Fact Check: Iconic photo falsely shared as Sitaram Yechury apologising to Indira Gandhi after Emergency

The text on the image read, “1975, Emergency. Indira Gandhi enters JNU with Delhi Police and beats CPI leader, Sitaram Yechuri who was at that time president of the JNU students union, and forces him to resign and read an apology letter for protesting against emergency. This is called Iron Hand dealing with communists. Amit Shah looks saint in front of her. (sic)” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The image shows Yechury accusing Indira Gandhi of curtailing civil rights during the Emergency.

On June 25, 1975, prime minister Indira Gandhi declared a nationwide Emergency that lasted for 21 months, until March 21, 1977. During this period, press freedom was restricted, civil rights were suppressed, and opposition leaders were jailed.

In the January 1977 elections, Indira Gandhi suffered a major defeat and the Janata Party, led by Morarji Desai, won a landslide victory, forming the first non-Congress government in India. However, Indira Gandhi remained the chancellor of JNU in 1978.

In response, JNU students, led by Sitaram Yechury, demanded her resignation as the chancellor and presented a ‘chargesheet’ against her for suspending civil rights during the Emergency.

We performed a keyword search that led us to a report published in The Times of India titled ‘From Rebel To Icon: How Sitaram Yechury’s Defiance Made Indira Gandhi Resign As JNU Chancellor,’ dated September 12, 2024. We found the same image featuring Sitaram Yechury and Indira Gandhi.

Further, we performed a search using relevant keywords and found a report published in the Deccan Herald titled ‘Indira Gandhi’s Emergency to right-wing communal forces: Comrade Sitaram Yechury was a fighter to remember’ dated September 12, 2024, and authored by Shemin Joy.

The report contained the same image of Sitaram Yechury with a caption, “It was following a protest led by Yechury in 1978 that Indira Gandhi resigned as Jawaharlal Nehru University Chancellor – an iconic photo of Indira listening to Yechury when he read out a chargesheet against her marked the event.”

Additionally, we performed a keyword search that led us to an article published in Business Today titled ‘Sitaram Yechury: The tallest Left leader who once read a ‘chargesheet to Indira Gandhi’” dated September 12, 2024, by Arnav Das Sharma.

The article too featured the same photo and the caption. We also found the photograph with a similar description in The Wire.

Further, we found an article remembering Yechury titled ‘Emergency Day’ written by Ethiran Kathiravan and published in the Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi on September 13, 2024.

In this piece, the author narrated the brutalities of the Emergency imposed by then PM Indira Gandhi and how it affected the students at JNU.

The author also provided the context of the image: in 1978, a group of students decided to march to Indira Gandhi’s residence. Yechury played a leadership role in this protest; he read the chargesheet against Indira Gandhi and demanded her resignation. She responded to this calmly and resigned the next day as the chancellor of JNU.

In the Mathrubhumi column, the author discussed the false claims circulating about the photograph and refuted the misinformation. The author also noted that he and Yechury were together at JNU and narrated his experiences in a Facebook post.

Regarding the location where the photo was taken, in an interview with Jist, Yechury described how he, along with other students, marched to Indira Gandhi’s residence at Mother Teresa Crescent, 12 Willingdon Crescent and read out the ‘chargesheet’ in her presence.

Hence, we conclude that the claim is false.