George Fernandes
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George Fernandes was chairman of the Socialist Party and president of All India Railwaymen's Federation when Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency.

He was one of the leaders whose arrest warrant was issued, but he successfully evaded arrest.

He was one of the most vocal critics of the Emergency and particularly, the methods adopted by the then government to break the railway men's strike.

The moment Emergency was announced, I went underground and coordinated the protests against the Emergency through those who thought like us and wanted to oppose the repressive regime of Indira, he recalled.

I wanted to tell the world that Indians have not accepted the rule of Indira who wanted to perpetuate dynastic rule in the country. I fought tooth and nail with dynamites in my hands, he recalled.

He was subsequently arrested from Baroda and he was charged with sedition for waging war against the government. He used to be brought around in an iron chain with his hands and legs firmly tied.

The case was withdrawn when the Janata Party government came into power in 1977. In some measure, he is the real hero of the Emergency, said a 92-year-old senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party.