From “India is Indira” to “India is Bharat”: 50 years since the Emergency

Indira silenced India—But Bharat never died

Where were you in 1975, when democratic India slipped into its darkest hour? That year, on June 25, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a State of Emergency, suspending civil liberties, jailing opposition leaders, censoring the press, and effectively paralyzing democratic institutions. For those who lived through it, the memory is likely etched with ‘fear.’ For younger generations, it is a chapter that they may have but not yet fully internalized.

I was in Japan when the Emergency was declared. News arrived slowly in those days, without the immediacy of the internet or mobile alerts. I recall learning about the declaration a day or two later, and while I wasn’t on Indian soil, I instinctively grasped the gravity of it. A leader had declared herself above the law. A republic had momentarily collapsed into a personality cult.

The groundwork had already been laid. A year earlier, Congress President D K Barooah had proclaimed, “India is Indira, and Indira is India.” With those words, the Congress Party revealed its internal decay—unable or unwilling to differentiate between nationhood and political allegiance. A civilization thousands of years old was being reduced to the whims of one politician.

Fifty years later, the tide has turned. Not only is Indira no longer India, but India is reclaiming its original name: Bharat.

The reassertion of Bharat on the world stage—especially during the 2024 G20 Summit hosted in New Delhi—was more than symbolic. It marked the end of a colonial vocabulary and the beginning of a civilizational awakening. The name Bharat, found in ancient texts, the Vishnu Purana and the Mahabharata, predates every wave of foreign conquest, Islamic, British, or otherwise. It belongs to all of us, the proud Indians globally.

Why Bharat matters

Language shapes consciousness. When we use the name “India,” we are invoking a word given to us by foreigners, derived from the Indus River, filtered through Persian and Greek tongues. “India” was later institutionalized by the British as part of their imperial apparatus. It is a name born not of self-identification, but of external description and subjugation.

In contrast, Bharat is how we saw ourselves long before the first invader arrived. It is the name that links Vedic seers, Jain sages, Tamil poets, Sikh warriors, and freedom fighters. It is civilizational, not political. It belongs not to any religion or region, but to the entire cultural-spiritual geography of this land.

To reclaim Bharat is to reject the mental residue of colonization. It is to shed the leftover vocabulary of those who ruled and renamed us. It is also to reject the imposed amnesia of our Islamic invaders, many of whom actively tried to erase local traditions, temples, and languages.

Adopting Bharat in daily life is not merely a nationalistic impulse—it is an act of civilizational healing. It affirms continuity. It tells our children that they belong to a living tradition that survived invasions, endured division, and is now reawakening.

Bharat’s global rise

Today, Bharat is not merely remembering who it was. It is showing the world what it can be. A spacefaring nation. A digital powerhouse. A cultural leader in wellness, sustainability, and spirituality. A voice of the Global South. Bharat speaks confidently on global platforms—not with borrowed narratives, but from its civilizational lens.

The world is beginning to listen. Diaspora communities, who truly believe in their heritage, can proudly speak of Bharatiya identity. Yoga and Ayurveda are not Indian exports; they are Bharatiya inheritances. The G20 placards reading “President of Bharat” were not just protocol; they were declarations for global leaders to learn and adopt Bharat, over time.

From Emergency to Emergence

The Emergency was a warning: never again should any individual or political party be allowed to claim ownership of our nation. It was a time when freedom was suspended and institutions were silenced. And yet, in that darkness, a lesson emerged, one that reminds us today that Bharat belongs to no dynasty, no single ideology, but to its people and its timeless civilizational spirit. Bharat today has emerged as a free and confident nation to launch Operation Sindoor to defend its sovereignty.

I lived through the Emergency and endured it for a short time before heading to France in 1975. However, I remember the strange duality of that time—how fear imposed order. Trains ran on time. Government offices operated with surprising punctuality. I recall walking into a bank and being greeted, for the first time, with courtesy: a soft voice asking, “How can I help you?” It was striking. But this discipline was not born from inner values—it was coerced. We must never again seek progress through fear. Bharat deserves better. We must cultivate responsibility, respect, and resilience, not because we are forced to, but because we are free too.

Fifty years after the slogan “India is Indira”, we now speak with clarity and pride: India was the name they gave us. Bharat is who we have always been. The emergence of Bharat is a clear sign of its rightful global reach and rise. Let us call upon every citizen to step forward with dignity, to reclaim our roots, and to build a future not only worthy of, but better than, our past. Let this be the century where Bharat not only remembers but leads.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
3. The author acknowledges the use of ChatGPT for research on the topic and improvements.

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