperor. Akbar refuses to pay. A light in the palace, a mile away, kept the man warm, he says.
Birbal does not argue. He sends word that he will come to court once his khichdi is cooked. Days pass. When Akbar goes to see him, the fire is far away from the pot. Akbar sees his mistake and pays the Brahmin.
Dabi zubaan se: with a pressed-down tongue. The Rekhta dictionary defines it as speaking in a low voice, in a muffled voice, timidly.
Munh pe aur, peeth peeche aur: one thing to the face, another behind the back. Rekhta glosses it as a friend outwardly and an enemy inwardly. Peeth peeche badshah ko bhi bura kehte hain: behind his back, people speak ill even of the emperor.
Bichauliya: the one in the middle. Rekhta gives mediator, arbitrator, go-between and middleman. Its Hindi entry adds the person who arranges a marriage or an engagement.
On October 26, 2018, Viral Acharya, a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, gave a public lecture in Mumbai on the independence of regulators. “Governments that do not respect central bank independence will sooner or later incur the wrath of financial markets,” he said. Reports of tension between the bank and the government followed.
On December 10, 2018, the governor, Urjit Patel, resigned. His statement gave one reason: “On account of personal reasons, I have decided to step down from my current position effective immediately.”
Taal-matol: putting off. The Rekhta dictionary defines it as postponing a task instead of completing it, and also as the excuse made in order to postpone.
Aaj kal karna: to say today, tomorrow. Rekhta gives the same meaning, to put off, and adds a second one: to put someone off with a false promise.