Unsettling Memories: Narratives of the Emergency in Delhi

This richly detailed ethnographic work tells the story of a period of deep civil unrest in India . In 1975 Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency which gave her the power to silence opposition through arrests and censorship and to introduce a new program of reform which included the draconian campaigns of slum clearance and family planning. In the capital city of Delhi access to basic civic amenities became dependent on the production of a sterilization certificate. For many of the cit...