The Emergency period is a portion of Indian history that many recall in an unfavourable light -- from the restrictions placed on civil liberties and the media censorship to the crackdown on political opposition. The Emergency lasted for around 21 months from June 1975 to March 1977.
Now, if you're wondering what the Emergency has to do with Kishore Kumar, well, the famed musician and actor had been approached to sing at a Congress rally and laud the 20-point program that Indira Gandhi was putting in place with the declaration of Emergency.
He however had turned down the offer, leading to an unofficial ban. Reports quote the Shah Commission's findings to add that Kumar had refused citing ailing health and the advise of doctors, alongside an unwillingness to sing for radio or TV.
This angered Information and Broadcasting Ministry joint secretary CB Jain who had called him. From May 1976 till the end of the Emergency Kumar's songs were banned from playing on All India Radio and Doordarshan. Not only the unofficial ban of sorts, reportedly, the same of his gramophone records were also affected, and movies he had acted in faced scrutiny.
Vidya Charan Shukla was a close associate of Gandhi and had at the time been the Information and Broadcasting Minister. It is nine-time Lok Sabha MP who is believed to have passed the ban.
Reports suggest that Kishore Kumar was not the only person affected. The films of icons such as Dev Anand and Shatrugan Sinha also faced a similar crisis. Reportedly the latter was even warned of legal consequences.
Dev Anand went a step further, actively campaigning against the Emergency. " ," Indian film director Shekhar Kapoor had tweeted in response to a tribute message by Prime Minister Modi. "My uncles Dev Anand and Vijay Anand were amongs the first to come out against Emergency. They took out rallies and dared Mrs Gandhi to imprison them. They staked their careers/livelihood on what they believed in. It was a courageous act of defiance," he had written.
