IT is not an insignificant coincidence that a journalist reported, on the eve of Aug 15, that the Congress has “destroyed” all papers relating to our second independence in January 1977. If only history could be so easily rewritten. Imagine the first Mahatma Gandhi-led independence to usher in on Aug 15, 1947, a democratic polity, and imagine Mrs Indira Gandhi, his follower, destroying all democratic institutions by imposing the emergency some 28 years later on June 25, 1975. The nation celebrated a second independence when she was routed at the polls in January 1977.

Typical of Congress’ furtive ways to cover up its misdeeds, the home ministry claims it does not have the emergency proclamation issued by then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. Nor does it have any record of the decisions taken on the arrests of thousands on the basis of false allegations, the appointment of certain people to key posts and the manner in which the statutory provisions governing detentions were breached.

This means that anyone aged 30 or younger will find it difficult to obtain any hard information about what happened during those dark days. Many of us remember the courage of Jayaprakash (JP) Narayan, who challenged Mrs Gandhi’s misrule, and the pain he suffered when he was subsequently imprisoned.

M.G. Devasahayam, who was then district magistrate of Chandigarh where JP was detained, drew the authorities’ attention to JP’s deteriorating health. As Devasahayam writes in his book, the reply came from the then Defence Minister Bansi Lal, who basically said, ‘let him die’.

I am surprised that there was no furore in parliament on the disclosure of the disappearance of the papers on the emergency. Neither Mulayam Singh nor Lalu Prasad Yadav, nor even the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, raised the topic. The home ministry fixes responsibility for the missing records on the National Archives of India, saying that it is the “repository of non-current records”. The National Archives says that nothing was transferred to its safekeeping. Yet the Shah Commission, which dug into the misdeeds committed during the emergency, said on the last day of its proceedings that it was depositing all the records with the National Archives.

The Shah Commission held 100 meetings, examined 48,000 papers and issued two interim reports. While the Janata government was still in power, I checked with the National Archives and was assured that the records of the commission’s verbatim proceedings were intact.

Apparently, the destruction of evidence started after Mrs Gandhi’s return to power in 1980. Copies of the Shah Commission report disappeared even from the shop where official publications were available. The report by the National Police Commission, which made praiseworthy recommendations to free the force from the pressure of politicians, was shelved because it had been constituted by the Janata government. Mrs Gandhi walked out of a police medal distribution ceremony when her aide told her that the medals were for work in exposing excesses during the emergency.

The Congress cannot rehabilitate Mrs Gandhi by hiding records of her misdeeds. It must face the fact of her authoritarian governance. She did great things and her fervour for nationalism allowed the country to hold its head high, but she also had her limitations. She was responsible for ousting morality from politics and effaced the thin line that separated good from bad, moral from immoral. We are still suffering from the hangover.

With her extra-constitutional authority exercised by her son Sanjay Gandhi, she effectively smothered dissent and corroded India’s democratic values. It’s a pity that the press went out of its way to conform to the dictates of the government. L.K. Advani was quite right when he chided the press: “You were asked to bend but you began to crawl.”

The reason why the system, which was derailed during the emergency, has not been able to return to its moorings so far is the unaccountability of bureaucrats and politicians. No one found guilty by the Shah Commission has been punished. In fact, those who indulged in excesses were given out-of-turn promotions and appointments to key posts.

The rulers should heed the advice of the Shah Commission: “The government’s primary responsibility is to guarantee protection to those officials who refused to deviate from the code of conduct which should be accepted not only by the officials but also by the political authorities.”

I am not surprised that Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah has remained silent over the missing records. He is too close and beholden to the dynasty. Yet he has done laudable work in expanding the contours of the Right To Information Act.Mrs Gandhi did not even consult the cabinet before asking the president to sign the proclamation of emergency order. The cabinet was called the following morning to retrospectively endorse it. It’s understandable that the home ministry cannot explain this without blaming Mrs Gandhi personally. She even wanted to close down the courts but was assured that the judges would fall in line. The Supreme Court went to the extent of upholding five to one the imposition of the emergency.

True, it is all history. But the Congress cannot rewrite it. The failings of the government and its leaders should never be fudged because the nation’s conscience is at stake. Coming generations should know how and where the country’s institutions were compromised and democracy derailed. It is only by laying the truth out in black and white that future emergencies and associated authoritarian rule can be avoided. And I hope the dawn of our second independence is never overtaken by the twilight made up of the brutalities and excesses that shame us.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi.